Introduction¶
A Gateway Node (G-Node) is a versatile edge device designed to perform several key functions. Its robust processing capabilities enable real-time data collection, transformation, and routing, ensuring the efficient flow of vital information between connected systems. With advanced features like data filtering, protocol conversion, and event-driven communication, G-Node can serve as a central hub for automation and monitoring processes.
Protocol Conversion: G-Node enables end-user devices, such as sensors and actuators, to connect seamlessly to a wide variety of services, including cloud platforms and on-premises tools. Its set of connectors is continuously expanding, with new connectors added regularly.
Data Filtering and Transormation: G-Node is not just a data-streaming device — it also provides robust capabilities for filtering, transforming, and even generating new data. Users can easily configure these features using an intuitive pipeline setup, offering flexibility and control over data flows.
Security Policy Enforcement: G-Node supports HTTPS and provides extended authentication methods for protocols such as MQTT and HTTP. Users can also install their own SSL certificates, ensuring secure communication over HTTP and MQTT channels. This enables G-Node to maintain high standards of security and privacy in data transmission.
Whether integrating field-level devices with enterprise systems or connecting industrial equipment to cloud-based analytics platforms, G-Node provides the flexibility and reliability needed for scalable and future-proof integration solutions.
G-Node as Integration Service¶
G-Node can serve as an adaptable integration platform, capable of seamlessly connecting diverse systems and protocols to create unified and efficient workflows. Equipped with support for standard industrial communication protocols and REST APIs, it bridges the gap between legacy systems, modern IoT platforms, and cloud infrastructures. Its multi-protocol capability ensures compatibility with a wide range of devices and systems, making it a reliable choice for centralizing data and facilitating smooth communication in complex environments.
Use Case: Manufacturing facility¶
A manufacturing facility operates with a mix of legacy industrial machines and modern IoT-enabled equipment. The goal is to implement a predictive maintenance system that monitors machine performance, predicts failures, and reduces unplanned downtime. However, the machines use different communication protocols, and the facility lacks a unified system to collect and process data from all sources.
G-Node connects to legacy machines using Modbus TCP for data collection, while simultaneously gathering data from newer IoT-enabled equipment via MQTT. It converts all machine data into a unified format compatible with the facility’s existing SCADA system and a cloud analytics platform.
In the future, owners may choose to further expand the role of G-Node by incorporating custom processing units into its pipelines. These units can be designed to perform process-specific data conditioning, enhancing its functionality to meet unique operational requirements.
G-Node as Data-Streaming Service¶
G-Node is designed to process and transmit data from multiple sources simultaneously, ensuring low latency and minimal disruption, even in demanding operational scenarios.
Data streams can be configured and reconfigured in real-time using either the API or the Web-GUI, providing flexibility and ease of management.
Multiple data streams can run and operate independently, while also offering the ability to interconnect streams via internal queues. This feature unlocks limitless opportunities for creating complex, mixed data streams and building sophisticated workflows.
Use Case: Smart Agriculture¶
In this scenario, a smart farm is equipped with multiple sensors installed across the property. These sensors communicate using different protocols — some send data via MQTT, while others use HTTP.
The farm owner has purchased sensors from various vendors. While these sensors are well-documented, the lack of data format unification creates integration challenges. Additionally, the humidity sensors send measurements every second, resulting in excessive data transmission, which is unnecessary for the farm’s needs.
To manage the sensor data, the farm owner has deployed an application in a popular cloud platform. This application aggregates sensor data into an intuitive dashboard, offering real-time performance analytics for the farm. While the solution works reasonably well, it incurs significant costs due to the high-frequency data from the humidity sensors, which also trigger computational tasks the farmer is billed for.
Another issue arises from the cloud application being designed for specific sensors, expecting data in a fixed format. Introducing a new model of sensors with a slightly different data structure requires costly customization by consultants. This forces the farmer to either adapt the application for the new sensors or continue using older models that no longer meet their requirements.
G-Node addresses these challenges effortlessly. By positioning G-Node between the sensors and the cloud application, the farmer can easily limit the frequency of telemetry data from the humidity sensors, significantly reducing data transmission and associated costs. Using G-Node intuitive pipeline configuration, the farmer can transform messages from new sensors into a format compatible with the existing cloud application, eliminating the need for expensive reprogramming.
In the future, G-Node control capabilities can help enabling advanced automation, such as activating the irrigation system when moisture sensors detect that the soil is too dry. This flexibility empowers the farmer to optimize operations, reduce costs, and enhance overall farm performance.
G-Node as Control Service¶
G-Node can operate as an independent controller for a network of sensors and actuators. It is capable of receiving data from devices, processing it, and sending back control messages. This self-sufficiency eliminates the need for additional computational services, making it an ideal solution for small-scale projects.
With its built-in G-Cloud client, G-Node can be accessed and configured remotely over the Internet, providing convenience and flexibility for managing and adapting to project requirements.
Use Case: Parking Space¶
In this scenario, a parking lot is equipped with presence sensors that detect vehicles and highlight the corresponding parking spaces with lights. To maximize flexibility, there is no hard-coded connection between a presence sensor and a specific light.
G-Node can be configured to implement this logic dynamically. When a sensor detects a vehicle, it sends an event to G-Node. Based on the sensor’s identifier, G-Node sends a command to activate the appropriate light segment.
In the future, the parking lot owner may choose to integrate this system into a larger platform. For example, G-Node can enable the same data to be sent to the cloud for logging, visualization, or further analysis, providing scalability and additional functionality.
G-Node as Filtering Service¶
G-Node pipelines can be configured to filter data sent by sensors and actuators. This includes log messages, excessively frequent measurements, values within a certain range, and more.
The criteria for filtering data are entirely up to the G-Node user, who can easily create new rules or modify existing ones in real-time, offering excellent flexibility and adaptability.
Use Case: Building Monitoring¶
In a large building, numerous temperature sensors are installed throughout various spaces. These sensors continuously send data to a central unit, which executes control logic and stores all collected data in a database.
However, the large number of sensors and the high frequency of updates create a problem. For spaces like storage rooms, where high responsiveness isn’t critical, the frequent updates are unnecessary. This extra data overwhelms the control unit and clogs the database with redundant information.
While the sensors themselves are configurable, adjusting them individually is tedious, especially when periodic tuning is required. G-Node resolves this issue by enforcing centralized rules that filter out excess data before it reaches the control unit. Instead of configuring each sensor manually, users can apply a single configuration to all sensors via G-Node, simplifying the process and saving significant time and effort.
In the future, building maintaners may choose to store historical data in a more cost-effective cloud database. G-Node makes this transition seamless by enabling additional pipelines to send filtered data directly to the cloud database service of their choice, enhancing scalability and reducing costs.