Product Development Guide

In the IoT platform integration solution, the IoT platform provides open APIs for applications to connect devices that use various protocols. To better manage devices, the IoT platform needs to understand the device capabilities and the formats of data reported by devices. Therefore, you need to develop product models and codecs on the IoT platform.

• A product model is a JSON file that describes device capabilities. It defines basic device properties and message formats for data reporting and command delivery. To define a product model is to construct an abstract model of a device in the platform to enable the platform to understand the device properties.
• A codec is developed based on the format of data reported by devices. IoTDA uses codecs to convert data between binary and JSON formats as well as between different JSON formats. The binary or JSON data reported by a device is decoded into the JSON format for the application to read, and the commands delivered by the application are encoded into the binary or JSON format for the device to understand and execute.

  

Product Development Process

The IoTDA console provides a one-stop development toolset to help you quickly develop products (product models and codecs) and perform self-service tests.

Figure 1 Product development flowchart

• Product creation: A product is a collection of devices with the same capabilities or features. In addition to physical devices, a product includes product information, product models (profiles), and codecs generated during IoT capability building.
• Model definition: Product model development is the most important part of product development. A product model is used to describe the capabilities and features of a device. You can build an abstract model of a device by defining a product model on the platform so that the platform can know what services, properties, and commands are supported by the device.
• Codec development: If the data reported by the device is in binary or JSON format, a codec must be developed to convert data between binary and JSON formats or between different JSON formats.
• Online commissioning: The IoTDA console provides application and device simulators for you to commission data reporting and command delivery before developing real applications and physical devices. You can also use the application simulator to verify the service flow after the physical device is developed.
  

  Currently, only the basic edition supports online debugging of MQTT devices.