What is the primary function of an IoT Gateway?

An IoT Gateway serves a crucial role in facilitating communication between devices and user networks. Its primary function is to bridge the various IoT devices, which may use different protocols and communication standards, to the broader network infrastructure, such as the internet or a local area network. By doing so, the gateway enables seamless data exchange between edge devices (like sensors and actuators) and applications or cloud services, which are often used for data analytics, storage, or control.

This connectivity is vital because many IoT devices may not directly communicate with cloud platforms or central processing units without the mediation of a gateway due to differences in communication protocols, device capabilities, and necessary data transformations. Therefore, the gateway ensures that all devices can interact with each other and the user networks effectively, providing a unified communication framework that facilitates the functioning of the IoT ecosystem.