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LWM2M integration

Lower the cost and reduce power consumption of IoT devices while increasing their manageability and security.

What is LWM2M?

Lightweight M2M is an open protocol from the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) that is designed for addressing the needs of mobile low-power devices with very little compute power. LWM2M® is being adopted widely by telecom operators and is emerging as the standard protocol for device management and service enablement.

Why use LWM2M?

As the use of the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to grow, so will the need to manage and use remote sensors and devices in areas with intermittent connectivity and that are situated far from power connections. LWM2M provides a standardized way to manage these devices and send telemetry data drawn in by the sensors quickly and cost effectively to the cloud.

LWM2M has been designed to reduce power and data usage for low-power devices, which are limited in processing power and bandwidth. The protocol is ideal when people or devices are a long way from power sources and need to use battery-powered local devices, have a SIM card, and no power cord.

So sensors and devices can be managed centrally and viewed remotely, LWM2M defines a common language for the communication between devices and IoT platforms, such as Cumulocity. With LWM2M, metadata (which describes the data) needed to understand the capabilities of a given device and interpret the data sent by the device is stored in a central repository in the cloud. This allows devices to minimize the transmission of data, so that only key data is sent. Saving bandwidth, in particular for remote devices, accelerates transmission as well as reduces communication costs.

Sample use cases

Example uses include tracking shipper containers, cargo railways, farming where sensors monitor and optimize irrigation fertilization, smart cities, and water and energy metering. LWM2M is also used across telecommunications, the automotive industry, security devices, by utilities companies, and in manufacturing.

Device management screen from Cumulocity highlighting the Lwm2m option

Benefits of LWM2M

The Cumulocity platform natively supports LWM2M as an IoT device management and service enablement protocol.

  • Self-service, plug and play

    You can connect any LWM2M server and device without coding. Direct integration with LWM2M devices is quick and easy with our plug-and-play integration.

  • Remote management

    Even though your devices are in hard-to-reach locations, you need to be able to update the firmware and be aware of any issues. With its native integration, Cumulocity provides firmware updates and monitoring capabilities out of the box and enables you to troubleshoot devices remotely.

  • Easy-to-use interface to map with the Cumulocity data model

    Cumulocity’s device management allows you to define which data you want to receive from the device and at which frequency. Additionally, you can integrate data from the device into your IoT application’s domain model, allowing you to treat an LWM2M device in the same way as any other device connected to your Cumulocity tenant.