Resources & FAQ

Q: Can I develop custom connected vehicle services?

A: Yes. The connected vehicle solution is designed to provide a foundation for transformative automotive products that include vehicle and device connectivity, autonomous driving, electric powertrains, and shared mobility. You can use the solution as a reference architecture to develop custom connected vehicle solutions.

Q: What communication protocols does this solution support?

A: You can use the standard communication protocols that AWS IoT currently supports: HTTP, MQTT, and WebSockets. Communication is secured using TLS.

Q: Can I deploy the connected vehicle solution in any AWS Region?

A: You can deploy this solution’s AWS CloudFormation template only in AWS Regions where Amazon Cognito, AWS IoT, Amazon Kinesis Firehose, Amazon Kinesis Analytics, and Amazon Kinesis Streams are available, see AWS service offerings by region.

Q: What is Automotive Grade Linux?

A: Automotive Grade Linux (AGL) is an open source project to accelerate the development and adoption of a fully open software stack for connected vehicles. AGL is building a Linux-based, open software platform for automotive applications that can serve as the de facto industry standard.

Q: Do I need to use the AWS IoT Framework for AGL to use the AWS Connected Vehicle solution?

A: No. The connected vehicle solution does not require you to use AGL in your connected vehicles.

Q: How is communication between the framework and AWS IoT authenticated?

A: AWS IoT Framework for AGL takes advantage of mutual authentication between the framework and AWS IoT to ensure that data is never exchanged between the framework and AWS IoT without proven identity. The framework requires device credentials (X.509 certificates) to access AWS IoT. AWS IoT uses certificate-based mutual TLS authentication to identify AGL clients.

You are responsible for protecting your device credentials and managing those credentials for the framework and associated policies in AWS IoT.

Q: How is communication between the framework and AWS IoT secured?

A: The framework relies on MQTT for messaging between AGL and AWS IoT. All communication must be encrypted with TLS, which ensures the confidentiality of the MQTT protocol and encrypts the connection between AGL and AWS IoT. AWS cloud security mechanisms protect data as it moves between the AWS IoT and devices and other AWS services. For more information, see AWS Greengrass Security.

Q: How is the AWS IoT binding service for AGL implemented?

A: The AWS IoT binding service is built using the AGL Application Framework which provides components for running the binding service in an isolated, secure environment, and for managing the application life cycle. The Application Framework exposes the service API to publish or subscribe to MQTT topics on AWS Greengrass Core. Other AGL applications and services can invoke the binding service API using supported protocols such as WebSockets or D-Bus.

The binding service also uses the AWS IoT Device SDK for C++ to securely communicate with the Greengrass Core using MQTT. For more information, see AWS IoT Device SDK.

Q: How much will it cost to use the framework?

A: You are responsible for the cost of the AWS services used while running this framework. The total cost for running this framework depends the number of AWS Greengrass Core devices that interact with the AWS Cloud. You might incur additional charges if your applications use other AWS services or transfer data.