IoT Edge Framework

Edge Computing enables systems to perform data processing at the edge of the network, near the source of the data. This reduces the communications bandwidth needed between sensors and the central data center by performing analytics and knowledge generation at or near the source of the data. The Internet of Things (IoT) service gateway model, running enterprise-level software stacks and operating on the edge of an IoT deployment as an aggregator and controller, provides the best foundation for Edge Computing solutions.

Eurotech’s Everyware Software Framework (ESF) is a commercial, enterprise-ready edition of Eclipse Kura, the open source Java/OSGi IoT Edge Framework for IoT gateways. Distributed and supported by Eurotech, ESF enhances Eclipse Kura with premium features around advanced security, diagnostics, provisioning, remote access and full integration with Everyware Cloud, Eurotech’s IoT Integration Platform.

The ESF IoT Edge Framework enables developers to:

  • Develop and manage IoT edge computing applications
  • Easily connect to IoT devices and cloud services using IoT industrial protocols
  • Visually compose data flows to manage, analyse and route data

Thanks to its Java/OSGi basis, ESF and its applications can be ported across different system hardware architectures and can be dynamically updated. Moreover, as ESF is based on the leading open source technology Eclipse Kura, it prevents vendor lock-in and guarantees the protection of the software investment.

The functinalities offered by the ESF IoT Edge Framework can be divided into three main areas:

Connect to Field Devices

ESF employs a single model to simplify the communication between the devices and the gateway. It first encapsulates protocols such as Modbus and OPC-UA so that a common format can be reused across different devices then it automatically creates a digital image of a device to easily connect it to the gateway and the cloud. ESF also provides APIs to interfaces with the I/O interfaces of an IoT gateway like Serial communication via RS 232/485, Bluetooth 2.1, Bluetooth 4.0 and BLE, USB, and CAN Bus. The support for interfaces and protocol is available at the Eclipse Marketplace for IoT.

Develop IoT Computing Applications

ESF also acts as an application container for Edge Computing applications deployed on IoT Gateways. ESF applications can be developed using plain Java code and packaged as OSGi bundles. ESF Java APIs provide a rich set of services for data acquisition, processing, cloud connectivity and remote management. ESF also provides a simple visual dataflow​ programming tool, named Wires, to define data collection and processing pipelines at the edge by simply selecting components from a palette and wiring them together. Wires allows users, for example, to periodically acquire data from its channels, store them in the gateway, filter or aggregate them using powerful SQL queries, and send the results to the cloud. The Eclipse Marketplace for IoT is a repository from which additional Wires components can be installed into an ESF runtime with a simple drag-and-drop.

Connectivity

Connect to IoT Cloud Services

ESF also provides full connectivity management to remote cloud servers enabling store-and-forward functionality for the telemetry data and offering a policy-driven publishing system, which abstracts the application developer from the complexity of the network layer and the publishing protocol used.
ESF provides out-of-the-box support to connect to different IoT cloud providers, including Eurotech Everyware Cloud, Eclipse Kapua, Microsoft Azure IoT Hub, Amazon Aws IoT, and more will be added in the future. This will make it possible to develop and deploy IoT gateway solutions that are not tied to a particular IoT cloud vendor. In addition, it will also allow to generate multiple data flows from a single IoT gateway routing messages based on a privacy policy or separating telemetry data from command and control message exchanges and employing power message routing rules.

Some cloud connectors are provided out of the box by ESF distribution, others are available as add-ons.

PlatformReferences
Everyware Cloud Connector documentation
Connector included in ESF distribution
Eclipse Kapua Connector documentation
Connector included in ESF distribution
Microsof Azure IoT Connector documentation
Connector download
Cumulocity Connector documentation
Connector download
ExositeConnector download
AWS IoT Core Connector documentation
Connector download
Apache Kafka®Connector documentation
Connector download
Redis Connector documentation
Connector download

Field protocol support

ESF supports the following field protocols through dedicated add-ons.

ProtocolVerticalRole implemented by GatewayReferencesNotes
ModbusIndustrialMasterDocumentation
Download
OPC UAIndustrialClientDocumentation
Download
OPC UAIndustrialServerDocumentation Download
Siemens S7IndustrialClientDocumentation
Download
[1] about PROFINET
LoRaIndustrialClientDocumentation
Download
[2]
FANUCIndustrialClientDocumentation
Download
J1939TransportationData AcquisitionDocumentation
Download for ARM
Download for x86_64
[3]
J1979TransportationData AcquisitionDocumentation
Download for ARM
Download for x86_64
BACNetBuilding AutomationClientDocumentation
Download
IEC 60870-5-104IndustrialMaster
Outstation
Master

Documentation
Download for AArch64
Download for ARMv7
Download for x86_64

Outstation

Documentation
Download for AArch64
Download for ARMv7
Download for x86_64
IEC 60870-5-101IndustrialMasterDocumentation
Download for AArch64
Download for ARMv7
Download for x86_64
DNP3IndustrialMaster
Outstation
Master

Documentation
Download for AArch64
Download for ARMv7
Download for x86_64

Outstation

Documentation
Download for AArch64
Download for ARMv7
Download for x86_64
[4] about how to setup a Modbus to DNP3 mapping
MBusIndustrialMasterDocumentation
Download for AArch64
Download for ARMv7
Download for x86_64
Ethernet/IP for AllenBradleyIndustrialMasterDocumentation
Download
DLMS/COSEMEnergy and GridDocumentation
Download
IEC 62056-21Energy and GridDocumentation
C37.118Energy and GridDocumentation
Twincat BeckhoffIndustrialDocumentation
Download for AArch64
Download for ARMv7
Download for x86_64
IEC 61850Energy and GridDocumentation
Download
OCPP 1.6Energy and GridDocumentation

[1] The driver does not implement the PROFINET protocol but can be used to interact with Siements S7 PLCs through the S7COMM protocol without interfering with process communication.
[2] Requires a ReliaWAN module.
[3] The driver is mainly intended for data acquisition. It only supports sending messages related to address claiming and parameter requests.
[4] A guide on how to setup a Modbus master to DNP3 outstation mapping is availalble on ESF documentation

I/O drivers

ESF also provides the following drivers as dedicated add-ons.

DriverReferences
GPIO Driver Documentation
Download
TI Sensortag Driver Documentation
Download
iBeacon Driver Documentation
Download
Eddystone Driver Documentation
Download
ReliaIO Driver Documentation
Download

Database Connectors

ESF supports the following database connectors.

Database ConnectorReference
MySQL Connector Documentation
Download
PostgreSQL® ClientDocumentation
Download