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Devices

What is a Device in KPN Things?

A Device represents a single physical device that can send data to the platform. When adding a device to KPN Things, you register the following information:
  • Name - A descriptive name of the Device.
  • Barcode (optional) - The serial number of other code that is visible on the outside of the Device.
  • Description (optional) - More information about your Device.
  • Device type - What type of Device it is.
  • Network info - The information required to register the Device to the correct network.

Device types

In KPN Things the Device type is used to express the connectivity and data capabilities of a Device, like whether it is a LoRa or an M2M device, and its compatibility to Data Processing components such as decoders and encoders.

Own or KPN (managed) Devices

We have two categories of Device types, namely Own Devices, where you bring your own Device to KPN Things, and KPN Devices, where you buy a Device from us. Each categorie has its own set of Device Management features in the Portal.
​
​
​
Can be recognized by the 🔒 symbol in the Device list.
Bring or Buy
Bring yourself
Buy
Add to / remove from Portal
✅
❌
Edit name and description
✅
✅
Activate / deactivate in Portal
✅
✅
Send / receive raw payload
✅
❌
Send commands
🟡 *
✅
Device Twin - Reported state
✅
✅
Device Twin - Clear measurements
✅
❌
Device Twin - Desired state
🟡 *
✅
Device Twin - Metadata
✅
❌
Legenda ✅ - Available for this device type. 🟡* - Configurable for your own device, coming soon. ❌ - Not available for this device type.

Processing status

Each Device in KPN Things will have a processing status. This will tell you whether data from and to that Device will be processed by KPN Things.
Status
Description
🟢 Active
Data coming from and going to your Device will be processed.
⚫ Deactivated
Data coming from your Device will not be processed or forwarded by KPN Things. Also downlinks will not be sent to your Device. Data history will still be available, since Things will still accept data from your Device. The network connection is not denied.
⚫ Not yet linked
Your Device is not connected to a Flow, so data will not be processed in KPN Things.

Network info

To connect a Device to KPN Things it needs either to be registered to our LoRa or M2M network, or it needs to be an Internet-connected device running our SDKs or other KPN Things compatible software.
Separate pages will explain more about the supported network types:

Connectivity status

Status
Description
⚪ Not yet linked to a network
Your Device is added to KPN Things, but Network information is still missing in able to register your Device to the network.
🔵 Pending create
Your Device is being registered to the network.
🟢 Active
Your Device or SIM card is registered to the network and should be able to join and send data.
⚫ Deactivated
Your Device or SIM card is registered to the network, but labeled as Inactive, meaning incoming connections will not be accepted.
🔴 Failed
The Device could not be registered to the network. Probably the Network info you entered to register your Device was incorrect or already in use.
⚫ Inventory
Your Device and its Network information is known in the system but not yet registered to the network. If you want you can activate the network registration on the Device detail page.

All Devices page

On the All Device page, you have an overview of all your Devices.
Elements on the page are:
  1. 1.
    Total number of Devices you have and see on the current page.
  2. 2.
    Device list of all your Devices with some information:
    1. 1.
      The Device name.
    2. 2.
      The Device type.
    3. 3.
      The primary identifier of your Device.
      • For LoRa this is the DevEUI
      • For M2M the IMEI
      • For internet the DvnUUID
    4. 4.
      The moment Things last received a message from the Device.
    5. 5.
      The Project the Device belongs to.
    6. 6.
      The number of Flows your Device is in. Hover over the number to get a popup with a list of Flow names.
    7. 7.
      Clicking on a row will open the Device detail page of that Device.
  3. 3.
    Search element to search for your specific Devices. You can search by Name and Primary identifier.
  4. 4.
    Link to add a new Device.
  5. 5.
    Bulk manipulation options. Select some or all Devices and choose the bulk action from the action bar at the bottom of the page.
  6. 6.
    Sorting options, by clicking on a specific table header the table will sort by the selected value.
  7. 7.
    A lock 🔒 icon for KPN (Managed) devices. For such devices fewer editing options are available. We have a table comparing what you can do with Own and KPN devices.

Add new Device

This is the place where your register new Devices and add them to KPN Things and our networks.

Select Project (if applicable)

If you have more than one Project, you will have to select to which Project you would like to add your Device.

