MQ Telemetry Transport

Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT) is an open message protocol that enables the transfer of telemetry-style data in the form of messages from pervasive devices, along high latency or constrained networks, to a server or small message broker. Pervasive devices may range from sensors and actuators, to mobile phones, embedded systems on vehicles, or laptops and full scale computers. The protocol was invented by Andy Stanford-Clark of IBM, and Arlen Nipper.

Specifications

There are a couple of specifications for the MQTT protocol.

• MQTT v3.1 specification - the main MQTT specification. This protocol enables a publish/subscribe messaging model in an extremely lightweight way. It is useful for connections with remote locations where a small code footprint is required and/or network bandwidth is at a premium.
• MQTT-S v1.1 specification - MQTT for Sensors is aimed at embedded devices on non-TCP/IP networks, such as Zigbee. MQTT-S is a publish/subscribe messaging protocol for wireless sensor networks (WSN), with the aim of extending the MQTT protocol beyond the reach of TCP/IP infrastructures for sensor and actuator solutions.

There are a number of implementations of client APIs for MQTT, and a number of MQTT server implementations. They range from Open Source, to technology inside commercial products.

Real world applications

In the real world, there are a number of projects that implement MQTT. Some of these are:

• Facebook Messenger iPhone and Android apps

• Say It, Sign It: Real-time avatar rendering of British Sign Language

• Location Aware Messaging for Accessibility: Making information accessible

• Andy’s Twittering House: The house that tweets

• Smart Lab: Monitoring experiments at the University of Southampton’s chemistry lab

• FloodNet: Monitoring river levels and environmental information to provide early warning of flooding

References

External links

• MQTT.org - community website
• Telemetry - Telemetry chapter in WebSphere MQ V7 Information Center