Helping Tmall Genie Smart Device Access for Double 11

Scenario Introduction

Wi-Fi smart home appliances and furnishing devices in the Tmall Genie ecosystem that were sold during Double 11 connect through the Alibaba Cloud IoT Platform. Before Double 11, the platform supported access for hundreds of Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) of smart products. After consumers received their devices, the platform supported the network connection and simultaneous online status of nearly one million devices. The IoT Platform makes this scenario possible through the following capabilities.

1. Device development: You can develop device firmware using the IoT Platform device SDK to enable devices to connect to the Internet of Things.
2. Device networking: You can build the product's data model and configure the device networking method in the IoT Platform console.
3. Third-party platform access: After you define the Thing Specification Language model that is supported by Tmall Genie and connect the device to the network, the device can be directly accessed and controlled by Tmall Genie.

Device Development

The IoT Platform provides a device development SDK. This SDK encapsulates the interaction protocol between the device and the IoT Platform. You can develop firmware for your devices directly using these SDKs to enable them to connect to the Internet of Things.

1. Download the device SDK code. For more information, see Obtain SDK.
2. Upload the downloaded ZIP package to the development environment and decompress it.
3. Configure the device's identity information. The device certificate is the unique identity information that is issued by the platform to the device.
4. Compile the firmware and flash it to the device.

For more information about device development, see the relevant documents in the Development Guide.

Device Networking

For common Wi-Fi device networking methods, Alibaba provides various Wi-Fi provisioning solutions, such as one-click provisioning (also known as SmartConfig or broadcast provisioning), mobile hotspot provisioning, device hotspot provisioning, Bluetooth-assisted provisioning, zero provisioning (requires device support), and camera scan code provisioning (requires device support). These solutions meet the networking needs of most Wi-Fi devices.

The IoT Platform supports primary and secondary provisioning schemes. You can choose any two of the preceding provisioning methods as the default and alternative methods for your devices. Additionally, the IoT Platform provides provisioning QR codes. You can scan the QR code to go directly to the provisioning interface, which reduces the provisioning failure rate. These multiple provisioning methods help ensure a high success rate for connecting millions of smart devices.

The following steps describe how to build your device's data model and set its networking method in the IoT Platform console.

1. Create a project. For more information, see Create a Project.
2. Create a product. For more information, see Create a Product.
3. Define product features for the product, which is also known as building the data model. These product features must be supported by Tmall Genie. In general, you add standard features. For more information, see Add Standard Features.
4. Add a test device and debug its basic features. For more information, see Debug Device Cloud Connection.
5. On the Human-Machine Interaction page of the product in the console, configure the device networking scheme and set the networking guide page. For more information, see Configure App.

If you want to develop your own app, the platform provides a provisioning SDK to help you easily complete feature development. For more information, see Provisioning Development Guide.

Third-Party Platform Access

To connect devices that are supported by Tmall Genie using the public app provided by the platform, you must define your product according to the Thing Specification Language model that is specified by Alibaba Cloud. Then, you can use one-click activation to connect to Tmall Genie. For self-developed brand apps, the platform also provides a free Tmall Genie quick channel. You can complete the relevant configuration on the platform and integrate Taobao authorization into your app. This allows devices that are controlled by your own brand app to also be controlled by Tmall Genie speakers.

The following steps describe how to connect the public app to Tmall Genie.

1. Use one-click activation for Tmall Genie.

   On the Product - Human-Machine Interaction page in the console, enable Control Product with Public App, select Tmall Genie, and click Settings.

   The system automatically enables Tmall Genie for you.

2. Map features.
   The IoT Platform has completed the default mapping for some Tmall Genie categories.

   Click the category icon to view the Tmall Genie properties and instructions that are already mapped by the IoT Platform. For these mapped categories, developers do not need to perform the mapping. You must only ensure that the device uses the mapped standard properties to be controlled by Tmall Genie.

3. Bind the device to Tmall Genie.

   Download the public app and provision your test device. After the device connects to the network, say "Find my teammate" to Tmall Genie and follow the voice prompts to complete the device binding.

   If you want to develop your own app, integrate Taobao account authorization to connect with Tmall Genie. For more information about the development code, see Tutorial for Connecting Your Own App to Tmall Genie.

The platform supports devices that connect to and are controlled by Tmall Genie in the Chinese mainland. It also supports devices that connect to third-party platforms outside China. The IoT Platform provides basic Alibaba Cloud services globally, supports multiple languages, and has integrated with platforms such as Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and IFTTT. For more information, see the relevant documents in the Third-Party Platform Introduction.