Link IoT Edge:Device simulator

A device simulator consists of the following two components:

• Driver: simulates all types of devices at the edge. The properties, events, services of devices are defined by TSL.
• Control tool: changes the property values of the device simulator and triggers the device simulator to submit events.

By performing the following operations, you can test applications without using physical devices: 1. Bind devices with device simulator drivers. 2. Assign the devices to the edge instance. 3. Use control tools to control the devices. The following sections describe how to use device simulators.

Prerequisites

• A device simulator driver is downloaded.

  Link IoT Edge edition	Link IoT Edge version	Driver download URL
  Pro and Standard Edition	1.8.2 and later versions	DeviceSimulator_v0.2

• An edge instance is created. Device simulators are only applicable to Link IoT Edge Standard Edition and Link IoT Edge Pro Edition. For more information about how to create an edge instance, see Build environments for Link IoT Edge Pro Edition or Build environments for Link IoT Edge Standard Edition.

Use a device simulator driver

1. Upload the driver.
   1. In the left-side navigation pane of the IoT Platform console, choose Link IoT Edge > Drivers.
   2. On the Drivers page, click the Custom Drivers tab. Click Create Driver.
   3. On the Create Driver page, configure the driver parameters and upload the driver file that you downloaded in Prerequisites. For more information about how to create a driver, see Publish drivers to the cloud.
      The following figure shows the parameters to be configured in this example. You can specify values for other parameters based on your needs or leave parameters empty. For more information about how to specify parameters, see Publish drivers to the cloud.
   4. Configure the parameters, upload the driver file, and click OK. You can view the new driver in the driver list.
2. Assign the driver to the edge instance.
   1. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Link IoT Edge > Edge Instances. Find the edge instance that is created in Prerequisites and click View in the Actions column.
   2. On the Instance Details page, click the Devices & Drivers tab. In the All Drivers section, click the + icon. In the dialog box that appears, select Custom Drivers. Find the DeviceSimulator driver that is created in the previous step and click Assign.
      
   3. Optional. If you have created a Link IoT Edge Pro Edition edge instance, you must configure container parameters.
      Select the DeviceSimulator driver. Click Container Configurations next to Device List. Configure the parameters and click Save.

      The following table describes the parameters of a port mapping. For more information about parameters, see Sample drivers.

      Table 1. Parameters

      Parameter	Description
      Host Port	Specifies a host port to which a container port is mapped. You must specify a host port that is not being used. Example: 8999.
      Container Port	You can only specify 9000 for this parameter.
      Type	Select TCP.

3. Add a sub-device to the edge instance.
   1. In the All Drivers section, select DeviceSimulator. Click Assign Sub-device.
   2. In the Assign Sub-device dialog box that appears, click Add Sub-device.
      
   3. In the Add Device dialog box that appears, click Create Product.
      
   4. In the Create Product dialog box, click Complete.
      
   5. In the Add Device dialog box, click Configure to add TSL definitions.
      

      • Add a temperature property for the product. For more information about how to define a property, see Add self-defined features.
      • Add a high_temperature event for the product. For more information about how to define an event, see Add self-defined features.

        Add parameters for the event.

        
   6. Go to the Add Device dialog box, specify the DeviceName parameter, and click OK.
      
   7. In the Assign Sub-device dialog box, select the temperatureSensor product. Find temperatureSensor01 and click Assign.
4. Deploy the edge instance.
   On the Instance Details page, click Deploy in the upper-right corner. In the Deployment Process dialog box that appears, you can click View Logs to view deployment details. If the edge instance is deployed, the following state is displayed next to the instance name: Deployed.

Use the control tool of the device simulator

The control tool of the device simulator is similar to buttons of a physical device. After performing the preceding steps in the Use a device simulator driver topic, you can use the control tool.

1. Log on to your remote terminal. For more information about how to log on to a remote terminal, see Remote service access.
2. Optional. If you are using Link IoT Edge Pro Edition, you must run the following command on the remote terminal to modify the configurations of the control tool.

   echo Host_IP_Address:Host_Port > /linkedge/run/ds_ctrl.conf

   Note Host IP Address specifies the host IP address of your edge gateway. Host Port specifies the host port that is specified in step 2 of the Use a device simulator driver topic. In this example, port 8999 is specified.
3. Use the control tool to control device behaviors.
   Go to the /linkedge/gateway/build/bin directory, and run the ./ds_ctrl command to view the syntax.

   Usage: ds_ctrl <command>
   
   where <command> is one of:
       property, event
   
   ds_ctrl property productKey deviceName params            Change property
   ds_ctrl event productKey deviceName eventCode params     Trigger event
   
   
   For example(productKey = xxx, deviceName = yyy):
       ds_ctrl property xxx yyy '{"temperature":30}'
       ds_ctrl event xxx yyy alarm '{"temperature":90}'

   • Change a device property
     1. Change the temperature.
        Use the tool to change the sensor temperature to 30.

        ./ds_ctrl property a1WuxHr**** temperatureSensor01 '{"temperature":30}'

        The system returns the following message, indicating that the temperature is changed.

        Send property success!

     2. In the left-side navigation pane of the IoT Platform console, choose Devices > Devices. Find the required device and click View in the Actions column.

        On the Device Details page, click the Thing Model Data > Status tab to view the running status of the device.

        
     3. Optional. Simulate multiple temperature changes.
        Run the following command five times, and add the value by 1 each time.

        ./ds_ctrl property a1WuxHr**** temperatureSensor01 '{"temperature":31}'

        You can go to the Thing Model Data > Status tab to view data changes.
   • Trigger a device event
     1. Submit an event if the temperature reaches a specified value.

        ./ds_ctrl event a1WuxHr**** temperatureSensor01 high_temperature '{"temperature":90}'

     2. In the left-side navigation pane of the IoT Platform console, choose Devices > Devices. Find the required device and click View in the Actions column.

        On the Device Details page, click the Thing Model Data > Events tab to view the event details.

        

Online device debugging

1. In the left-side navigation pane of the IoT Platform console, choose Maintenance > Online Debug. On the Online Debug page, select the required product and device.
2. Retrieve device properties.
   After specifying the Debug Feature and Method parameters, click Dispatch Command. The current temperature 35 is displayed in the editor.
3. Change device properties.
   Change the temperature to 40 and click Dispatch Command. Go to the Status tab to view the device temperature. The temperature is changed to 40.
4. If you debug user-defined device services, the system will print the relevant information to driver logs and return the following message:

   {"code":0,"message":"success"}