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MQTT Device

MQTT Device Setup

MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) is a lightweight messaging protocol designed for IoT and embedded systems. ossia score’s MQTT device enables seamless integration with IoT ecosystems, smart home systems, and industrial automation networks.

Overview

MQTT support in score enables:

  • Publish/subscribe messaging patterns for distributed systems
  • IoT device integration with smart home and industrial networks
  • Cloud service communication (AWS IoT, Google Cloud IoT, Azure IoT)
  • Low-bandwidth, high-reliability messaging for resource-constrained devices
  • Real-time data collection from sensor networks

Supported Transports

TCP (Default)

  • Standard MQTT over TCP (port 1883, or 8883 for TLS)
  • Reliable, ordered message delivery
  • Most common deployment method

WebSocket

  • MQTT over WebSocket protocol
  • Browser compatibility and firewall-friendly
  • Useful for web-based integrations and cloud services

Device Setup

Basic Configuration

  1. Add MQTT Device: Right-click Device Explorer → Add Device → MQTT
  2. Configure Connection:
    • Host: MQTT broker address (e.g., mqtt.broker.com or 127.0.0.1)
    • Port: Broker port (1883 for TCP, 8080 for WebSocket)
    • Transport: Select TCP or WebSocket
    • Client ID: Unique identifier (auto-generated if empty)

Authentication & Security

Parameter Description Example
Username MQTT username user123
Password MQTT password secret456
Keep Alive Heartbeat interval (seconds) 60
Clean Session Start with clean state Enabled
Use TLS Enable encryption For secure connections

Topic Structure & Discovery

MQTT uses hierarchical topics separated by forward slashes. Unlike OSC, MQTT has no automatic discovery mechanism - you must use the “Learn” feature or create topics manually.

Topic Patterns & Wildcards

  • Single level wildcard (+): home/+/temperature matches home/kitchen/temperature
  • Multi-level wildcard (#): sensors/# matches all topics under sensors/
  • Examples:
    • home/livingroom/lights/brightness
    • industrial/sensor01/pressure/value
    • score/performance/cue_state

Usage Examples

Smart Home Integration

Control smart home devices from score:

[Score Automation] → [MQTT: home/lights/living_room] → [Smart Bulb]
[Sensor Input] → [MQTT: home/thermostat/target] → [HVAC System]

IoT Sensor Networks

Collect data from distributed sensors:

[MQTT: sensors/+/temperature] → [Score Processing] → [Visualization]
[MQTT: sensors/+/humidity] → [Data Analysis] → [Environmental Control]

Cloud IoT Platforms

Connect to major cloud services:

AWS IoT Core 

Host: your-endpoint.iot.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
Port: 8883 (TLS required)
Topics: $aws/things/device-name/shadow/update

Google Cloud IoT 

Host: mqtt.googleapis.com
Port: 8883 (TLS required)
Topics: /devices/device-id/events

Getting Started Example

To try MQTT locally, use Mosquitto:

1. Start MQTT Broker 

$ mosquitto

2. Test with Command Line Tools

Publish test data:

$ mosquitto_pub -t /sensors/temperature -m 23.5 -h 127.0.0.1

Subscribe to responses:

$ mosquitto_sub -t /controls/# -h 127.0.0.1

3. Configure in ossia score

  1. Add MQTT Device with host 127.0.0.1, port 1883
  2. Use “Learn” feature to discover /sensors/temperature topic
  3. Add child node to send to /controls/lighting topic
  4. Test bi-directional communication

MQTT Example Setup

Important Considerations

Loop Prevention

Warning: Many MQTT brokers cannot handle loops (publishing and subscribing to the same topic). Unlike OSC, avoid creating feedback loops between publish and subscribe on identical topics.

Message Persistence

  • Use retained messages for state information
  • Configure QoS levels based on reliability needs:
    • QoS 0: At most once (fire and forget)
    • QoS 1: At least once (acknowledged)
    • QoS 2: Exactly once (guaranteed)

Performance Tips

  • Batch updates for high-frequency data
  • Use appropriate keep-alive intervals (60-300 seconds)
  • Organize topics hierarchically for efficient wildcards
  • Consider message size limits (typically 256KB max)