Introducing IoT devices and platforms for AWS IoT

The IoT platform can connect to an internet network and interact with other platforms. Generally speaking, talking about the IoT in terms of a device platform is a huge topic. In this section, we review some IoT platforms that interact with AWS IoT.

Technically, we can describe a connectivity model between IoT devices and the AWS IoT backend. We can categorize the IoT device platform into three models based on their supported connectivity. For an IoT device with network capabilities, if this device has support for all the required AWS IoT devices, then this device can access AWS IoT directly.

Several IoT devices probably have network capabilities, but their supported protocols are not covered by AWS IoT. For this scenario, we need to build a gateway that serves and translates the IoT device protocol to the AWS IoT protocol. This gateway provides some network capabilities, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, XBee, and other RF, in order to serve all exchange of data among IoT devices and AWS IoT servers.

Finally, IoT devices without network capabilities still have a chance to communicate with AWS IoT. There are two methods that we can implement for this scenario. If the IoT device can extend its functionality, we can add a network module with the supported AWS IoT protocol. Another option is to connect this IoT device to a computer. Since a computer usually has capabilities to connect to an external network, we can build a program as a bridge between the IoT device and the AWS IoT backend. The program will interact with the IoT device, for example, by sensing and actuating, and perform a data exchange with the AWS IoT backend.

All the connectivity scenarios that we have so far discussed are illustrated in the following figure:

In the following section, we will explore several IoT device platforms that are widely used on the customer side to communicate with AWS IoT. Amazon also provides a list of AWS IoT starter kits from Amazon partners at https://aws.amazon.com/iot-platform/getting-started/#kits. We will review some devices with the supported AWS IoT platform.