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Integrations
Integrations are needed in order to let your data flow in and out of the platform. Blockbax exposes its complete functionality through programming interfaces APIs. This means that all of the platform’s functionality is available for you to use in different contexts outside of what we directly provide – in your own applications, in your own devices.
Most importantly you want to make sure your sensor data continuously flows into the platform by connecting your devices to our APIs. We offer a number of built-in integrations that allow you to stream measurements into Blockbax; some of them also support streaming measurements and events out of Blockbax.
Finally, there are integrations that allow you to access core functionality of our platform. An important use case is to build custom user-facing applications on top of our platform or synchronizing reference data, such as data from asset management, ERPs, GISs, PLM software, etcetera. Applications can either request data using the HTTP API or receive events in real-time via webhooks.
A wide range of (device) connection guides are available to help you get started quickly.
Important note about time handling
Correct handling of measurement time is fundamental to predictable and traceable behavior within the Blockbax Platform. Integrations should ensure correct time ordering and avoid future timestamps to prevent invalid measurements and unintended behavior. Read more
Built-in integrations
| Technology | Description | |
|---|---|---|
 | Kafka | Stream measurements and events to and from Apache Kafka |
 | Amazon Kinesis | Stream measurements from Amazon Kinesis |
 | Azure Event Hub | Stream measurements and events to and from Azure Event Hub |
 | MQTT | Publish measurements or subscribe to properties via an MQTT client or connect an existing broker |
 | HTTP | Send measurements and access core functionality using standard HTTP requests |
 | Webhooks | Trigger follow-up actions via HTTP webhooks when events occur |
 | CoAP | Send measurements using CoAP requests for efficient communication on constrained devices |
 | LwM2M | Connect devices to send measurements and enable remote control via LwM2M |
Access keys
Access keys are needed to integrate with our APIs. You can easily create one by giving the key a descriptive name to easily recognize and find it. Next, you can select the key type and set the permission to constrain the person or system on what it can do with your data. If you create the access key while creating a connector, the correct type will automatically be selected.
Key type
Based on the type of protocol you want to integrate with you select the type of key required.
| Protocol | Description |
|---|---|
| Using HTTP, MQTT or a Blockbax SDK | Default API key for authentication |
| Using CoAP or LwM2M | Pre-shared key (PSK) for encryption and authentication |
NOTE: Once created, you have to copy the secret information and use it straight away, because you won’t be able to see it again.
Permissions
| Permission set | Description |
|---|---|
| Full access | Full access, the key can be used to read and write all data. |
| Only send measurements | Partial access, the key can be used to send new measurements using all inbound connectors. |
| Read only | Read-only, the key can be used to read all data. |
| Custom | Custom permissions can be assigned for more fine-grained control. In addition to the permissions configurable for roles the permissions for webhooks are also available to give access to the webhooks API. |
SDKs
Currently, there are two SDKs available to speed up and ease the integration with Blockbax:
| SDK | Description |
|---|---|
 | Node-RED is an open-source visual programming tool for wiring together various protocols. A large range of community build nodes (i.e. plugins) are available for various protocols (including Modbus, OPC UA/DA, BACnet, CAN bus and M-Bus). We provide a set of Blockbax nodes to easily interact with our platform via Node-RED. |
 | The Python SDK enables developers to speed up and ease the integration with Blockbax. It makes interfacing with our HTTP API even easier where you can easily get, create, update and delete resources without the intricacies of having to deal with HTTP requests and responses. |
Connection guides
A wide range of connection guides is available to help you get started quickly. Technologies can range from:
- connectivity platforms and networks
- automation protocols
- device gateways and platforms
- sensors
- generic payload formats
- external data providers
Connectivity platforms and networks
| Network | Description |
|---|---|
 | 3G, 4G or 5G are standards for cellular networks. Devices on these networks can reach our platform’s APIs directly. Possibly your device is covered in one of the other guides. |
 | LTE-M is a type of low-power wide area network (LPWAN). The advantage of LTE-M over NB-IoT is its comparatively higher data rate and mobility, but it requires more bandwidth and is more costly. Devices on these networks can reach our platform’s APIs directly. Possibly your device is covered in one of the other guides. |
 | NB-IoT is a type of low-power wide area network (LPWAN). The advantage of NB-IoT over LTE-M is it requires less power and is cheaper, but it has a lower data rate and is only suitable for devices on a fixed location. Devices on these networks can reach our platform’s APIs directly, especially our CoAP API is recommended because of the relatively low data rate. Possibly your device is covered in one of the other guides. |
 | Sigfox operates its own end-to-end low-power wide area network (LPWAN). You can easily integrate the Sigfox Backend to the Blockbax Platform. |
 | The Things Network is a LoRaWAN connectivity provider. LoRaWAN is also a low-power wide area network (LPWAN). We integrate seamless with their core product the LoRaWAN Network Server. |
 | The Things Industries is a LoRaWAN connectivity provider. LoRaWAN is also a low-power wide area network (LPWAN). We integrate seamless with their core product the LoRaWAN Network Server. |
 | On WiFi (WLAN, or just LAN) connected to the Internet devices can reach our platform’s APIs directly. Possibly your device is covered in one of the other guides. |
Automation protocols
Automation protocols used for the automation of processes (industrial or otherwise), such as for building automation, power-system automation, automatic meter reading, and vehicular automation encompass a large spectrum. Examples of typical protocols connected to our platform are OPC UA (or it predecessor OPC DA), Modbus (over TCP, RS485, RS232 or Profibus), BACnet, CAN bus, M-Bus, etc. These protocols are typically connected to our platform via gateways and/or special-purpose software of which some are featured in the section below.
