Forward Edge Device Data to my Endpoint (Cellular)

This article shows the steps to configure enriched 'Edge' device data (i.e. Yabby Edge Cellular) to be sent to your endpoint - via the Location Engine. Contact our support team for payload documentation. The only available format is HTTP JSON (no TCP option) 

The Edge devices 'scan' for GNSS, WiFi and Cell tower information. This raw data is sent to the Location Engine, which performs a large number of functions in order to resolve the position. This data is then forwarded to the endpoint (i.e. your server). 

This results in exceptionally long battery life - and the multiple positioning methods allow for locations to be obtained when GNSS is unavailable (i.e. indoors). 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Location Engine Architecture
• 1. Set up a Forwarder
• 2. Set up a Connector
• 3. Set the Connector on your devices
• 4. 'Splitter' Forwarder - Send data to 2 Endpoints.
• Troubleshooting Forwarders

Location Engine Architecture

For an overview of the Location Engine - see The Location Engine - Key Concepts

Diagram of the moving parts:

In order to pass data onto our server, we must set up the Forwarder and Connector from within the OEM Server interface. 

1. Set up a Forwarder

A 'forwarder' determines where the Location Engine should 'forward' data to. So this is where we enter our endpoint. 

1. Go to the Forwarder menu in OEM Server:
   
   
   Your account will need the Forwarder Manager permission. If you cannot see this menu, contact our support team to have this enabled.
   
   
2. Enter forwarder details
   
   1. Name - any meaningful name
   2. Description - any useful description
   3. Type - HTTP is the only type currently
   4. URL - your URL
   5. Options in Section 1 are required, Section 2 lets you configure headers to send as part of the HTTP Post.
   6. You will also need to set a Distributor, Vendor, Client Group
3. Once complete, you will be taken to your list of forwarders. On the right hand side of the page, click Assign Partition
   
   

Each Forwarder is a separate queue - which keeps all messages separate - to ensure if one endpoint is unavailable other devices are unaffected. There is a charge per forwarder.

2. Set up a Connector

Connectors are used as they are consistent with other device types. More detail on creating connectors here: Create a Connector. For the Location Engine, we set up as follows:

1. Go to the Connectors menu - your account will need the Connection Manage permission - if you can't see the menu, contact support. 
2. Create a new Connector:
   
   1. Provide a useful name and description
   2. Location Engine Connector Type
   3. Select the forwarder that you created previously
   4. Select lookup settings Default Lookups. These settings use the following services in order
      1. GNSS Lookups (LE-GNSS)
      2. Google Wi-Fi Lookups (LE-WIFI-PREMIUM)
      3. LE-CELL-PRO cell fallback
         
         The above settings should work for the majority of applications. To adjust - contact DM support and we can create a new set of Lookup Settings. There are other options available at different price points per Lookup - but the accuracy varies.
         
         
   5. Set your DVC Group.

3. Set the Connector on your devices

See link - Set the Connector

4. 'Splitter' Forwarder - Send data to 2 Endpoints.

For the traditional GPS devices, if the data needs to be sent to multiple endpoints, a Multi-Connector is set to the device. Logically, the same can be done for the Edge devices. However the setup is slightly different. An HTTP JSON payload will be sent to both endpoints. 

1. Create 2 individual forwarders (for each endpoint)
   1. Go to the Forwarders menu in OEM server
   2. Create two different forwarders as per the steps above. if you are using Telematics Guru as one endpoint, then you only need to create one forwarder. TG forwarder is already created by DM.
2. Create the splitter forwarder
   1. Create a new forwarder as usual, but select Splitter Forwarder as the type. 
   2. Assign your previously created forwarders as Forwarder1 and Forwarder 2.
      
      
      
3. Create a connector
   1. Create a LE Connector - and set your forwarder as the Splitter Forwarder just created.
4. Set the Connector on your device.

Troubleshooting Forwarders

Similar to viewing server logs, we can check the forwarder logs to identify the issues in receiving the data from the Location Engine to the end platform. Please note that forwarder logs can only be seen if data capture is  on in order to view the forwarder logs.  Please see here on how to turn on data capture.

To view the forwarder logs :

• Click on the device details tab in OEM:

• From the details page, select the "Forwarder Logs" option on the top bar

Once in the forwarder logs option, you can set the data and time range from which you want to see the forwarder logs.

The "now" option lets you see the logs from a past date to the current time.

Examples of how the forwarder logs will look like is shown below. This means that the forwarder was able to successfully send data from the location engine to the end platform.

NB: Only errors are shown in the forwarder logs, unless Data Capturing is turned on, in which case all logs will be kept (like the image below)

An example of a failed connection between the forwarder and the end platform could be as shown below..