Concepts of IoT Edge

Available in Classic and VPC.

For smooth use of IoT Edge, basic concepts related to service structure and Edge core software are explained.

Service structure and operation method

Install the Edge Core software on your users' Edge devices. The core device created in the cloud through installation points to the user's Edge device. The core device can connect to various IoT devices through certificates issued by Cloud IoT Core, and the devices that link in this way are called client devices. When a client device sends a message to a core device, the Edge core software verifies that it is a trusted user before receiving the message. Messages can be viewed in real-time and then sent (published) to other client devices immediately. You can also send messages to and receive notifications from Cloud IoT Core through the deployment of a bridge service, and you can also run codeless services such as Cloud Functions on the core device. Edge core devices must continuously connect to the cloud over a public network.

Figure 1. IoT Edge service structure and operation method

The core device configuration is as follows:

• Edge Core Software: Software that is installed on the core device and provides security authentication, local message broker, bridge service, local Cloud Functions service, connection information update, and deployment functions.
• Secure Authentication: Various IoT devices authenticate trusted devices by connecting to the core device through certificates issued by Cloud IoT Core.
• Local message broker: Installing the Edge core software provides a message broker that supports the MQTT protocol by default. Messages can be sent and received by verifying trusted client devices with certificate security.
• Bridge service: An additional service used to forward messages sent to the local message broker to Cloud IoT Core.
• Local Cloud Features service: An additional service that locally runs Cloud Features downloaded via deployment.
• Deployment: When a deployment request is made from the console to change the configuration of a service, the core device proceeds with the deployment.