Gateway is the main point through which all data has to pass, and in IoT, the gateway also plays the same function. It is a hardware or software program which is present between sensors or smart device and cloud. All data that need to pass to the cloud has to pass through the gateway and vice versa.

In the case of passing data to the cloud, the gateway collects all data from IoT devices and pre-process it. During pre-process it enhance and compress the data and send it to the cloud. This enhancement and compression of data also help in transmission speed and cost.

Gateway also plays an important role in the security of the communication that is passing through it, because as all the incoming and outgoing data is passed through the gateway, so by adding features like encryption, intrusion detection system, and other crypto techniques, the data can become more secure during transmission.

There are different types of hardware and software-based IoT gateways that are used currently. But to select the best solution for a network, the user has to first list the requirements of the network. Some of the basic requirements are the input and output requirements, interface requirements, memory requirements to run IoT gateway, development language, certifications, power requirements, network requirements, and required flash.

IoT gateways are used in every industry which uses IoT devices for various advanced functions.

The most commonly used programming languages for IoT gateways include Python, Java and C.

The average global market value for IoT gateways was in the range of US$ 6 billion and US$ 10 billion in 2018.

The gateways market is directly dependent on the IoT market because with the increase in IoT devices there will be an increase in gateways for security while the cost will go down as well.

Some of the top players in IoT gateway industry include Huawei, Siemens, Cisco, Dell, Eurotech, Advantech, Digi International and Aaeon.