Device connection guide

Device type

Procedure

• Directly connected device

• Gateway device

• Non-directly connected sub-device

• LoRa device

• China Mobile and China Unicom NB-IoT device

• Device that uses a proprietary protocol

1. Purchase an Enterprise Edition instance: The public instance for trial use provides limited resources and supports only basic device connection and communication features.

   For commercial use, we recommend that you purchase an Enterprise Edition instance. For more information about instance types and features, see Differences between Enterprise Edition instance types.

2. Create a product: Set the Node Type and Authentication Method for the product. The node type defines the type of devices that belong to the product. The authentication method specifies how to authenticate a device that attempts to connect to IoT Platform.

   For more information about authentication methods, see Device security authentication.

3. (Optional) Configure product features: Develop product communication features as needed. For more information about the communication principles, see What is a topic?.

   • Define TSL model features: If the device uses TSL model topics to communicate with IoT Platform, define TSL model features for the product to which the device belongs.

     • For more information about how to add a TSL model, see Add a TSL model and Add TSL models in batches.

     • For more information about communication, see Use TSL models for communication.

   • Define device communication topics: If the device uses custom topics to communicate with IoT Platform, define custom topic classes for the product to which the device belongs.

     For more information about how to add a custom topic class and use it for communication, see Use custom topics for communication.

   • Parse messages: IoT Platform defines the Alink JSON format as the standard data format for device messages. If a device sends raw data in pass-through mode to IoT Platform, configure a message parsing script to convert the data from the device's custom format to the JSON format.

4. Register a device: Add the device to the created product in IoT Platform.

   For more information, see Create a single device, Create multiple devices at a time, Create a LoRa device, and Add a gateway and a sub-device.

   Note

   You do not need to register devices in the IoT Platform console in the following cases:

   • You can use pre-registration-free authentication with one device secret per product type.

   • The device uses ID²-based authentication and the ID² whitelist is disabled.

5. (Optional) Configure business features: If your device uses features such as device tags, device jobs, device shadows, Remote Configuration, and OTA updates, configure the features in the IoT Platform console first. Then, develop the corresponding feature logic on the device.

   Note

   A device that uses a proprietary protocol and connects to IoT Platform using an IoT as Bridge SDK supports only OTA updates.

Cloud gateway device

1. Purchase an Exclusive instance: Only Enterprise Edition instances of the Exclusive type support the cloud gateway feature. For more information about how to purchase an instance, see Purchase an Enterprise Edition instance.

2. Confirm the cloud gateway protocol that the device uses:

   • China Telecom NB-IoT: A China Telecom NB-IoT device must be directly connected to the China Telecom AEP.

   • MQTT: Use features such as custom certificates, custom device authentication methods, and custom communication topics to migrate existing devices to Alibaba Cloud IoT Platform without modifications.

   • JT/T 808: We recommend that you use TLS for connection. This method supports server-side one-way authentication, OCSP for device and server certificates, and bidirectional secure authentication between devices and the server. This protocol is suitable for communication between vehicle-mounted terminals of a satellite positioning system for road transport vehicles and Alibaba Cloud IoT Platform.

   • GB/T 32960: We recommend that you use TLS for connection. This method supports server-side one-way authentication, OCSP for device and server certificates, and bidirectional secure authentication between devices and the server. This protocol is suitable for communication between electric vehicle devices and Alibaba Cloud IoT Platform.

   • SL 651: We recommend that you use TLS for connection. This method supports server-side one-way authentication, OCSP for device and server certificates, and bidirectional secure authentication between devices and the server. This protocol is suitable for communication between telemetry station devices and Alibaba Cloud IoT Platform for hydrological monitoring data collection and transmission.

3. Follow the cloud-side development flow:

   • Connect a China Telecom NB-IoT device: Directly connect a device that is developed and already connected to the China Telecom platform.

   • MQTT protocol cloud gateway connection flow.

   • JT/T 808 protocol cloud gateway connection flow.

   • GB/T 32960 protocol cloud gateway connection flow.

   • SL 651 protocol cloud gateway connection flow.

Device type

Connection method

Description

• Directly connected device

• Gateway device

• Non-directly connected sub-device

• LoRa device

• China Mobile and China Unicom NB-IoT device

Connect using a Link SDK

IoT Platform provides SDKs for various types of devices in the following languages: C, Android, Python, Java, iOS, and Node.js.

If the provided device SDKs do not meet your requirements, develop your own SDK. For example, you can use an open source ApsaraMQ for MQTT client to connect to IoT Platform.

IoT Platform provides Paho-MQTT examples in multiple languages, including Android, Java, C (embedded), C (non-embedded), C#, Python, Rust, and Go.

You can develop various features of IoT Platform based on the Alink protocol.

Connect using a module

You can use an AT module that supports MQTT and HTTPS commands, or a general-purpose TCP AT module.

IoT Platform provides the following SDK examples: Integrate an SDK on a module that supports MQTT and Integrate an SDK on a TCP-based wide area network (WAN) module.

Device that uses a proprietary protocol

Cloud-to-cloud SDK integration

This SDK supports data forwarding from other IoT platforms to Alibaba Cloud IoT Platform.

Cloud gateway device

Connect using an MQTT protocol cloud gateway

You can use custom certificate information for device identity authentication. This lets you migrate existing devices to Alibaba Cloud IoT Platform without modifications.

IoT Platform provides the following SDK examples: C connection example (Alibaba Cloud FC authentication) and Java connection example (mutual authentication).

Connect using a JT/T 808 protocol cloud gateway

You can use custom certificate information for device identity authentication. This method is suitable for connecting devices with vehicle-mounted terminals of a satellite positioning system for road transport vehicles to IoT Platform.

IoT Platform provides a C SDK example: Connection example (platform-side authentication).

Connect using a GB/T 32960 protocol cloud gateway

You can use custom certificate information for device identity authentication. This is suitable for connecting electric vehicle devices to IoT Platform.

IoT Platform provides an SDK example that uses a GitHub open source project: Connection example (platform-side authentication).

Connect using an SL 651 protocol cloud gateway

You can use custom certificate information for device identity authentication. This is suitable for connecting telemetry station devices to IoT Platform.