Overview

Itron's Distributed Intelligence (DI) SDK enables third-party development of local edge applications. Third-party organizations who sign up for DI Developer Program can use the SDK on a standard Linux environment to develop their applications. After developing and testing the application on a Linux system, developers can cross-compile the code and test the application on a real meter. And when the application is ready, it can be installed on the deployed meters over the air (OTA) by the utility company. The SDK ensures that applications run in a controlled environment on the meters so that applications running on the meter do not adversely affect the normal functioning of each other as well as that of the meter.

Applications installed on Itron's DI meters can have access to the meter's data, implement algorithms, and send the results of the computations on to a server. Additionally, Itron’s application programming interfaces (API) can provide transparent mechanisms so developers need not worry about the network connectivity to the server.

The SDK provides APIs that applications running on the meter can use to access meter data, and to send real-time alarms and non-real-time data to the server. A restricted amount of persistent flash storage is also available for applications to store data locally. Moreover, the information that is sent to the server will be delivered to a Representational State Transfer (REST) API or a standard messaging system.

This chapter provides an overview of the DI deployment architecture, communication, agent management, agent environment, and server environment.

This chapter also provides information about the importance of developing DI agents to a high standard of security. You can find an explanation of secure coding and standards and guidance on testing requirements and vulnerability tracking. Also provided is a list of Itron-approved static application security test (SAST) tools that must be used to test your agent and demonstrate to Itron certifiers that your agent meets those standards.