IoT Platform API Integration
Internet of Things (IoT) platform APIs connect physical devices — sensors, industrial equipment, environmental monitors, wearables, smart building systems — to software applications. IoT integration enables remote monitoring, data collection, automated responses to physical events, and digital-physical workflow integration.
IoT Architecture Components
- Devices: Hardware sensors and actuators collecting data or responding to commands
- Connectivity: How devices connect — WiFi, cellular (LTE-M, NB-IoT), LoRaWAN, Zigbee, Bluetooth
- IoT Platform: Cloud service managing device registration, data ingestion, telemetry storage, and device commands
- Application: Your software consuming device data via the platform API
Major IoT Platforms
- AWS IoT Core: Managed IoT platform — device registry, MQTT message broker, rules engine, device shadows (digital twin)
- Azure IoT Hub: Microsoft's IoT platform — strong integration with Azure services and enterprise systems
- Google Cloud IoT (transitioning to new services): GCP IoT capabilities via Pub/Sub and Cloud IoT API
- Particle: Full-stack IoT platform with hardware, connectivity, and cloud — good for custom hardware projects
- Losant: IoT platform with visual workflow builder — accessible for non-specialists
Integration Considerations
- Device authentication — each device needs unique credentials; certificate-based auth preferred over shared secrets
- Data volume — IoT generates high-frequency small messages; design for throughput not just occasional API calls
- MQTT vs HTTP — MQTT is the standard IoT messaging protocol (lightweight, pub/sub); most platforms support both