AWS IoT Core Cheat Sheet
AWS IoT Core is a managed cloud platform that lets connected devices easily and securely interact with cloud applications and other devices. It can support billions of devices and trillions of messages, and can process and route those messages to AWS endpoints and to other devices reliably and securely.
Core Components of AWS IoT Core
Device Gateway
The Device Gateway enables devices to securely and efficiently communicate with AWS IoT. It manages all active device connections and implements semantics for multiple protocols to ensure that devices are able to communicate securely and efficiently. The Device Gateway supports MQTT, WebSockets, and HTTPS protocols.
Message Broker
The Message Broker is a high-throughput publish/subscribe message broker that securely transmits messages to and from all of your IoT devices and applications with low latency.
Rules Engine
The Rules Engine enables continuous processing of data sent by connected devices. You can configure rules to filter, transform, and route data to various AWS services for further processing and analysis. For example, you can route messages to:
- AWS Lambda
- Amazon Kinesis
- Amazon S3
- Amazon DynamoDB
- Amazon SNS
- Amazon SQS
Registry
The Registry establishes an identity for devices and tracks metadata such as the device's attributes and capabilities. The Registry assigns a unique identity to each device that is consistently formatted regardless of the type of device or how it connects.
Device Shadow
A Device Shadow is a JSON document that is used to store and retrieve current state information for a device. You can use a device's shadow to get and set the state of a device over MQTT or HTTP, regardless of whether the device is connected to the Internet. Each device shadow has a reserved MQTT topic and HTTP URL where you can get or set its state.
- Shadows persist the last reported state and desired future state of each device even when the device is offline.
- You must update the shadow at least once per year for it to persist forever; otherwise, it will expire.
Security and Identity
- Authentication: AWS IoT Core provides mutual authentication and encryption at all points of connection, so that data is never exchanged between devices and AWS IoT Core without a proven identity. It supports the AWS method of authentication (called 'SigV4'), X.509 certificate-based authentication, and custom-token based authentication (through custom authorizers).
- Authorization: You can use AWS IoT Core policies in conjunction with IAM policies to securely control access to the platform. IoT policies are attached to X.509 certificates or identity principals to control device-level access.
Specialized Features
AWS IoT Core for LoRaWAN
This feature allows you to connect and manage wireless devices that use the low-power, long-range wide area network (LoRaWAN) protocol.
- It eliminates the need for you to develop or operate a LoRaWAN Network Server (LNS).
- It simplifies the process of onboarding gateways and devices, accelerating your IoT application development.
Device Location
Device Location helps you track and manage your fleet of IoT devices using their location data without relying on power-intensive GPS hardware.
- You can choose a location technology that fits your specific business and engineering constraints.
- This enables you to enhance business processes, automate maintenance, and unlock new location-based use cases.
AWS IoT Core for Amazon Sidewalk
Amazon Sidewalk is a shared network that improves connectivity options for devices.
- Operated by Amazon at no charge to customers, it can simplify new device setup.
- It extends the low-bandwidth working range of devices, helping them stay online even when they are out of range of their primary home connection.
Pricing Model
With AWS IoT Core, you pay only for the components you use. There are no minimum fees or mandatory service usage. You will receive separate billing for each of the following components:
- Connectivity: Based on the number of devices connected.
- Messaging: Based on the number of messages published to or delivered by AWS IoT Core.
- Device Shadow Usage: Based on the number of operations performed on device shadows.
- Registry Usage: Based on the number of operations performed on the device registry.
- Rules Engine Usage: Based on the number of rules triggered and actions executed.