Select your Device type

Depending on your Project subscription, available Device types may vary.

Fill in Device Information

  • Name: Typically can be a Device ID or the name of a physical asset which the device is linked to.
  • Barcode (optional): Barcode or serial number used to identify a device.
  • Description (optional): Any additional device information.
When done, click Add Device to continue.

Provide or get Network information

This step will look differently, depending on the type of network information.

Generated LoRa network information (programmable device)

If you selected Own LoRa device (programmable) device type in the previous step, the Portal will give you the OTAA join information (DevEUI, AppEUI and AppKey). Make sure to copy-paste or write down the provided identifiers. For security reasons the secret values will not be retrievable through the Portal after closing this page.
Click Finish to continue.

Provided LoRa network information (device with preset connectivity)

If you selected Own LoRa device (preset connectivity) or a supported device type, you should provide the LoRa network information for your device in this step.
Click Add network info to save the network information and then Finish to continue.

M2M network information

  1. 1.
    IMEI of your Device.
  2. 2.
    ICCID of your SIM-card - select the correct SIM card from the drop down. If you have an Early access SIM, you choose the option "Add early access SIM" and enter the ICCID of the SIM manually in the newly appeared input field (see A in the screenshot below).
  3. 3.
    Shared secret.
After entering the values, click Add network info to save the information, or click Finish without adding Network to continue without adding network information to your Device object.

Internet network information

  1. 1.
    DvnUUID - the unique number to identify incoming data from your Device. Your Device UUID is prefilled, but you can enter any UUID you like.
  2. 2.
    Shared secret - kind of password.

Deactivate or delete Device

The most impotant difference is that: Device deactivation can be used temporarily and is neccesary when you want stop data from devices being send to devices. As an example: a customer has not paid his invoice and in response this customer receives no data. Deletion is permanent. When you want to delete a device, you can log a ticket via our IoT Servicedesk to ask them to delete your devices. After the deletion, you can't onboard this device again.
In the table below you can read about the differeces between deleting a Device and deactivating a Device.
Text
Deactivate Device
Delete Device
Why use it?
Temporarily disable data from Device. (example: disable data for sub customers)
The device is end of life and should be tossed out.
Can customers do it themselves?
Yes, in bulk and for individual devices.
No
Is it permanent?
No, you can easily Activate the Device again in the Portal in bulk and individually.
Yes, the Device is removed from all KPN systems. You can not use this the device again.
Does it influence billing?
No, remove from Flow to have it stop being counted (applicable to Modular customers, E2E customers are being billed by information in C8Y)
Yes, because it is also removed from the Flow.
Impact on battery if Device is still turned on
Connection between Device and Network is not changed, so the Device continues operating as normal.
Network registration of Device is removed. Depending on how the Device is programmed it may continue operating as normal, but it will probably change to a more energy consuming mode because the device will (uselessly) try to reconnect to the Network.
Can you check the operation afterwards?
Yes, because the Device object still exists, only has the attribute "STATUS" changed to "Deactivated". But once the Device is reactivated, you cannot see when it has been deactivated.
No, the Device is completely removed from all systems.
​

Device detail page

This page offers you all detailed information about your Device and its connectivity.
The elements on this page are:
  1. 1.
    ​General Device information card​
  2. 2.
    Connectivity information card for your Device, depending on your network type.
    1. 1.
      ​LoRa information card for devices with LoRa connectivity.
    2. 2.
      ​M2M information card for devices with M2M connectivity.
    3. 3.
      ​Internet information card for devices with Internet connectivity.
  3. 3.
    Connectivity data tab showing you detailed data history to and from your Device.
    1. 1.
      ​LoRa data tab for devices with LoRa connectivity.
    2. 2.
      ​M2M data tab for devices with M2M connectivity.
  4. 4.
    ​Send Instruction tab allowing you to send data to your Device.
  5. 5.
    ​Device tab showing you more details about your Device.
  6. 6.
    ​Device Twin tab showing you the Twin of your Device.
  7. 7.
    Connectivity info tab showing you more details about the Connectivity configuration of your Device.
    1. 1.
      ​LoRa tab for devices with LoRa connectivity.
    2. 2.
      ​M2M tab for devices with M2M connectivity.
  8. 8.
    ​Flows tab showing you detailed information about the Flows your Device is linked to.
  9. 9.
    A button to delete your Device. This will completely remove your Device from KPN Things! (Not available for KPN (managed) devices).

