IoT environments nowadays connect different types of physical devices, such as sensing nodes, vehicles, and appliances, and every kind of device is embedded with sensors, software, and connectivity capabilities. In such environments, it is of paramount importance to ensure that all the application data is reliably transmitted to back-end systems. An important aspect that enables the proper functioning of IoT environments is the collection of KPIs from sensing devices which influence the sensing device availability and reachability, e.g., their battery levels and link quality.

Additionally, some parameters on the IoT devices can be configured, e.g., motion sensitivity and detection interval on motion sensors. These management and monitoring activities in IoT environments can be done by using Axiros products: AXESS for management, AXTRACT for monitoring, and AXACT for connecting IoT devices to TR-069 and TR-369 protocols for universal device management. 

In this blog we present a smart office environment with ZigBee sensors for monitoring the ambient conditions (temperature, humidity, pressure), and occupancy of shared spaces. Additionally, there are water leak sensors deployed to monitor the areas prone to flooding. AXESS, AXTRACT, and AXACT are used for configuration and management of the environment, and for monitoring both sensor availability data, and data about the monitored environment. 

Smart Home Environment 

The architecture of the system is shown in the figure on the left. Different sensor types (temperature, humidity, pressure, occupancy, luminosity, flood detection) are connected via the ZigBee network to a gateway. AXACT is running on the gateway and serves as a TR-369 (User Services Platform, USP) client which translates all the messages to/from the sensors to USP Protocol, more specifically the TR-181 data model. AXACT has a constant connection to the USP Controller (AX USP) via WebSockets. By using TR-369, the newest version of Broadband Forum’s device management protocol, it is possible to get real-time data from the connected devices, among many other benefits.

AXACT Integration 

To integrate AXACT with the ZigBee network environment, it was necessary to perform the following steps: 

1. Define the TR-181 compliant IoT-data model for the needs of the use case 

2. Implement a separate process that acts as a ZigBee gateway. This was accomplished with zigpy library 

3. Enable communication between AXACT and zigpy process by using Unix domain sockets. It is possible to use alternative inter-process communication (IPC) techniques, such as D-Bus. 

4. Map the ZigBee sensor values to the defined data model 

Smart Home Environment Monitoring 

In the dashboards shown on the right which are configured on AXTRACT, it is possible to view the current and historic values of the sensor data and trigger alarms for certain events. For instance, when the temperature in the server room is too high, or when a flood detection sensor is activated. It is also possible to notice which sensors are unavailable (No data tag). 

Additionally, it is also possible to make use of AXTRACT and its event chains for real-time postprocessing of event data. AXTRACT can be used for running advanced analytics and machine learning algorithms on collected data to predict certain events, discover hidden patterns, etc.

Management and Monitoring of IoT Devices and Network 

By using the Axiros products AXESS and AXTRACT, it is possible to observe the sensor value changes, as shown in the figure above, but also network information, which is inevitable to ensure the reliable ZigBee home/office network operation. The Customer Support Portal (CSP) deployed on AXESS is shown in the figure below. It enables monitoring of the link quality and battery of sensors from the environment in real-time. The system is configured to track every change in value and show it in the panel within CSP. 

Conclusion 

By using Axiros products and TR-369 (USP) protocol, it is possible to monitor and manage IoT environments in real-time, ensuring the availability and reliability of connected sensors. Convenient and attractive dashboards can be created, with the possibility to generate alerts. This blog described a use case of office space monitoring via the ZigBee network. By using AXACT and the TR-369 protocol, it is possible to configure monitoring of other environments and networks, which use protocols such as Z-Wave and UPnP. 

Written by Pavle Skocir
Pavle Skocir has been working in Axiros as a Software Engineer in our delivery team, before switching to a Presales Manager position. He is an IoT enthusiast and has previously worked on numerous applications in the smart home environment, as well as solutions for the IoT interoperability. His passion for sharing knowledge extends from the time he taught computer science courses at the University.

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Knowledge Base: What is IoT?