A picture to interpret the WeChat IoT platform

1. The composition of the Internet of Things based on the WeChat hardware platform, including WeChat public platform/hardware platform, third-party vendor cloud backend, mobile phone WeChat/public number, WeChat hardware device terminal (Wifi and Bluetooth BLE)

2. Green represents the basic platform and services provided by Tencent to developers and the public, and is accessed by hardware devices through red (airsync/airkiss) defined hardware peripheral protocols, red (WeChat hardware platform access protocol, XML/JSON) For the manufacturer's cloud back-end access; Bluetooth and purple areas represent the tasks that developers must accomplish, where Bluetooth is the task of embedded hardware device terminals, and purple is the task of third-party vendors' cloud backends.

IoT architecture diagram based on WeChat hardware platform

The above picture covers the following information:

3. Communication protocol identification between the various components of the Internet of Things. Except for the red-marked agreement, the agreement established by the WeChat public platform and the hardware platform must be followed, and the other components of the agreement are all custom protocols.

4. The SDK provided by the Wifi module provider generally provides socket communication interface, while the cloud back end generally uses web programming technology such as JSP/PHP, so the wifi device needs to simulate the HTTP protocol to communicate with the cloud terminal. HTTP is a standard public communication protocol. The application layer needs to establish a custom application protocol on top of HTTP to complete the control and interaction of the device. The application protocol can be XML/JSON and so on. Of course, if the cloud backend uses the underlying socket programming, the wifi device terminal may not need to emulate http.

5. Bluetooth accesses WeChat through the airsync protocol, which specifies the process of device discovery, binding, login, initialization, receiving user commands, and sending messages actively.

6. Airkiss uses JSAPI to allow users to enter the router's username and password on WeChat, and then tells the wifi device that there is no key input and screen display, so that the device can connect to the router to enter the network online state. In addition, Airkiss has nothing to do with the interaction between users and vendors and devices. In essence, Airkiss is just a configuration Internet feature, independent of the control and interaction of the Internet of Things.

7. The Wifi device access to the WeChat hardware platform is far-field control. As long as the device is online, the mobile phone user can control the device whenever he can access the Internet. A typical example is that the company can control the home through the mobile phone. The smart socket is powered on; the Bluetooth device access to the WeChat hardware platform must rely on the mobile phone, which is near-field control. The typical scene is that the mobile phone controls the lights and air conditioners in the home.

This article analyzes the entire WeChat hardware platform Internet of Things from the perspective of developers, and does not discuss such areas as IoT operations. So, from the perspective of development, what are the core elements of the Internet of Things, and what does the WeChat platform support? My understanding is:

WeChat hardware platform does not do much in the field of Internet of Things. Just think about how much purple and blue in the architecture diagram are left to developers, and they all have to be naked. For the average equipment supplier, they want to access it is also awkward. In this architecture, the most important thing that the WeChat hardware platform does is identity authentication.