This post is an overview of the Azure IoT Central configuration required to process The Things Network(TTN) HTTP integration uplink messages. I have assumed that the reader is already reasonably familiar with these products. There is an overview of configuring TTN HTTP integration in my “Simplicating and securing the HTTP handler” post.

The first step is to copy the IDScope from the Device connection blade.

Then copy one of the primary or secondary keys

For more complex deployment the ApplicationEnrollmentGroupMapping configuration enables The Things Network(TTN) devices to be provisioned using different GroupEnrollment keys based on the applicationid in the Uplink message which initiates their provisoning.

"DeviceProvisioningService": {
      "GlobalDeviceEndpoint": "global.azure-devices-provisioning.net",
      "IDScope": "",
      "EnrollmentGroupSymmetricKeyDefault": "TopSecretKey",
      "DeviceProvisioningPollingDelay": 500,
      "ApplicationEnrollmentGroupMapping": {
         "Application1": "TopSecretKey1",
         "Application2": "TopSecretKey2"
      }
   }

Shortly after the first uplink message from a TTN device is processed, it will listed in the “Unassociated devices” blade with the DevEUI as the Device ID.

The device can then be associated with an Azure IoT Central Device Template.

The device template provides for the mapping of uplink message payload_fields to measurements. In this example the payload field has been generated by the TTN HTTP integration Cayenne Low Power Protocol(LPP) decoder. Many LoRaWAN devices use LPP to minimise the size of the network payload.

Once the device has been associated with a template a user friendly device name etc. can be configured.

In the telemetry event payload sent to Azure IoT Central there are some extra fields to help with debugging and tracing.

// Assemble the JSON payload to send to Azure IoT Hub/Central.
log.LogInformation($"{messagePrefix} Payload assembly start");
JObject telemetryEvent = new JObject();
try
{
   JObject payloadFields = (JObject)payloadObect.payload_fields;
   telemetryEvent.Add("HardwareSerial", payloadObect.hardware_serial);
   telemetryEvent.Add("Retry", payloadObect.is_retry);
   telemetryEvent.Add("Counter", payloadObect.counter);
   telemetryEvent.Add("DeviceID", payloadObect.dev_id);
   telemetryEvent.Add("ApplicationID", payloadObect.app_id);
   telemetryEvent.Add("Port", payloadObect.port);
   telemetryEvent.Add("PayloadRaw", payloadObect.payload_raw);
   telemetryEvent.Add("ReceivedAtUTC", payloadObect.metadata.time);

   // If the payload has been unpacked in TTN backend add fields to telemetry event payload
   if (payloadFields != null)
   {
      foreach (JProperty child in payloadFields.Children())
      {
         EnumerateChildren(telemetryEvent, child);
      }
   }
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
   log.LogError(ex, $"{messagePrefix} Payload processing or Telemetry event assembly failed");
   throw;
}

Azure IoT Central has mapping functionality which can be used to display the location of a device.

The format of the location payload generated by the TTN LPP decoder is different to the one required by Azure IoT Central. I have added temporary code (“a cost effective modification to expedite deployment” aka. a hack) to format the TelemetryEvent payload so it can be processed.

if (token.First is JValue)
{
   // Temporary dirty hack for Azure IoT Central compatibility
   if (token.Parent is JObject possibleGpsProperty)
   {
      if (possibleGpsProperty.Path.StartsWith("GPS", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
      {
         if (string.Compare(property.Name, "Latitude", true) == 0)
         {
            jobject.Add("lat", property.Value);
         }
         if (string.Compare(property.Name, "Longitude", true) == 0)
         {
            jobject.Add("lon", property.Value);
         }
         if (string.Compare(property.Name, "Altitude", true) == 0)
         {
            jobject.Add("alt", property.Value);
         }
      }
   }
   jobject.Add(property.Name, property.Value);
}

I need review the IoT Plug and Play specification documentation to see what other payload transformations maybe required.

I did observe that if a device had not reported its position the default location was zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude which is about 610 KM south of Ghana and 1080 KM west of Gabon in the Atlantic Ocean.

After configuring a device template, associating my devices with the template, and modifying each device’s properties I could create a dashboard to view the temperature and humidity information returned by my Seeeduino LoRaWAN devices.