On Cloud 66 Series (Part 1): Introducing the Iridium CloudConnect SBD on AWS “Quick Start”: Truly Global IoT in Just a Few Clicks

It’s time to get technical! Welcome to the On Cloud 66 series. This blog series will focus on all things Iridium CloudConnect, showcasing helpful resources and real-life examples of how the service is transforming the satellite-IoT market.

To kick off the series, we wanted to introduce the new Iridium CloudConnect SBD on Amazon Web Services (AWS) Quick Start. For any new Iridium CloudConnect or AWS users, this will be your go-to initial resource. Powered by AWS, Iridium CloudConnect is a satellite cloud-based adapter service that transfers Iridium Short Burst Data® (SBD) messages from Iridium Connected® devices to the AWS Cloud. Since its launch at the end of 2019, numerous Iridium partners have taken advantage of this architecture to bring their next-generation cloud-based solutions to market simply and quickly.

Quick Start is built by AWS solutions architects and partners to simplify the deployment process, helping customers launch popular technologies on AWS quickly, based on AWS best practices for security and high availability. Quick Start reduces hundreds of manual procedures into just a few steps, so you can build your production environment rapidly and start using it immediately.

Each Quick Start includes AWS CloudFormation templates that automate the deployment, and a guide that discusses the architecture and provides step-by-step implementation instructions.

The Iridium CloudConnect SBD on AWS Quick Start deploys Iridium CloudConnect into an existing AWS account. Using Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS), this deployment establishes the standard architecture to get SBD messages to and from devices on the Iridium network into the AWS Cloud.

What does the Quick Start do?

1.  It deploys Amazon SQS into your existing virtual private cloud (VPC).
2.  It then configures queues for Mobile-originated, Mobile-terminated, Mobile-terminated confirmation, Mobile-terminated error.
3.  It creates an AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) role and policy for Iridium CloudConnect cross-account authentication. You can send and receive messages through the QSQ queues.
   • Messages can be viewed in the SQS console or by using some of the Amazon SDKs or Amazon community developed tools.