A Layered Overview of Communication Architecture for IoT: Enabling the “Any Application–Any Device” Paradigm

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm, which interconnects billions of diverse, resource-constrained devices, requires specialized communication architectures to achieve massive scalability and interoperability. This paper provides a structured overview of the IoT communication stack from physical transmission mechanisms to service-level interactions, highlighting how traditional network models are adapted to meet IoT-specific constraints. Through comparative analysis, we underline the particular challenges posed by low-power and lossy networks, time-critical data processing, and the incorporation of lightweight, web-oriented service frameworks. A special focus is placed on the abstraction layer that enables the “Any Application– Any Device” paradigm through standardized application services. The study clarifies how these specialized architectures are effectively implemented in practice.