When you use IoT Platform, you must first create a product in the console. A product consists of multiple devices of the same type. In most cases, these devices have the same features. For example, you can create a product to represent a hardware product model, and create a device of the product model.

Procedure

  1. Log on to the IoT Platform console.
  2. On the Overview page, find the instance and click the instance name to go to the Instance Details page.
    Notice Enterprise Edition instances are available only in the Japan (Tokyo) region. If your IoT Platform is not activated in the Japan (Tokyo) region, skip this step.
    Overview
  3. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Devices > Products. On the page that appears, click Create Product.
  4. Specify the parameters and then click OK.
    Parameter Description
    Product Name The name of the product. The product name must be unique within the Alibaba Cloud account. For example, you can enter the product model as the product name. The name must be 4 to 30 characters in length and can contain letters, digits, underscores (_), hyphens (-), at signs (@), and parentheses ().
    Node Type

    The type of devices under the product. Valid values:

    • Directly Connected Device: Devices can directly connect to IoT Platform. The devices cannot be attached with sub-devices. The devices cannot be attached to gateways as sub-devices.
    • Gateway Sub-device: Devices cannot directly connect to IoT Platform. The devices must connect to IoT Platform by using gateways. For more information about gateways and sub-devices, see Gateways and sub-devices.
    • Gateway Device: Devices can directly connect to IoT Platform and be attached with sub-devices. You can use a gateway to manage sub-devices. You can maintain the topological relationships of sub-devices, and synchronize the topological relationships to IoT Platform.
    Gateway Connection Protocol

    This parameter is available if you set the Node Type parameter to Gateway Sub-device. This parameter specifies the communication protocol between sub-devices and gateways. Valid values:

    • Custom: Other standard or private protocols are used.
    • Modbus: The Modbus protocol is used.
    • OPC UA: The OPC UA protocol is used.
    • ZigBee: The ZigBee protocol is used.
    • BLE: The BLE protocol is used.
    Network Connection Method The network connection method of directly connected devices or gateway devices. Valid values:
    • Wi-Fi
    • Cellular (2G/3G/4G/5G)
    • Ethernet
    • Others
    Data Type The format of upstream and downstream data. Valid values:
    • ICA Standard Data Format (Alink JSON): The JSON-based Alink protocol is provided by IoT Platform for communication between devices and IoT Platform.
    • Custom: If you want to use a custom serial data format, set this parameter to Custom.

      You must submit a data parsing script in the console to convert upstream custom-format data to Alink JSON data and parse downstream Alink JSON data to custom-format data. This way, devices can communicate with IoT Platform.

    Checksum Type After a device submits Thing Specification Language (TSL) data to IoT Platform, IoT Platform verifies the data based on the specified verification type.

    If the Data Format parameter of a product is Custom, the TSL data submitted by the devices under the product is parsed before verification. IoT Platform uses a data parsing script to convert the submitted data to Alink JSON data.

    • Weak Verification: IoT Platform verifies only the identifier and dataType fields of device data. All data is forwarded.

      The verified data is displayed on the TSL Data tab of the Device Details page in the IoT Platform console. The data that fails the verification is not displayed.

      You can view the data that fails the verification in the checkFailedData parameter of the forwarded data. For more information, see Data formats.

    • Verification-free: IoT Platform does not verify device data. All data is forwarded.

      Usage notes of TSL models:

      • Submit TSL properties: The property data is not displayed on the TSL Data > Status tab of the Device Details page in the IoT Platform console .
      • Call TSL services: The asynchronous call method is used for all services.
      • Submit TSL events: The type of all events is Info.
    Product Description The description of the product. The description can be up to 100 characters in length.

What to do next

  1. Develop the product.

    In the left-side navigation pane, choose Devices > Products. In the product list, find the product and click View to go to the Product Details page. Click the following tabs to view product details: Product Information, Topic Categories, Custom topics, Define Feature, Server-side Subscription, and Data Parsing.

  2. Develop a device.

    On the Product Details page, click the Device Provisioning tab. You can create a device, develop device features, burn a certificate to the device, and authenticate the device when you establish a connection. After you develop the device, you can connect the device to IoT Platform. For more information, see Connect devices to IoT Platform.

  3. On the Product Details page, click Publish to publish the product. Product Details

    Before you publish the product, make sure that all parameters of the product are set and devices are developed and debugged.

    After you publish the product, the product status changes to Published. In this case, you can only view the product information. You cannot modify or delete the product.

    Products

    If a product is published, you can unpublish the product. To do it, click Unpublish on the Product Details page.

    If a product is not published, you can delete the product. To do it, click Delete on the Products page. Before you delete a product, you must delete all devices under the product. For more information, see Delete a device.