FAQs about General

This includes general questions about ADEX, publish-subscribe-based messaging protocol or MQTT, and difference of ADEX to APEX.

What is ADEX?

ADEX stands for Asynchronous Data Exchange, a centralised data exchange platform for the Whole-of-Government (WOG). It is part of the Strategic National Project under Smart Nation Sensor Platform (SNSP).

ADEX enables government agencies to publish and subscribe to real-time data using a self-service portal that will run in Government Commercial Cloud (GCC) both in the internet and intranet.

What is MQTT?

Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT), is a publish-subscribe-based messaging protocol based on ISO standard ISO/IEC PRF 20922. It works over TCP/IP. It is designed to be lightweight for small, low power, and low bandwidth device communication. MQTT is the most common protocol used in Internet Of Things (IOT).

What is the difference between ADEX and APEX?

Both ADEX and APEX are self-service data sharing platform for the Whole-of-Government.

APEX enables users to directly communicate in terms of requesting and granting access to APIs. It acts as a centralized and secure API gateway.

It uses request-response architecture, each client opens a direct connection to each server, because the client request data directly from the server. A one-to-one distribution process.

The equivalent is like SMS used for sending message to a recipient. Another example, is newspapers where you go to a store to buy or get it delivered to your house.

For more information about APEX, refer to this link.

ADEX is a platform for real-time, asynchronous fire-and-forget data transfer.

It uses pub-sub transport messaging protocol (MQTT), which allows clients to publish and subscribe to a channel and receives messages as they become available. A one-to-many distribution process.

The equivalent is like WhatsApp mobile app where you can group chats. Another example is radio news where you tune in to a channel.

One advantage of ADEX, it is good for frequent traffic and lightweight networks. It reduces network load and clients are pushed the latest data. ADEX will work not only with sensor, but also with non-sensor and streaming data.

You can check relevant information about request-response versus publish-subscribe here and which one to use here.