Registering devices

An overview of how to register a device on a Blecon Network as part of a production architecture

If you are looking to register a development device, see Create A Virtual Network and Register Devices. The below guidance is intended to help you integrate a product with Blecon.

Device registration overview

Adding devices to a Virtual Network is quick and straightforward. After you register a device to a virtual network, it can instantly make requests to your cloud application using any Blecon Access Point (Blecon App or physical gateway) without any pairing or further configuration.

How it works

The principle of registering a device on Blecon is simple. There are two steps involved:

1. Obtain the device identity

2. Register the device on your virtual network

Blecon operates on a first-to-claim basis. Registering the Device ID on your network claims the device and connects it to your network. Once a device has been registered, it can't be added to any other virtual network until de-registered.

Design Goals

Blecon is designed to help you build commercial products based on Bluetooth Low Energy that deliver a great user experience.

We understand that depending on your use case, it may be most appropriate to register devices in different kinds of situations, such as:

• When a device is manufactured

• When a device is sold

• When a device is installed professionally

• When the end-user installs a device themselves

We also understand that it will often be required to integrate device registration as part of a broader business process, which, for example, may:

• Gather additional information

• Require a user to log into your website or app

• Be performed automatically

Production registration process

While in development, you can register devices using the Blecon Console. When you build a real-world product, you generally want to use the Blecon API or have the end-user or an installer use the Blecon Scanner to register your device.

Typical flow with error handling

For a robust integration, you will want your registration process to follow this logic:

1. Check that the device is not already registered
2. If it is already registered, check whether it's registered to one of your own networks
3. If it's already registered on a network you control, call the Blecon API to update the device record in your account
4. If it's not registered, call the Blecon API to register the device

Example integrations

Here are some example use cases that are possible with Blecon.

• Handle registration in your own custom app

• Handle registration within your existing web application

• Register devices in bulk when they are manufactured

Contact us for help designing your architecture.