Communications Mangement Help

Users with the correct permissions can manage communications directly within the application.  This allows you to perform select operations (Like changing out a modem and updating the IP address.) without having to call eLynx Support.

Communications Management is available on tablets and desktops only, you cannot access this functionality from a mobile phone. In addition, this functionality is only available on "Poll and Host" devices. "WebHost/Data Historian" devices must be managed directly on your SCADA system.

This article provides information on how to use the Communications Management feature in the application to: (click on items in this list to immediately jump to the corresponding section of the document.)

• Change the IP on an existing Communications device.
• Create a new communications device.
• Changing Properties for Protocol objects.
  • Using communications failover (Secondary Comm) on a Protocol object.
• Enabling / Disabling Communcation devices.
• Update devices to work through a Shared protocol object.

Definitions:

Communications Device - A specific device that defines a communications path to reach end devices. There are two types of Communications devices, 

• Direct - This is a single IP address that is used to communication with one or more Protocol devices. Protocol device(s) connected to a direct port are further identified by their internal addressing scheme. If multiple Protocol devices are connected to a single port then the devices are distinguished based on their internal "Address". (i.e. Modbus Address, Totalflow Station ID etc.)
• Shared - This type of device does not have a single IP address that it responds to, rather each Protocol object connected to it must define its own IP and Port address information. Shared communications devices are typically used for IP radio networks.

Protocol Object - Each Protocol Object references a single field device. These devices are created by eLynx Support when new devices are added to the system. A Protocol Object acts as the source of data for the tags on one or more Devices.

Device - An object in the eLynx system that has tags. These tags can be sourced from one or more Protocol Objects.

Well - A special object in the eLynx system that contains information on production related to a well, each Well object contains production, forecasting, and optionally financial information related to a well. The Well object also contains linkages to source Device objects for information about data needed for its production calculations. (i.e. Yesterday's Oil, Gas, or Water production.)

Launching Communications Management:

Communications Management is in the Administration menu under Object Administration.

When first opened you will see a screen that has a tree control similar to the following:

By default, this tree control shows a list of Communication Objects assigned for your use. If you click on the arrow next to each item in the tree you can see the Protocol, Device, and Well objects that are associated with that Communication Object. If a Communication Object is defined, but unused, there will be no arrow next to it.

Above the tree the Tab control allows you to switch the tree control to instead show the Devices in the eLynx System and click the arrow will show the associated Protocol, Communication, and Well objects associated with that Device.

Clicking on any item on the tree will open a page with the detailed information for that Object.

Change the IP on an existing Communications device.

To change the IP address find the Communications object you wish to update in the tree on the left side of the screen and the right side will update with all the information for that object.

Enter the new values in the IP and Port fields.

We also recommend if you are using the default port names that you update those as well, the default naming convention is to use the IP address substituting underscores for the periods then an underscore and the Port. You can see this naming in the screenshot above. Following this convention makes it easy to use the tree in Communication Device mode to find a modem that is being updated / replaced by scanning the tree directly.

Once the IP, Port, and Name fields are updated click the Save icon in the lower right corner to save your changes and update the polling engine. This change will take place immediately and all Protocol objects that are pointed at this Communication device will use this new address going forward.

 

Back to top

Create a new communications device.

To create a new Communication device click the Add button in the toolbar at the top right corner of the Communications Management screen.

A step menu will walk you through the process.

On the first screen you will be asked if you wish to Copy an existing Communication Device or Create a new Communication Device by entering all of the information manually.

The next screen varies based on whether you select Copy or Create. 

After you have selected either Copy or Create click the Select button in the lower right corner to advance to the next screen.

For Copy you will be presented with a list of existing Communication devices so that you can select which one you want to copy.

For Create the screen will allow you to choose whether you want to create a Direct or Shared port.

There are definitions on the screen for each port type and how they differ.

Once you have selected a Communication device to copy or a Type to create click the Properties button in the lower right corner.

You will now be presented with a properties page to edit the information.

For a Direct port the system requires that you enter a name, and IP address and a Port that will be used for this Communication device.

NOTE:

eLynx maintains a list of valid IP addresses for each customer to reduce the chance of entering a bad address, if you hover your mouse pointer over the tool tip i bubble to the right of the address field you can see a listing of those addresses.  If you need to add a range of IP addresses for new devices please contact support to have that information entered.

For a Shared port you will enter a Name and the Maximum number of simultaneous connections allowed.

