You can connect Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) devices of China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom to IoT Platform. This topic describes how to connect an NB-IoT device to IoT Platform.

Background information

NB-IoT is an important branch of Internet of Things (IoT). If you deploy NB-IoT in a cellular network, it consumes approximately 180 kHz of bandwidth. You can deploy NB-IoT in a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), or Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network. This helps you reduce deployment costs and implement smooth upgrades.

You can connect NB-IoT devices of China Mobile and China Unicom over Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) and Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP).

If you use an NB-IoT device of China Telecom, you must directly connect the device to the AEP platform of China Telecom. Before you connect an NB-IoT device of China Telecom to IoT Platform, you must connect the device to the AEP platform of China Telecom. Then, you can configure a gateway in the IoT Platform console and associate the device with the gateway. This way, you can use and manage the device in the IoT Platform console.

Limits

You can connect an NB-IoT device of China Telecom only to an Ultimate Enterprise Edition instance.

The data format of the Thing Specification Language (TSL) models of IoT Platform is different from the data format of the TSL models of the AEP platform of China Telecom. After you connect an NB-IoT device of China Telecom to IoT Platform, convert the TSL data of the AEP platform to data whose format is supported by IoT Platform. This way, IoT Platform can receive data that is submitted by the device.

Connect an NB-IoT device