MODE Developer Central

BizStack Overview

BizStack is a technology stack created and operated by MODE for collecting, storing, and surfacing “field data”. While it is an end-to-end solution that covers the entire data journey from sensors to users, it is also a platform that offers many opportunities for custom development and integration with other systems.

Main Components

The following are the main components that make up BizStack:

  • BizStack Cloud
  • BizStack Gateway
  • BizStack Console
BizStack architecture overview

BizStack Cloud

  • Multi-tenant, hosted cloud service
  • Sometimes referred to as the “MODE Cloud”
  • Most clients use the REST API
  • BizStack Gateways (and other IoT devices) use the MQTT interface
  • Handles data routing, organization, storage, and retrieval
  • Data types include:
    • Time series data
    • Structured log data
    • Geolocation data
    • Video feeds
  • End user IAM
  • Data acquisition from other 3rd party data services via Integration Modules

BizStack Gateway

  • A hardware device that connects to on-site sensors and systems via a broad range of protocols.
  • Communicates to BizStack Cloud mainly via MQTT and HTTP.
  • Internet connection via Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or SIM dongle.
  • Supports remote configuration and over-the-air firmware updates.
  • Custom modules can be implemented to collect data from proprietary systems on site.

BizStack Console

  • Web frontend application for end users to navigate and visualize data, and to perform administrative tasks.
  • User-configurable dashboards (supports custom widgets via “plugins”)
  • Data sources management and data routing configuration
  • Gateway fleet management
  • User management
  • Alerts configuration

Key Concepts of BizStack

The following concepts are crucial to understanding BizStack’s operations:

  • Project
  • Data Source
  • Device
  • Entity
  • Data Routing
  • Home

Project

  • Project is the largest unit in BizStack.
  • Project is provisioned by MODE per contract.
  • Each project has its database of user accounts.
  • Data never crosses projects (strong isolation)

Data Source

Represents an origin of data to be injected into a Project. There are two main categories of data sources:

  • Data collected via BizStack Gateway, from
    • Supported senors (environment, occupancy, leak detection, etc.)
    • Building or industrial automation systems
  • Data collected via cloud-to-cloud integration
    • Officially supported 3rd party data services (Lilz Gauge, Mimawari Denshobato, etc.)
    • Custom data injection programs

Device

  • Any hardware device that collects data from data sources and relays the data to a project.
  • Also expected to support a set of protocols for:
    • Remote device configuration
    • Real-time bidirectional communication
    • Over-the-air firmware updates
  • BizStack Gateway is one example of such a device

Entity

  • Represents abstract or concrete “things” (companies, business units, regions, buildings, factories, equipment, etc.)
  • Also serves as a kind of container of measurement data, files, video streams, meta data, etc.
  • Can be organized into a tree structure for intuitive navigation and access control.

Data Routing

  • A Data Route specifies how data from a data source should be stored in a project.
  • It specifies which target entity and which data store within the entity should be used.
  • Optional data “filtering” and “transformation” can be specified.

Home

  • Unit for grouping devices, data sources, entities, and data routes.
  • Allows a project to be split into isolated partitions.

Customization and Integration

The BizStack platform offers multiple ways for custom development:

  • Custom data injection via REST API
  • Custom REST API endpoint extensions that proxy requests to external servers (App Proxy)
  • Custom UI plugins in BizStack Console
  • Custom webhooks to external servers
  • Custom data acquisition module inside BizStack Gateway
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