The "Max Simultaneous Connections" determines how much of the available bandwidth can be used by controlling how many Protocol objects will be allowed to poll at one time.

For instance: Let's say we have an IP network radio system that has a total bandwidth of 1 Megabit per second, and there are 300 Protocol objects connected to that network over serial ports set at 9,600 Bps, in theory this would allow for a Maximum number of simultaneous connections of 104 (1,000,000 / 9,600).  In other words, if all 300 objects come up to poll at the same time the system would send out the first 104 requests immediately, then as each object completes its poll then next one would be started. However, theoretical maximums and real world maximums are usually not the same.  We recommend setting the connection count to about 1/2 the theoretical maximum so in this case that would be 50-60.

After entering or editing in the case of a Copy the information for the Protocol object click the Summary button in the lower right corner to review your settings.

Review the information on this screen and verify it is correct, once verified click the Save as new button to create the Communication device and make it available for use.

Back to top

Changing Properties for Protocol objects.

If you select a Protocol object from the tree control on the left a properties screen will appear on the right hand side allowing you to edit that Protocol object.

The "greyed out" areas on this screen are purely informational and cannot be edited by the user. From this screen you can:

• disable/enable communications with this Protocol object (uncheck or check the "Protocol Object Enabled" checkbox near the top of the screen.
• Change the Communictions object to use for the Protocol object. (Select a new Communication Object with the "Primary Comm Object" dropdown.
• Configure Secondary communications fallback in case of errors. ("Turn on the "Show Secondary Comm" slider below the IP/Port information.

NOTE: If the Communications object is a Direct port the IP and Port are shown here greyed out and for information purposes only.  If the Communication object is a Shared port then the IP and Port will have the information specific to this Protocol object displayed, and it will be editable. There will be more information later in this article on switching Protocol objects to Shared communications objects.

If the slider for Secondary communications is turned on then the screen will expand to show the configuration for the Secondary port.

Using communications failover (Secondary Comm) on a Protocol object.

NOTE: Secondary Comm is a feature that allows the system to attempt a different communications path if the primary path fails.  This does require having two devices (i.e. a radio connection and a cellular modem) both connected to the Protocol device in the field and then configured appropriately in the application.

Once Secondary comm is enabled you will need to select the Communications object to be used if the primary fails, if that object is a Shared object type you will need to enter the IP and Port for this specific Protocol object. There are three additional settings, Connection Option allows you to select from the following three options:

• Primary Only - While configured, the Secondary port will NOT be used on failure.
• Secondary Only - While configured the Primary port will NOT be used for this Protocol object.
• Switch to Secondary on Failure - If selected then if communications cannot be established with the Primary communications object the system will automatically attempt to use the Secondary communications object.

Number of Attemps:

This field allows you to select the number of consecutive failures on the Primary after which the system will automatically switch to the Secondary communication object (If set to Switch to Secondary on Failure).

Auto Recovery Enabled:

If this box is selected AND communications has failed to the Secondary device then each attempt to communicate with the device will first attempt to use the Primary device, if it fails it will immediately retry on the Secondary, if it succeeds it will default back to the Primary port in the future and have to exceed the "Number of Attempts" before it uses the Secondary communications object.

After making any necessary changes to the Protocol object click the Save button in the lower right corner to save your changes to the polling engine.

 

 

Back to top

Enabling / Disabling Communcation devices.

If you select a Communication object from the tree you will see that the properties screen has a checkbox to enable/disable the Communication object.

You may check or uncheck the Comm Object Enabled button to enable/disable all communication on this Communication object. Please note that ALL Protocol objects connected to the Communication object will cease to gather any data from the field UNLESS those Protocol objects are configured with a Secondary Communication object.

After you check/uncheck the box click the Save button in the lower right to send your changes to the polling engine.

Back to top

Update devices to work through a Shared protocol object.

We have already covered all of the information necessary, so this section of the document is more a checklist for switching some or all devices from Direct to Shared Communication devices.

1. Ensure the Shared communication device exists, if not use the instructions above to create one.
2. Set the tree to Devices mode as it will be easier to locate the objects you want to edit.
3. For each Device to be moved:
   1. Click the arrow next to the Device in the tree.
   2. Select the Protocol object for that device.
4. Change the Primary Comm Object on the Protocol object to the shared Communication object.
5. Enter the IP Address and Port to be used for this device.
6. Click the save button.

Repeat these steps for each Device / Protocol object being moved to the Shared communication object.

Back to top