Communication is the most important invention that is shaping the field of science and technology in the contemporary world. Sending information from and to each other has been the most challenging part, and questions like how and what to communicate have been the most crucial ones engineers have been figuring out.
Communication Methods for Device-to-Application Information Exchange
The evolution of communication technology has been attributed to wired systems that had to be connected physically. By improving technology, wireless communication became more prominent. With the prominence and use of wireless communication came more challenges and opportunities. All wired devices which we used in past are available wireless today, thus showing that anything and everything is possible in the wireless world. Headphones, mouse, keyboard, etc are all getting transformed as wireless.
In wired communication different types of protocols are used,
- USB - Commonly used protocol method to connect two or more different devices. It is a serial communication interface that enables simple and fast communication.
- UART/USART - It is an asynchronous communication technique used in embedded systems and is well suited for applications with low hardware requirements.
- RS232 - It is an interface used in Computer Serial port for cheap and simple connections.
- RS485 - Widely used in industrial applications, can connect upto 32 devices and at a length of 4000 ft. It is highly robust to noise and cost effective.
- Ethernet - Widely used method to transmit internet and used in a Local Area Network. It enables highspeed and high bandwidth internet connections,
- I2C - Used in IC based applications, for data transmission. Its functioning and hardware is complicated.
- SPI - It is a synchronous serial communication protocol used in short distance communication. It requires more hardware hence its is costlier.
With further advancement, we were able to use a remote control to operate devices from a distance. And since the inception of the internet, we have been able to remotely control devices located even farther away.
IoT devices are controlled using an Application Management platform which is a cloud-based platform. The platform requires a variety of options to enable communication from and to the devices. Such options for communication are widely discussed in depth in this blog. This blog will focus on API, Cloud connector, and MQTT and compare their features.
API Economy
APIs are extensively used in various software applications, making them important for companies to invest in. Their contribution to the digital economy is what is referred to as API Economy. Through a business model based on APIs, companies can provide multiple services that can scale up APIs, build points of sales, etc. With the proliferation of APIs, companies can leverage existing software services and solutions without having to reinvent the wheel, thus enabling faster rollout and cost savings. The provision of such services can always be beneficial to the consumer. The API economy is seeing a boom with the emergence of mobile computing, IoT etc.
API economy now is a Billon Dollar market with an evaluation at $5 Billion in the year 2021. Financial Services are the largest beneficiary of API technology. Healthcare is another area that is getting a lot of attention from developers. API economy significantly benefited from the digitisation phase during the pandemic.
How are APIs the conventional data transfer mode from application platform to customer platform?
Application Programming Interface (API) is a software program that enables applications to communicate with each other, primarily through data exchange. APIs are easy to use and have attained wide popularity across various domains and the applications which we use in daily life. APIs can be used in any user application or service platform. Two distinct applications need an intermediary to communicate with each other. Thus, developers solve the problem with API to allow one system to access the information or functionality of another. In order to integrate applications quickly and at scale, APIs are realized using protocols and/or specifications to define the semantics and syntax of the messages passed across the wire. These specifications make up the API architecture. Today most of the API uses REST Architectural Styles, which are highly popular and have moved away from other API Architecture Styles like RPC, SOAP, etc.
There are three major steps involved in the functioning.
- The client application makes a request to the server known as API Call
- The server sends back a response
- API transfers all the data to the platform
APIs today are a core part of Software development and building application platforms. As per statistics, over 90% of developers use APIs. A new concept known as API economy is getting traction, where business is mainly based on APIs. There are various APIs- Open API, partner API, Internal API, Composite API, etc.
MQTT as an emerging protocol for device data uplink and downlink for IoT Devices
The functioning of MQTT is designed through a special MQTT Protocol. The protocol consists of two types of MQTT entities- a message broker and a number of clients. Any device that runs an MQTT library can be considered an MQTT client. Unlike the client-server model, not all MQTT clients get connected to the server; rather, there are certain Topics that the clients can subscribe to via a Message broker. Thus, the broker is the intermediary between client and server. Clients can be multiple types of devices. Working of MQTT happens in three steps- Connect, Disconnect and Publish. It is highly effective in IoT-based applications and also ensures that client devices don’t interfere with each other’s working.
There are three standards for Quality of Service provided- QoS 0, QoS 1, and QoS 2 in MQTT.
How are Cloud Connectors different from an MQTT based connection?
A cloud connector is a software service used to connect to various cloud services. In addition to establishing connections, a cloud connector provides various facilities, including work integration, device management, automation, etc. A Cloud connector provides a secure connection between a cloud platform application and on-premise systems, or it works by establishing trusted access for server to server traffic. It uses the messaging queue service from various cloud providers like AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, etc. Cloud Connector provides seamless connectivity from public cloud applications to the internet. It helps to consolidate
Cloud Connectors as a preferred choice for heavy-weight Applications
Most of the cloud connectors are heavyweight, while MQTT is lightweight. MQTT is used for low power and bandwidth, while cloud connectors are used in places where the network is strong, and high bandwidth is present. MQTT is low-cost and highly accessible, while Cloud connectors are costlier. MQTT directly uses binary data; hence is high speed and doesn’t require any other processing. For security, MQTT uses SSL/TLS, while Cloud connectors use more sophisticated security protocols. MQTT needs real-time connection while other cloud connectors needn’t be fully connected all the time; the information is appended independently.
How is Cavli Hubble enabling seamless integration between devices in the field & Customer OEM’s Application Layer?
Cavli Hubble is an IoT device management platform that provides various features to build, connect, and scale IoT-based solutions. Hubble platform makes the best use of APIs, MQTT, and cloud connectors in providing the best-in-class IoT workspace. Hubble uses MQTT to get information from devices to the platform. This information is then sent to all application software in two broad categories. Those user-end applications that use AWS will be provided with the information directly appended to the AWS SQS service. This is hassle-free and doesn’t require any extra effort. SQS FIFO queues are helpful in sending and receiving messages. The other method is the use of MQTT in sending and receiving messages which will be done from the Hubble.
Cavli hubble architecture is based on Kubernetes and can be enabled with auto-scaling for the increasing or decreasing of the pods based on the number of devices connected to the respective connector app. It facilitates all the features required to make device-to-application communication seamless and effortless. Get onboarded on Cavli Hubble to supercharge your IoT enablement journey like never before.
Feel free to write to us at solutions@cavliwireless.com, or you can book a demo directly with the link below.
