# Technical overview

The KPN Things Platform is the bridge between IoT Devices and IoT Applications. It offers a unified way of connecting Devices at the one side, and applications at the other side, making Devices and applications completely interchangeable in every IoT solution that uses KPN Things.

<figure><img src="https://1453626848-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fl6RrePMSAjRvOgcHjMBZ%2Fuploads%2FXlHoGpKqHbTAd4dNaBVj%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=ba50311c-ac57-40f9-82cb-af810253887c" alt=""><figcaption><p>Solid line = IoT data. Dashed line = configuration/metadata</p></figcaption></figure>

## Device integration

Devices can communicate with the platform using one of our networks, [LoRa](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/building-blocks/connectivity/connecting-lora-devices) or [M2M (2G/3G/4G/LTE-M)](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/building-blocks/connectivity/connecting-m2m-devices), or a Device using another network can get its data to and from KPN Things over the [Internet](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/building-blocks/connectivity/connecting-internet-devices).&#x20;

Communication from your Device is called [uplink communication](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/getting-started/tutorials/technical-overview/uplink-communication). When data or instructions are sent to your Device, it is called [downlink communication](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/getting-started/tutorials/technical-overview/downlink-communication). The communication within KPN Things Platform uses the [SenML](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/building-blocks/data-processing/thingsml-and-senml/senml) data protocol. Devices using other languages can be translated from and to SenML using [decoders and encoders](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/building-blocks/data-processing/decoders-and-encoders).

## Application integration

KPN Things will connect to your application through a dedicated connection layer. To connect your application to KPN Things you can use one of the available [Destination types](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/building-blocks/destinations). We support connecting plain [HTTPS endpoints](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/building-blocks/destinations/https-destination) to KPN Things, but if you are developing in Microsoft Azure, you can connect directly to the [Azure Event Hub](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/building-blocks/destinations/azure-event-hubs).

The [Destination types that support 'management'](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/building-blocks/destinations#destination-types-capabilities) connect on a platform level and can also manage objects in the application. The [Cumulocity destination](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/building-blocks/destinations/cumulocity-iot-platform) for instance will create Device objects in the Cumulocity tenant for each Device that KPN Things sends data of.

## KPN Things Portal

The [KPN Things Portal](https://portal.kpnthings.com) is the web application through which you can manage and monitor almost all parts of the KPN Things solutions. You can manage each part of the KPN Things solution, from Device to Destination, to bring your IoT data from the real world to the digital world. You are also able to use [KPN Things API's](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/general-functions/apis) directly to manage your IoT solutions.

The KPN Things Portal is the visual interface with which you configure your solutions on the KPN Things Data Management platform.&#x20;

<figure><img src="https://1453626848-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fl6RrePMSAjRvOgcHjMBZ%2Fuploads%2FepSfPzu3ISAtHvnO1cJp%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=58048a33-3856-4d20-8f86-033f43991425" alt=""><figcaption><p>*) Customer management is only available when the add-on is purchased.</p></figcaption></figure>

## IoT solution in KPN Things Portal

To manage your IoT solution you use [Flows](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/building-blocks/data-processing#flows) and in a Flow you link [Devices](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/building-blocks/devices), configure [Data Processing](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/building-blocks/data-processing) and set up [Destinations ](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/building-blocks/destinations)together. See how these components relate to each other in the [Management Data model](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/getting-started/tutorials/technical-overview/management-data-model). Since network configuration, or [Connectivity](https://docs.kpnthings.com/kpn-things/building-blocks/connectivity), is part of the Device in KPN Things, a Flow expresses the complete way how IoT data should be received, processed and forwarded, from the Device to the Destination and vice versa.

<figure><img src="https://1453626848-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fl6RrePMSAjRvOgcHjMBZ%2Fuploads%2FcJgfIjT8kFcKw14hYl5L%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=5d43e296-21f9-473a-9850-8754c7363dec" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>