Device information card

The Device information card contains general information about your Device:
  1. 1.
    The name of your Device.
  2. 2.
    The Device type.
  3. 3.
    The processing status of your Device, which you may be able to update.
  4. 4.
    The Flows linked to your Device.
Clicking on the Device name or Device type will open the Device tab with more information about your Device.

LoRa information card (only for devices with LoRa connectivity)

The LoRa information card contains more LoRa specific information of your Device.
  1. 1.
    The DevEUI of your Device.
  2. 2.
    The connectivity status.
  3. 3.
    The moment KPN Things last received data from your Device.
Clicking on the DevEUI or the Type = LoRa part of the card will open the LoRa tab with all LoRa specific information of your Device.

M2M information card (only for devices with M2M connectivity)

The M2M information card contains more M2M specific information of your Device.
  1. 1.
    The IMEI of your Device.
  2. 2.
    The ICCID of the SIM card linked to your Device.
  3. 3.
    The MSISDN of the subscription linked to the SIM card in your Device.
  4. 4.
    The connectivity status with the possibility to change its value.
  5. 5.
    The moment KPN Things last received data from your Device.
  6. 6.
    The moment your SIM card has been activated.
  7. 7.
    The rate plan of the subscription linked to your SIM card.
  8. 8.
    Button to unlink the current SIM card from your Device. (Not available for KPN (managed) devices).
Clicking on the IMEI or the white part of the card will open the M2M tab with all M2M specific information of your Device.

Internet information card (only for devices with Internet connectivity)

The Internet information card contains more Internet specific information of your Device.
  1. 1.
    The SenML base name
  2. 2.
    The connectivity status.
  3. 3.
    The moment KPN Things last received data from your Device.
Clicking on the base name or the white part of the card will open the Internet tab with all Internet specific information of your Device.

"LoRa data" tab (only for devices with LoRa connectivity)

LoRa data history will show you all data and mac traffic sent to and from your Device up to one month ago. Learn more about LoRa data history.

"Send instruction" tab

Currently you can only send data to your Device if your Device is linked to at least one Flow!
On this tab you can send data or instructions to your Device, and you can see the status of requested data/instructions. Data to LoRa devices is also called a downlink.
Depending on your device type, different ways of sending data/instructions to your Device will be available. These could be:
  1. 1.
    ​Raw LoRa data - for own LoRa devices and supported LoRa devices.
  2. 2.
    ​Raw SenML - for any Things M2M or Internet device.
  3. 3.
    ​Predefined commands - for KPN devices. Learn more about KPN devices.
  4. 4.
    ​No downlink available - for devices that do not support downlink communication.
To see which methods are available for your device type, you can check the available encoders for your device type.

1. Raw LoRa data

Some Device types allow you to send raw LoRa data to your Device. To do this, you need to enter two values in the form as shown below:
  • FPort - the LoRa application port you want to send the data on.
  • Payload - the data you want to send to your Device in hexadecimal characters.

2. Raw SenML

Things M2M devices and Internet devices can communicate with SenML. So downlinks to these devices should also be SenML.
The input form in the Portal should be filled in with a valid SenML measurement list formatted as JSON. Learn more about SenML. The entered SenML measurement list does not have to contain base values, KPN Things will add those before sending the downlink to the Device.
Example with one command
Example with two commands
1
[{"n":"door","v":1}]
Copied!
1
[{"n":"door","v":1},{"n":"mode","vs":"quiet"}]
Copied!

