HiveMQ Pulse Glossary of Terms

This glossary defines the core technical terms used in HiveMQ Pulse.

The goal of the glossary is to give developers, architects, and system integrators a clear shared vocabulary for working with HiveMQ Pulse and the Unified Namespace.

Term Definition

Term	Definition
Agent	A distributed execution engine that integrates your infrastructure into HiveMQ Pulse.
Aggregation	A built-in function that summarizes historical values for a single tag such as avgerage, maximum, or simple moving average (SMA).
Area	A namespace node type that represents an operational area within the ISA-95 model (Enterprise→ Site → Area → Line). Areas group related production lines or equipment.
Asset	A namespace node type that represents hardware or software with defined functionality. Assets typically contain fields and tags and are addressable via MQTT. Asset definitions can be shared with connected HiveMQ Edge instances for mapping.
Calculation	A mathematical operation across nodes that produces new values such as sum (SUM) or overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
Contextualisation	The process of transforming raw data into meaningful information by applying a namespace structure, metadata, or calculations to make the data more useful and understandable.
Data Type	A format specification that defines the kind of data a namespace can hold. Common data types include String, Boolean, Object, Integer, Decimal, and DateTime.
Discovery	The ability of HiveMQ Pulse to automatically detect new data flows in connected infrastructure and prompt users to add discovered data sources to the known namespace.
Enterprise	A top-level namespace node type that represents the entire organization in the ISA-95 model (Enterprise→ Site → Area → Line).
Expression Language	Inline functions used for quick calculations within tags.
Field	A namespace node type that represents a simple data type, such as a String within a data payload. For example, a key in an MQTT JSON payload. Fields are not directly addressable with MQTT, but can be used in calculations and referenced from other nodes.
Folder	A namespace node type that provides organisational structure within a namespace. MQTT topics with no associated payloads are described in the namespace as folders by default. For example, the MQTT topic `hivemq/site1/area2/` creates folders for `hivemq`, `site1`, and `area2`.
Governed Data	Data that is modelled and managed within the Unified Namespace.
History	Per-tag message storage used by aggregations, calculations, and scripts.
HiveMQ Pulse	A distributed data-intelligence platform for building and governing a Unified Namespace, and converting real-time operational data into insights.
Ignored Topic	A data governance rule that skips selected MQTT topics during namespace operations.
Infrastructure	A view within HiveMQ Pulse that visualizes components connected to Pulse via Pulse Agents, including HiveMQ Edge Brokers, HiveMQ Enterprise Brokers, and more.
Line	A namespace node type that represents a production line as defined in the ISA-95 model (Enterprise→ Site → Area → Line). A line contains equipment and processes that perform specific operations within an area.
Node	An addressable data point in the namespace that carries state, event, or configuration information, and has exactly one Node Type.
Node Type	An abstract classification that defines how a node functions within HiveMQ Pulse and the namespace structure.
OEE	A predefined metric for measuring Overall Equipment Effectiveness.
Project	An organizational container in HiveMQ Pulse that encapsulates a complete operational environment. Each project contains its own namespace with its connected infrastructure, agents, and data sources. A distributed software component deployed near data sources that enforces the defined information model locally. Agents execute data processing, transformations, and governance rules at the edge before sending data to the Pulse Server.
Pulse Server	The central service that hosts APIs, manages Agents, and distributes the Agent Index.
Serialization Format	A standardized way to convert data structures or objects into a format that can be stored, transmitted, or reconstructed later. Common serialization formats include JSON Object (UTF-8), UTF-8, and ISO8859-1.
Site	A namespace node type that represents a physical location in the ISA95 model (Enterprise→ Site → Area → Line). A site can contain multiple areas.
Tag	A namespace node type that represents a contained set of functionality associated with a hardware or software device. Tags typically contain fields and other tags and are addressable via MQTT. Unlike Assets, tag definitions are not shared with connected HiveMQ Edge instances.
Transformation	A simple modification of data using expressions and aggregations.
Unified Namespace (UNS)	An enterprise-wide hierarchical data model that HiveMQ Pulse governs and manages.
Ungoverned Data	Data that is not captured or managed in the United Namespace definition.

