What is Gateway Engine?

One of IoT’s most useful tools is the gateway. Gateways are the bridge that connects a device in the field to an IoT platform and, ultimately, the end application. Though gateways are incredibly useful, they can be a challenging part of any solution—establishing a connection, building a framework, and configuring software can be hard to do. To assist with these difficulties, Exosite created software to both simplify and optimize the use of gateways in IoT applications. Before we jump into how Exosite can make your gateway experience simple and efficient, let's take a second to look at when an IoT solution would benefit from a gateway.

Generally speaking, all a solution needs is data and a route to the Internet. Today, however, solutions are becoming more and more complex, requiring systems to manage fairly large amounts of data. When this data builds up, it can be hard for a system to get it all to the Internet, and that’s where the gateway comes in. Gateways can be used to process this data and send it to the cloud in a more efficient way. Using a gateway allows the user to collect more data from more devices, and reliably send it to the cloud. Though gateways do an incredible job at handling this data, there are some issues with processing all of it. Managing a gateway is no simple task; however, Exosite came up with a product that eases some of the struggle.

The Value of Gateway Engine

Gateway Engine (GWE) is Exosite’s solution to the various complications that come from working with gateways. GWE puts just about everything you need on a gateway into a kit built for IoT solutions. The main features of GWE include its ability to install and modify software over the air, an application-hosting framework for custom gateway applications, an Exosite API library in Python, and Supervisor integration to help manage custom gateway applications’ runtime environment. This means that users have the power to create and run IoT solutions in an easy-to-work-with environment, and manage the entire thing remotely. Between sending updates over the air and Supervisor keeping an eye on your gateway, there will almost never be a case for on-site repair or management. Essentially, GWE provides users all the tools they’ll need to develop their own custom gateway application with Exosite.

Not only does GWE reduce the stress involved in managing a gateway, but it also provides value by reducing risk, enhancing security, and enabling an end-to-end IoT ecosystem. Some of GWE’s features such as application monitoring and message queuing provide assurance that data isn’t lost, and since communication is done over industry-standard SSL/TLS protocol,  users’ data will be safe and secure. Due to built-in connectivity to Murano, Exosite’s enterprise IoT platform, GWE opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Users will have access to application deployment, device management, and user integration all within the same system. With one simple installation, you have the power transform an ordinary gateway into a powerful IoT tool.

GWE is capable of being installed on a vast number of platforms. The basic requirements are that the gateway being used runs a Linux OS and has Python 2.7.9+ (for more details visit the GWE Getting Started page). Installing it is simple; simply download and unpack GWE, run the installer, and configure GWE to an Exosite product. Once installed, the possibilities are endless.

Using Exosite’s platform,GWE empowers users to do what gateways were meant to do and more. Using its unique toolkit, users are granted to opportunity to create personalized IoT solutions with ease. Maintaining and managing these systems are made easier with over the air capabilities as well as supervisor management. No longer will users have to struggle from the ground up, but instead start their solutions on a platform built to enable.

Connect with one of our IoT experts to learn how GWE and Murano can accelerate your connected product development.