Use Cases for the Connectors

Connectors allow Oracle Internet of Things Cloud Service to accept data from devices that follow different protocols and formats or devices that are connected to third-party cloud services.

The connectors integrate devices with Oracle Internet of Things Cloud Service in one or more scenarios. A connector can be an HTTP server that receives POST messages from an external system, an MQTT client that subscribes to an MQTT broker and then indirectly receives data from devices that are in a remote network, or an MQTT Server connector that does not require a MQTT broker and communicates directly with remote and constrained network devices.

To receive data from devices over MQTT you use an MQTT client connector if you already have data in an MQTT broker that is reachable from the cloud otherwise use an MQTT server connector that can directly receive device telemetry.

The image displays an HTTP Server Connector that integrates with a third-party network provider.

Description of the illustration cgw_connector1_http.png

The third-party network provider acts as a sever to manage a network of devices and collects the data from devices in a long range (LoRa) network. The server sends the device data to a connector that processes and analyzes the device data. The HTTP Server Connector provides an endpoint that the third-party network provider can forward the device data to. The connector processes, maps, and transforms the metadata and telemetry data, and then sends it to Oracle Internet of Things Cloud Service. This integration is seamless and more efficient that a model where the connector needs to get the device data from an URL provided by the network provider.

The image displays an MQTT Server Connector that integrates directly with a remote network server or a device in a constrained network that sends data over MQTT.

Description of the illustration mqyy_server_connector.png

In this use case, Oracle Internet of Things Cloud Service has an embedded MQTT Server to which a client device can directly publishes telemetry data.

The image displays an MQTT Client Connector that integrates with a customer-premisses-equipment (CPE) gateway through an MQTT broker.

Description of the illustration cgw_connector2_mqtt.eps

In this use case, a set of gas compressors publish their data to Cloud MQTT through a CPE gateway. A MQTT Client Connector subscribes to Cloud MQTT, which acts as a broker and redirects the data to the connector. When the connector receives the device data, it processes and sends the data to Oracle Internet of Things Cloud Service. The integration with Cloud MQTT allows connectivity with native MQTT devices.