Lightweight & efficient
Use a compact protocol to reduce messaging overhead on devices and links with limited resources.
EDGE COMPUTING
MQTT for edge computing
Connect devices, process data at the edge, and bridge the data you need to the cloud with EMQX.
Trusted by industry leaders worldwide
Overview
Why MQTT at the edge
Exchange device events and commands through lightweight, topic-based messaging.
Scalable Pub/Sub
Publish data once and let local applications subscribe to the topics they need, reducing direct dependencies.
Reliable messaging
Choose MQTT QoS levels to match message importance, available bandwidth, and application requirements.
Architecture
A unified MQTT backbone from edge to cloud
Use EMQX Neuron for industrial connectivity and EMQX Edge for local MQTT messaging and cloud bridging.
Modbus
OPC-UA
BACnet
Sparkplug B
MQTT
EMQX Neuron
Data Ingestion
Data Processing
MQTT Bridge
EMQX Edge
Lightweight MQTT
Edge Computing
E2C Bridging
EMQX Enterprise
EMQX Node 1
Rule Engine
Data Integration
EMQX Node 2
EMQX Node 3
EMQX Node N
IoT applications
MES
SCADA
ERP
AI agents
OpenAI
Gemini
Anthropic
Data & analytics
Apache Kafka
Data lake
BI Dashboard
Collect industrial data
Use supported EMQX Neuron drivers to collect equipment data and publish it as MQTT or Sparkplug B messages.
Route messages locally
Use EMQX Edge to connect nearby devices and applications through a lightweight MQTT broker.
Bridge selected topics
Configure MQTT bridges to forward selected topics to the cloud and receive commands from a remote broker.
Capabilities
Capabilities for connected edge sites
Collect equipment data, connect local applications, and manage cloud transfers.
Industrial connectivity
Use EMQX Neuron to translate supported industrial protocols, including Modbus and OPC UA, into MQTT messages.
Real-time edge processing
Leverage the high-performance EMQX rule engine at the edge. Process, filter, and react to data at the source for millisecond-level responsiveness.
Buffered cloud forwarding
Configure bridge caching and retry settings to buffer messages during temporary outages, within the configured storage limits.
Customer story
UISEE technology
Accelerating autonomous driving development with EMQX, UISEE achieves massive vehicle-to-cloud data access for unmanned vehicles and AGVs, providing reliable data support for constructing an autonomous driving platform.
- Availability
- 99.995%
- Dev Efficiency
- +5%
Shenzhen urban transport
Learn how the Shenzhen Urban Transport Planning Center (SUTPC) uses EMQX to process massive amounts of data from over 1.7 million vehicles, enabling real-time traffic analysis and intelligent transportation systems.
- Vehicles
- 1.7M+
- Devices
- 100K+
Global beverage manufacturer
A global food and beverage giant built a smart production hub connecting over 50 factories. The platform ingests 1M+ data tags to monitor equipment status and process parameters in real time, boosting OEE by 15%.
- Factories Connected
- 50+
- Data Tags
- 1M+
- Increase in OEE
- 15%
Resources
Explore MQTT for edge computing
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Edge computing places processing near devices and equipment. Local applications can respond without waiting for a cloud round trip, while selected data is sent to central systems for storage and analysis.
MQTT offers lightweight publish-subscribe messaging and configurable delivery levels. It connects local devices and applications while keeping their interfaces independent.
EMQX Neuron collects data from industrial equipment using supported drivers and publishes it over MQTT or Sparkplug B. EMQX Edge provides the local MQTT broker and cloud bridge.
Local MQTT clients can continue communicating through the edge broker. Configure bridge caching and retries for cloud-bound messages, and size storage for expected outages. Recovery depends on those settings, capacity, and message lifetimes.
Build your edge-to-cloud data backbone with EMQX
Plan local connectivity and cloud data flows for your edge deployment.