Theatre

FreeRTOS and AWS IoT ExpressLink: Simplify and fast-track your embedded designs

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42:30

EOC 2023

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Dan Gross

With over 28 years of experience in leading-edge technology, Dan has held developer and lead roles at various companies in Silicon Valley. He has been with AWS for over 3 years working in the IoT space to help reduce friction and accelerate time to market for builders. Focused on FreeRTOS and embedded devices interacting with cloud services, Dan is passionate about delivering a great developer experience for IoT.

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RTOS

Theatre

FreeRTOS and AWS IoT ExpressLink: Simplify and fast-track your embedded designs

Dan Gross

42:30 EOC 2023

Dan Gross

42:30

AWS IoT ExpressLink encapsulates security and cloud connectivity into a communication module, simplifying the development of embedded applications for IoT devices. Pairing FreeRTOS with AWS IoT ExpressLink helps developers focus on the differentiated value of their IoT devices rather than wrangling with provisioning and connectivity code. A serial interface to an AWS IoT ExpressLink module, along with some simple AT commands, are all that’s needed to quickly connect to AWS from an embedded application using FreeRTOS.

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What is the primary reason Dan Gross recommends using AWS IoT ExpressLink for embedded devices?

A To offload complex networking, cryptography, and provisioning so the host can focus on product-differentiated application code.

B To replace the need for any cloud services by providing local analytics on the module.

C To act as a general-purpose MCU that runs the entire product application instead of the host processor.

D To add hardware acceleration for signal processing tasks like FFT and DSP.

E To avoid using FreeRTOS or any operating system on the host device.

Which physical interface and programming model does Dan Gross describe as the typical way a host microcontroller talks to an AWS IoT ExpressLink module?

A A three-wire serial interface (transmit, receive, ground) with a small set of AT-like commands for connect/send/subscribe.

B A full Ethernet MAC interface requiring the host to run its own TCP/IP and MQTT stack.

C An I2C bus with a custom packet protocol where the host implements TLS and certificate storage.

D A USB mass-storage interface where the host writes files that the module uploads to the cloud.

E A SPI interface that requires the host to manage the radio firmware and security keys.

How does AWS IoT ExpressLink change the device provisioning and manufacturing workflow compared with traditional approaches?

A Modules arrive pre-provisioned with unique identifiers and a 'birth certificate,' enabling late-binding onboarding and reducing the need to share keys with contract manufacturers.

B Manufacturers must manually inject each device certificate during assembly, increasing the factory provisioning steps.

C ExpressLink forces all certificate management to be done on the host MCU to avoid sharing secrets with module vendors.

D Using ExpressLink eliminates the need for any device testing during manufacturing.

E OEMs must send device keys to AWS for centralized injection after the product ships.

Which of the following security capabilities does Dan Gross state are implemented inside ExpressLink modules (i.e., provided out of the box)?

A Hardware root of trust, secure storage, mutual authentication (mTLS), encrypted communication, secure boot, and built-in OTA update capability.

B Only basic encryption for data in transit; the host must handle mutual authentication and secure boot.

C No built-in security; ExpressLink is only a radio front-end and requires an external secure element.

D Physical tamper detection that replaces the need for firmware updates or fleet management.

E Full end-user DRM for application code so the host never needs signing keys.

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Upvotes Newest Oldest

nsolanki

Score: 0 | 3 years ago | no reply

What is the projected timeline for the LoRa support?

amit403

Score: 0 | 3 years ago | 1 reply

Hi Dan,
It was a great session. It will be helpful in the future for my AWS integrations.
During the session, I understood the key concept of AWS ExpressLink devices.
But will these devices be linked with the MQTT broker running on EC2 machines? And what will be the constraints if the EC2 machine having an MQTT broker is under AWS VPC?

dangSpeaker

Score: 0 | 3 years ago | no reply

Thanks much, glad you liked it. AWS IoT ExpressLink uses AWS IoT Core as the MQTT broker, which is a managed service that is highly scalable. So, you do not have to run EC2 instances in this case. You simply need to provide the ExpressLink module the specific endpoint URL to connect to your broker. This is done through the command "AT+CONF Endpoint=[URL]". More about AWS IoT Core here: https://aws.amazon.com/iot-core/

Thomas.Schaertel

Score: 0 | 3 years ago | 1 reply

Hi Dan, I enjoyed your talk very much, especially that I wasn't aware, that such a solution already exists! I wonder though, what happens if the connection to the cloud gets lost (e.g. Wifi unavailable, LTE outage etc.) while the application code only establishes a link with one CONNECT statement. So far, I had to make sure, that connectivity is still available before sending or requesting data. Thank you for your great talk, I'm looking forward to reading those links provided!

dangSpeaker

Score: 0 | 3 years ago | no reply

Thank you, Thomas. I'm glad you liked the talk. Right, the module manages keeping the connection alive. Also, the AT+CONNECT command can be called anytime. If the connection is lost, the module will return with the appropriate error. However, there is also a newer feature (as of the 1.1 spec) that allows for an asynchronous connection using the AT+CONNECT! command that will queue messages on the module and establish a connection without blocking. You can also proactively check with the AT+CONNECT? command. See the programmer's guide for details: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/iot-expresslink/v1.1/programmersguide/elpg-commands.html. Best regards!

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