Servitly includes all the functionalities you require to manage the entire product lifecycle.
Here is represented the product lifecycle from assembly phases to the provisioning and maintenance phases.
Main phases of the product lifecycle:
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Unassigned product registration.
- Testing
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Product activation by serial number and token.
- Product factory reset.
To communicate with the cloud, a product must be registered with the right type, and connection mapping information, which can vary depending on the underlying chosen IoT connector. Generally, such connection mapping includes a set of credentials (username and password), and other data (e.g. asset-id, path).
This information will be used during the Product activation, to avoid the End-user providing the wrong properties (e.g. selecting the wrong product model). The activation procedure requires that the product, and a connection-token have been registered within the system.
First of all, you have to register products specifying the main information and properties (e.g. type, serial number), then you must register connection-tokens required by the activation process.
In the case where the IoT Connector is configured at the tenant level, for example, you are using a third-party connector and the data flow is cloud-2-cloud, connection-token is not necessary if the product has been registered at least with the asset-id. Note that in this way, to activate the product it is enough to know the serial number of it, if you need a higher level of security, it is suggested to use also the connection-token which generally is accessible only by the owner of the product (a code inside the box of the product).
A connection-token holds the information required by the product to open the communication channel to the cloud. Connection tokens are registered separately from the products because it is not always known in advance which gateway will be deployed in which product.
Moreover, by keeping this information disjointed, it is possible to increase the level of security. During the activation phase, the user will be asked for two codes, the serial number, which can be easily found (e.g. barcode printed on the back), and the connection token, which is distributed as a tag together with the product documentation and therefore not visible immediately.
In other cases where you do not need a certain level of security, the token may be the same as the serial number, in such a way, during the product activation only one code is requested.
Only unassigned products can be activated, so a user cannot activate a product that is already active under another customer.
Product Registration
The Manufacturer can register products by providing the Thing Definition and the product descriptive data (e.g. Serial Number, Certificates, Properties). This operation can be done one product at a time, or in a bulk way through a CSV file. Both options are allowed from API or from UI by using the register-things-widget.
The following information must be provided during the product registration:
- Thing Definition: the name of the Thing Definition associated with the product.
- Serial Number: the number used by the manufacturer to identify the product.
Optional information:
- Name: the name associated with the product (e.g. Boiler Auriga 100).
- Shared Key: the pre-shared certificate key associated with the product.
- Public Key: the public certificate key associated with the product.
- Properties: the additional properties (e.g. properties.size).
This is an example of CSV which can be used in bulk product registration.
serialNumber,thingDefinitionName
BO-123,Boiler Auriga 100
This is an example of CSV with additional properties
name,serialNumber,thingDefinitionName,properties.power
Auriga 100,BO-123,Boiler Auriga 100,24kw
Connection Token Registration
Connection tokens can be registered through a specific API which can be called by the manufacturer or the hardware supplier during the assembly process. In the alternative, you can upload through the UI a CSV file containing all the connection tokens.
If you decide to use the UI to manage the connection tokens, you can use the Connection Tokens widget.
Testing
Servitly offers different ways you can test the products during their life phases.
Connection Test
During the product assembly phases, the manufacturer must save within the firmware the credentials and other mapping information required by the gateway to establish the connection with the cloud, and send/receive data. The Connection Test page allows testing that the gateway hardware can connect to the cloud before the gateway is embedded/installed within the final product and then delivered.
Within the Test page, you can enter a connection-token to test, select the desired thing definition, and begin a new connection test by pressing the START button. During the connection test, you can verify that the product goes online and send data correctly to the cloud.
When a connection test completes all the collected data are deleted, and the token is released for further activation.
Factory Test
Once the final product has been assembled the Manufacturer generally performs some tests. The Factory Test feature permits to verify that the Product is working well, and register some data which can be used in the future to verify performances once the product is used by the customer.
Through the technical dashboard, Technicians can access the list of test sessions, start a new one, or inspect the historical sessions.
The STOP button allows stopping the running test session, when clicked, a dialog asks the Technician to provide an outcome (SUCCESS or FAILURE) and a note (optional).
Test sessions conducted when the product is not assigned to a customer are automatically marked as FACTORY TEST.
When the test completes the product is restored to its previous state, and the associated Connection Token is released.
Installation and Service Test
When the product is installed and activated, the service technician can, from time to time, perform a Service Test (e.g. periodic maintenance), checking whether the product is working well and allowing to compare test data with the factory test collected data. Test sessions can be managed as done for factory tests by accessing the Technical dashboard. Test sessions conducted when the product is assigned to a customer are automatically marked as SERVICE TEST.
Product Activation
Products can be easily activated by the end-users through a dedicated Web page which requires providing a Serial Number and optionally a Connection Token.
The end-user can start a new product activation through the Activate button present on the location details page.
When pressed a form will ask the user to provide the serial number of the product being activated.
In case the activate product button is placed outside the location details page, for instance, the customer details or overview page, the user is shown a dialog box to select the target location or create a new one.
The activation process follows these steps:
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the system searches for a registered product having the given serial number.
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if found, the product is associated with the location where the activation takes place.
- if the connection mapping of the product is valid the process jumps to step 7, else go on.
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the system searches for a connection-token having the ID equal to the provided serial number.
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if not found, the user must also insert a valid connection-token.
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when also the connection-token is validated, it is associated with the product.
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the product cloud status is changed to ACTIVE.
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the product can establish a cloud connection and start exchanging data with the cloud.
When the activation process completes the user is automatically forwarded to the product monitoring dashboard.
Factory Reset
In case the product is sold, or the owner has changed, it can be deactivated allowing the new owner to perform a new activation. By entering the product editing page, the Settings tab allows performing a Factory Reset.
When done:
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The product is disconnected from the location and added back to the UNASSIGNED product list.
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The Customer is no longer able to access the product dashboard.
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The Cloud Status is changed to INACTIVE and the product is no longer able to communicate with the Cloud.
- All the properties, having the "Restore default on thing deactivation" selected, are restored to the default value.
- All the metrics, having the "Reset value" specified, are restored to the reset value (e.g. Counter metric).
- All the active alerts are cleared.
- All the running work-sessions are stopped.
Customer access to historical data can be limited to proprietary data only, which means that in the event that, after a factory reset, the owner customer is changed, the new customer will not be able to see the previous customer's data. This feature must be enabled in the Advanced Settings panel of the environment.
Cloud Status
Within the product editing view, under the Cloud tab you can verify the cloud status history and if needed change the cloud status to ACTIVE, INACTIVE, or TEST.
For more details refer to the Publishing Rate Limit article.
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