Defining Device Types

A Device Type is a classification of a Device. A device is anything that can be managed by the EdgeIQ platform, and the device type helps use to describe what kind of device it may be. To draw an analogy you may drive a car. The model of that car might be a Corolla. The model of your car would be the same as a device type. The model indicates a lot of characteristics that are universal to all cars that are of type “Corolla”.

Before one can create devices (the actual "things with which we wish to communicate), one must create or have access to their device type. The device_type_id field on a device is mandatory.

Device Type Capabilities and Configs

Devices are further configurable by means of capabilities and configurations. If a device has a configuration, its device type and its config's device type must be the same. Capabilities are defined as an object on the device type. See Device Configs for more info on configuration.

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Network Connection Names are Important

The name field of the network connection objects must match the name of the interface in the operating system on the device. Using a tool like ifconfig may help you in determining the name. If in doubt, our support can help you.

Here's an example of a device type which is a gateway with the capabilities for WAN, LAN, WiFi, and cellular interfaces:

{
    "long_description": "MyCo's Gateway.",
    "manufacturer": "MyCo",
    "model": "v1000",
    "name": "MyCo v100 IoT Gateway",
    "capabilities": {
      "network_connections": [
        {
          "type": "ethernet-wan",
          "name": "wan"
        },
        {
          "type": "ethernet-lan",
          "name": "lan"
        },
        {
          "type": "wifi",
          "name": "wlan"
        },
        {
          "type": "cellular",
          "name": "wwan"
        }
      ]
    }
  }