3. Predefined commands

For KPN Devices we provide a predefined list of human readable commands that you can send to the Device. Simply select the desired command to send by clicking on the radio button (if multiple commands are available), select the desired value for the command from the drop down, and click submit.
If downlink is not available for your Device, you will see the following:
If your Device is not yet linked to a Flow, doing this could enable Downlink for your device. A Flow is required to enable an encoder that is required for downlink communication. Learn more about downlink communication in de Developer Manual.
Often data or an instruction sent to your Device is not received immediately. Often the Device is in sleep mode and will be able to receive the data when it wakes up again. So to monitor the status of the requested data/instructions to your Device, you can check the downlink status table on this tab.
There are five downlink statuses, illustrated in the diagram below and further explained in the table below.
Status
Description
Pending
When a downlink is requested on the Actuator API the command will get the status Pending. This means the downlink is accepted by Things and will be processed shortly. If there is another downlink of the device already in Executing, the downlink will stay in Pending until the other downlink reaches a final status. Downlinks will be processed by KPN Things in order of request date, so FIFO.
​
After the previous downlink has been finalized, it can take up to an hour or so for the next pending downlink to be taken into execution. We are working on it to shorten this period.
Cancelled
Pending downlinks can be cancelled. Since a pending downlink is not yet being processed by network systems, KPN Things can safely remove the downlink from its queue. Cancelled downlinks will not be processed any further and will get the final status Cancelled.
It is not possible to cancel a downlink that is in Executing, since we cannot guarantee the withdrawal of a downlink request that is already being executed by the network system.
Executing
When there is at least one downlink in the queue for a device, so with status Pending, it will be processed further by the system. It will then be de-normalized and sent to the device. During de-normalization, sending and waiting for feedback on delivery, the downlink is in Executing.
Only one downlink per device can be in Executing.
Failed
When KPN Things does not receive acknowledgement of the successful delivery of the downlink, or if KPN Things receives a timeout on sending the downlink, the downlink will get the final state Failed.
Delivered
When the delivery of the downlink is acknowledged by the device, the downlink will be set on final state Delivered.
More information on sending data to your Device can be found in the Getting started 5, send downlink to LoRa Device.

"Device" tab

This tab shows you detailed information about your Device configuration. Learn more about the Device information you can find here.

"Device Twin" tab

This tab shows you the Twin of the selected Device. There is a separate page explaining the Device Twin in detail.​

"LoRa" tab (only for devices with LoRa connectivity)

You can read more about the LoRa network information you can find on this tab.

Register on Network

If your LoRa Device is not yet registered on the LoRa network, you can click Register Device on Network here. This will open a modal for you to enter the LoRa network information for this Device.

"M2M" tab (only for devices with M2M connectivity)

The M2M tab shows you detailed information about your M2M connectivity. You can read more about the M2M network information you can find on this tab.
Additionally, you can perform some M2M specific actions:
2. Edit M2M Device Configuration - allows you to generate a new shared secret for your M2M device. 3. Switch SIM card - allows you to administratively switch the SIM card of your M2M device. 4. Unlink SIM card- allows you to administratively remove the SIM card from your M2M device.
If your M2M Device is not linked to a SIM card, you can click Link Connectivity here. This will open a new page to allow you to link your Device to a SIM card. The steps you take for this action are the same as for linking your SIM card to a Device.

"Flows" tab

In the Flows tab you can see:
  1. 1.
    A list of all the Flows your Device is linked to and the Project this Flow is in.
  2. 2.
    You can click on a Flow to open it.
  3. 3.
    You can click on Unlink from this Flow to remove the Device from that Flow.
  4. 4.
    Also you can add your Device to another Flow.
Available information and actions on Flow tab.

Flow warning labels

If there is a possible issue with one of the Flows your Device is in, a warning icon is shown on the Flow tab link and in the row of the concerning Flow. By clicking on the warning icon of a Flow, you will continue to the Flow detail page displaying more information about the warning.
Flow warning labels.
After you click on Link to another Flow in the Flows tab, a modal will open.
In this modal you can:
  1. 1.
    Select the Project to which you want to add the Device, if you have more than 1 Project.
  2. 2.
    Select the Flow to which to link your Device.
  3. 3.
    Optionally create a new Flow to which to link your Device.
​
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Contents
What is a Device in KPN Things?
Device types
Processing status
Network info
Connectivity status
All Devices page
Add new Device
Select Project (if applicable)
Select your Device type
Fill in Device Information
Provide or get Network information
Deactivate or delete Device
Device detail page
Device information card
LoRa information card (only for devices with LoRa connectivity)
M2M information card (only for devices with M2M connectivity)
Internet information card (only for devices with Internet connectivity)
"LoRa data" tab (only for devices with LoRa connectivity)
"Send instruction" tab
"Device" tab
"Device Twin" tab
"LoRa" tab (only for devices with LoRa connectivity)
"M2M" tab (only for devices with M2M connectivity)
"Flows" tab