MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) is a lightweight, publish-subscribe network protocol commonly used in IoT environments due to its low bandwidth requirements and efficiency in unreliable or constrained networks. It operates over TCP/IP and follows a client-server architecture. The central component is the MQTT broker, which manages message distribution between clients.
Devices (clients) can either publish data to a topic or subscribe to a topic to receive updates. For example, a temperature sensor may publish readings to the topic "home/temperature," and any device subscribed to that topic will receive the data in real time. This decouples devices from one another, allowing scalable and flexible communication.
MQTT supports three Quality of Service (QoS) levels:
QoS 0: At most once (no guarantee),
QoS 1: At least once (may be duplicated),
QoS 2: Exactly once (ensures no duplication).
Due to its simplicity and low overhead, MQTT is ideal for embedded systems where resources are limited. It is commonly used in applications like smart homes, industrial automation, and wearable devices.
To dive deeper into MQTT and protocols like it, explore our Embedded Systems Course.
Top comments (0)