Agent

A distributed execution engine that integrates your infrastructure into HiveMQ Pulse.

Aggregation

A built-in function that summarizes historical values for a single tag such as avgerage, maximum, or simple moving average (SMA).

Area

A namespace node type that represents an operational area within the ISA-95 model (Enterprise→ Site → Area → Line). Areas group related production lines or equipment.

Asset

A namespace node type that represents hardware or software with defined functionality. Assets typically contain fields and tags and are addressable via MQTT. Asset definitions can be shared with connected HiveMQ Edge instances for mapping.

Calculation

A mathematical operation across nodes that produces new values such as sum (SUM) or overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).

Contextualisation

The process of transforming raw data into meaningful information by applying a namespace structure, metadata, or calculations to make the data more useful and understandable.

Data Type

A format specification that defines the kind of data a namespace can hold. Common data types include String, Boolean, Object, Integer, Decimal, and DateTime.

Discovery

The ability of HiveMQ Pulse to automatically detect new data flows in connected infrastructure and prompt users to add discovered data sources to the known namespace.

Enterprise

A top-level namespace node type that represents the entire organization in the ISA-95 model (Enterprise→ Site → Area → Line).

Expression Language

Inline functions used for quick calculations within tags.

Field

A namespace node type that represents a simple data type, such as a String within a data payload. For example, a key in an MQTT JSON payload. Fields are not directly addressable with MQTT, but can be used in calculations and referenced from other nodes.

Folder

A namespace node type that provides organisational structure within a namespace. MQTT topics with no associated payloads are described in the namespace as folders by default. For example, the MQTT topic hivemq/site1/area2/ creates folders for hivemq, site1, and area2.

Governed Data

Data that is modelled and managed within the Unified Namespace.

History

Per-tag message storage used by aggregations, calculations, and scripts.

HiveMQ Pulse

A distributed data-intelligence platform for building and governing a Unified Namespace, and converting real-time operational data into insights.

Ignored Topic

A data governance rule that skips selected MQTT topics during namespace operations.

Infrastructure

A view within HiveMQ Pulse that visualizes components connected to Pulse via Pulse Agents, including HiveMQ Edge Brokers, HiveMQ Enterprise Brokers, and more.

Line

A namespace node type that represents a production line as defined in the ISA-95 model (Enterprise→ Site → Area → Line). A line contains equipment and processes that perform specific operations within an area.

Node

An addressable data point in the namespace that carries state, event, or configuration information, and has exactly one Node Type.

Node Type

An abstract classification that defines how a node functions within HiveMQ Pulse and the namespace structure.

OEE

A predefined metric for measuring Overall Equipment Effectiveness.

Project

An organizational container in HiveMQ Pulse that encapsulates a complete operational environment. Each project contains its own namespace with its connected infrastructure, agents, and data sources. A distributed software component deployed near data sources that enforces the defined information model locally. Agents execute data processing, transformations, and governance rules at the edge before sending data to the Pulse Server.

Pulse Server

The central service that hosts APIs, manages Agents, and distributes the Agent Index.

Serialization Format

A standardized way to convert data structures or objects into a format that can be stored, transmitted, or reconstructed later. Common serialization formats include JSON Object (UTF-8), UTF-8, and ISO8859-1.

Site

A namespace node type that represents a physical location in the ISA95 model (Enterprise→ Site → Area → Line). A site can contain multiple areas.

Tag

A namespace node type that represents a contained set of functionality associated with a hardware or software device. Tags typically contain fields and other tags and are addressable via MQTT. Unlike Assets, tag definitions are not shared with connected HiveMQ Edge instances.

Transformation

A simple modification of data using expressions and aggregations.

Unified Namespace (UNS)

An enterprise-wide hierarchical data model that HiveMQ Pulse governs and manages.

Ungoverned Data

Data that is not captured or managed in the United Namespace definition.