Device gateways and platforms
| Gateway | Description |
|---|---|
 | BACE IoT Platform by Evalan is an IoT building block to manage your devices in the cloud. From the BACE Cloud you can ingest measurements in Blockbax with a few clicks. |
 | We integrate seamlessly with Kepware (part of PTC) its main product KEPServerEX. KEPServerEX can be used to connect (mainly over OPC) and control diverse automation devices and software applications. |
 | Milesight LoRaWAN gateways are easy to install and setup. With minimal effort you can setup your own LoRaWAN network to connect your devices to. When combining Node-RED with our Node-RED SDK on their gateways you can connect a LoRaWAN sensor within minutes. |
 | Option CloudGate gateways are set up in a modular way to support a wide range of networks (such as 3G, LoRaWAN, NB-IoT and LTE-M), sockets (such as ethernet, RS232/RS485, analog or digital IOs, I2C, CAN or USB) and protocols (such as BACnet, CAN bus, Modbus and M-Bus). It has active GPS and comes with Luvit-RED for edge computing, which works similarly to Node-RED. Luvit-RED can be used to configure local processing for instance to handle some event rule logic locally or pre-aggregate data before sending it to the Blockbax Platform. |
 | Siemens RUGGEDCOM portfolio is designed specifically for applications in the harshest environmental conditions. The RUGGEDCOM RX1400 is a multi-protocol intelligent node which combines Ethernet switching, routing and application hosting capabilities with various connectivity options (such as 3G, 4G and WiFi). It has multiple ways of accessing data within a network or with serial interfaces. Via its Application Communication Engine it can serve as interface between the Blockbax Platform and protocols such as IEC 61850, Modbus and DNP3. |
 | Teltonika Networks gateways can be connected over Ethernet, 4G, LTE-M or NB-IoT. It can directly connect Modbus devices to the Blockbax Platform (via Ethernet, RS232, RS485 or I/O interfaces). |
 | The Smart Communication Card (SCC) from ABB is designed for connecting field devices to cloud-based systems, facilitating basic control logic via Node-RED. It supports Modbus RTU, Modbus TCP, and OPC UA protocols for seamless integration. The SCC enables cost-effective connectivity and monitoring for decentralized applications, including energy and temperature monitoring. For more information, visit ABB Smart Communication Card. |
Sensors
| Manufacturer | Description |
|---|---|
 | Airthings offers devices used for radon and indoor air quality monitoring. |
 | Aranet offer wireless sensors and a IoT ecosystem for indoor, horticulture, livestock and retail monitoring. |
 | Digital Matter offers a large portfolio of LPWAN, integration-ready and battery-powered asset tracking devices across a range of connectivity technologies. |
 | Janitza has a wide range of energy and power monitoring sensors. These sensors help you gain a comprehensive overview of your energy supplies and introduce widely accepted measures and standards (e.g. EN50160 for power quality). |
| Milesight offers a variety of indoor and outdoor LoRaWAN Environment Monitoring Sensors. |
 | Pressac offers a wide range of smart building sensors for sensing occupancy, environment and energy. With their smart IoT sensor technology you can measure, monitor and detect changes in a building’s environment and assets, and send near real-time data to the Blockbax Platform. They’re easy to install and can be connected to Blockbax using the Blockbax Node-RED SDK. |
Generic payload formats
| Format | |
|---|---|
| SenML | Sensor Measurement Lists is a data format that can represent simple sensor measurements. It aims to be a simple and small message format used by constraint devices while still self-describing. |
| KPN Things | KPN Things is a superset of the SenML format created by KPN. It includes common measurements which can automatically be mapped to Blockbax metrics. |
External data providers
| Provider | Description |
|---|---|
 | OpenWeather provides weather data for each point on the globe. This data can be used to enrich your subjects with location-aware metrics for weather data. Of course these metrics can also be used as inputs for your calculated metrics and event triggers. |
 | TenneT provides grid and market data via public APIs. Key data points such as settlement prices and balance delta can be used to enrich your Blockbax project with market-aware and grid-aware insights. These metrics support automated decision-making and serve as valuable inputs for calculated metrics, visualizations, and event triggers. |
Embed charts
Sometimes it can be helpful to show charts with your measurement data on another web page. Our Embed API offers a convenient way to render interactive charts on any web page. See for example the chart below, which displays real-time data from a Blockbax project. If you want to learn how to embed charts on your own web page, refer to the Embed API documentation.
SSO
ENTERPRISE Manage user access centrally through your preferred identity provider (IDP). We currently support integrating using the SAML 2.0 protocol which is supported by most IDPs. Just-in-time (JIT) provisioning is enabled by default. This means that user accounts are created the first time users successfully log in to the Blockbax Platform through an IDP. In order to help you get started quickly we created the following guides:
| IDP | Description |
|---|---|
 | Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is a cloud-based identity and access management service. You can easily setup by using our prebuilt template from the Azure AD Gallery. |
 | Okta Single Sign-On is a secure cloud-based single sign-on solution that can be used to easily setup SSO for everybody in your organization. |