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One of the many highlights at Inductive Automation's recent sold out ICC user conference was the use of Message Queueing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) as a machine-to-machine (M2M) data transfer protocol that is growing in its use as a messaging protocol for IIoT. MQTT is an integral component of a partnership between Cirrus Link Solutions and Inductive Automation. What differentiates MQTT as an IIoT protocol is its lightweight overhead two-byte header, publish/subscribe model, and bi-directional capabilities that requires minimal network bandwidth. MQTT is suited to industrial control systems applications and HMI/SCADA systems that access IIoT data. The newest version, MQTT Version 3.1.1, is based on an open and royalty-free OASIS standard. OASIS is the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, an international consortium that promotes the adoption of product-independent standards for information formats.
MQTT was created with the goal of collecting data from many devices and then transporting that data to the IT infrastructure. Because it is lightweight, it is suited for remote monitoring, especially in M2M connections that require a small code footprint or where network bandwidth is limited. MQTT was invented in 1999 by Dr. Andy Stanford-Clark and Arlen Nipper. Arlen Nipper is the president of Cirrus Link Solutions, the company that developed the Cirrus Link MQTT Modules used for Inductive Automation’s Ignition Platform. Ignition is a database-centric, web-deployed, industrial applications platform for HMI, SCADA, and IIoT with full-featured HMI/SCADA functionalities built in. Ignition has an unlimited user license scalable model that is sold at one fixed price. Ignition’s cross-platform compatibility and modular configurability are designed to make it a universal industrial application platform. Ignition is used to enable connection to IIoT data, launch clients to devices equipped with a web browser, and develop automated systems. Ignition's integrated OPC Unified Architecture (OPC-UA) server provides connectivity to multiple protocols, and its open application programming interface (API) facilitates interaction and data-sharing between applications as well as the development of drivers for protocols, such as MQTT.
MQTT allows edge-of-network devices to publish to a broker. Clients connect to this broker, which then mediates communication between the two devices. Each device can subscribe, or register, to particular topics. When another client publishes a message on a subscribed topic, the broker forwards the message to any client that has subscribed. MQTT also maintains stateful session awareness. If an edge-of-network device loses connectivity, all subscribed clients will be notified with the “Last Will and Testament” feature of the MQTT server so that any authorized client in the system can publish a new value back to the edge-of-network device, maintaining bidirectional connectivity. The speed of the solution is such that the Cirrus Link MQTT Modules for Ignition can connect hundreds of devices in a relatively short period of time.
The light weight and efficiency of MQTT makes it possible to increase the amount of data being monitored or controlled. Unlike, for example, the poll/response model of some protocols, which tend to saturate data connections with unchanging data, MQTT's publish/subscribe model maximizes the available bandwidth. MQTT was originally developed for low-bandwidth, high-latency data links used in the oil and gas industry. However, MQTT is now used in many applications beyond oil and gas, ranging from controlling smart lighting systems to the Facebook Messenger application. Amazon Web Services recently announced that Amazon Internet of Things is based on MQTT.
The Ignition IIoT solution leverages MQTT to push data from multiple devices across numerous sites to one central location for both industrial and business application to access. Adding the Cirrus Link MQTT Modules to the universal Ignition platform enables companies to set up their own IIoT solution on a MQTT Message-Oriented Middleware (MOM) infrastructure. The architecture of Ignition IIoT is designed to be set it up in the Cloud, on a private on premise network, or a hybrid of both. The Cirrus Link MQTT Engine Modules and MQTT Distributor Modules for Ignition add the functionality to the Ignition platform to bi-directionally communicate with edge-of-network devices via an MQTT server to publish and subscribe IIoT data throughout the enterprise. Adding these modules to the Ignition platform helps to create one streamlined pipeline for all IIoT data, which can increase throughput and efficiencies of data acquisition.
MQTT's simple, lightweight messaging protocol helps IIoT deliver added value to manufacturers. MQTT provides connectivity from simple assets, enabling flexible, automated 'plug & play' production solutions that address manufacturers' biggest challenges, such as ever shorter product life cycles, increasing product personalization, and growing cost pressures. Overall, MQTT appears to be a protocol suited for the control systems used by industrial organizations.
MQTT was created with the goal of collecting data from many devices and then transporting that data to the IT infrastructure. Because it is lightweight, it is suited for remote monitoring, especially in M2M connections that require a small code footprint or where network bandwidth is limited. MQTT was invented in 1999 by Dr. Andy Stanford-Clark and Arlen Nipper. Arlen Nipper is the president of Cirrus Link Solutions, the company that developed the Cirrus Link MQTT Modules used for Inductive Automation’s Ignition Platform. Ignition is a database-centric, web-deployed, industrial applications platform for HMI, SCADA, and IIoT with full-featured HMI/SCADA functionalities built in. Ignition has an unlimited user license scalable model that is sold at one fixed price. Ignition’s cross-platform compatibility and modular configurability are designed to make it a universal industrial application platform. Ignition is used to enable connection to IIoT data, launch clients to devices equipped with a web browser, and develop automated systems. Ignition's integrated OPC Unified Architecture (OPC-UA) server provides connectivity to multiple protocols, and its open application programming interface (API) facilitates interaction and data-sharing between applications as well as the development of drivers for protocols, such as MQTT.
MQTT allows edge-of-network devices to publish to a broker. Clients connect to this broker, which then mediates communication between the two devices. Each device can subscribe, or register, to particular topics. When another client publishes a message on a subscribed topic, the broker forwards the message to any client that has subscribed. MQTT also maintains stateful session awareness. If an edge-of-network device loses connectivity, all subscribed clients will be notified with the “Last Will and Testament” feature of the MQTT server so that any authorized client in the system can publish a new value back to the edge-of-network device, maintaining bidirectional connectivity. The speed of the solution is such that the Cirrus Link MQTT Modules for Ignition can connect hundreds of devices in a relatively short period of time.
The light weight and efficiency of MQTT makes it possible to increase the amount of data being monitored or controlled. Unlike, for example, the poll/response model of some protocols, which tend to saturate data connections with unchanging data, MQTT's publish/subscribe model maximizes the available bandwidth. MQTT was originally developed for low-bandwidth, high-latency data links used in the oil and gas industry. However, MQTT is now used in many applications beyond oil and gas, ranging from controlling smart lighting systems to the Facebook Messenger application. Amazon Web Services recently announced that Amazon Internet of Things is based on MQTT.
The Ignition IIoT solution leverages MQTT to push data from multiple devices across numerous sites to one central location for both industrial and business application to access. Adding the Cirrus Link MQTT Modules to the universal Ignition platform enables companies to set up their own IIoT solution on a MQTT Message-Oriented Middleware (MOM) infrastructure. The architecture of Ignition IIoT is designed to be set it up in the Cloud, on a private on premise network, or a hybrid of both. The Cirrus Link MQTT Engine Modules and MQTT Distributor Modules for Ignition add the functionality to the Ignition platform to bi-directionally communicate with edge-of-network devices via an MQTT server to publish and subscribe IIoT data throughout the enterprise. Adding these modules to the Ignition platform helps to create one streamlined pipeline for all IIoT data, which can increase throughput and efficiencies of data acquisition.
MQTT's simple, lightweight messaging protocol helps IIoT deliver added value to manufacturers. MQTT provides connectivity from simple assets, enabling flexible, automated 'plug & play' production solutions that address manufacturers' biggest challenges, such as ever shorter product life cycles, increasing product personalization, and growing cost pressures. Overall, MQTT appears to be a protocol suited for the control systems used by industrial organizations.