Introduction to device connection-Link IoT Edge(IoT Edge)-阿里云帮助中心

Device connection is a core feature of IoT Edge. In IoT Edge, the module that handles device connections is called a driver. All devices must use a driver to connect to IoT Edge.

The following figure shows the device connection driver within the IoT Edge framework.

Device connection driver

A complete driver, or device connection module, has three parts: connection management, data transformation, and data and command processing.

Connection management
Connection management establishes a communication link between a device and the gateway. IoT Edge does not restrict the communication protocol. You can choose a protocol as needed.
Data transformation
The driver transforms device data into the data format defined by the Alibaba Cloud IoT Platform Thing Specification Language (TSL) model. The driver then sends this data to the IoT Platform. For more information about the TSL model, see Thing Specification Language model.
Data and command processing
The driver processes operation requests from the cloud. It invokes services on the device, handles the results, and returns the results to the IoT Platform.

Device connection drivers are independent service modules in IoT Edge. You can develop custom drivers to support proprietary protocols as needed. The following figure illustrates the features and data flow of a custom driver, and describes the work required to develop one. 设备接入驱动

Introduction to using drivers

IoT Edge offers two types of drivers for different use cases.

Official drivers provided by IoT Edge for common protocols, such as Modbus and OPC UA.
A software development kit (SDK) for creating custom drivers. Device vendors and developers can use the SDK to develop drivers for proprietary protocols.

To quickly learn how to use drivers, see the two official examples in the Example drivers section.

IoT Edge provides official drivers from Alibaba Cloud for communication protocols such as Modbus and OPC UA. To connect devices using these drivers, see the Official drivers section.

IoT Edge also provides a device connection SDK. You can use the SDK to develop custom drivers for your protocols. For more information about developing custom drivers, see Driver development.