5.6. Communication

Communication covers Cloud Settings, MODBUS Settings, MQTT Settings, Database Settings, Gateway File Server Settings, HTTP Settings, Hub Settings and so on. You can turn on one or more of these communication methods as required.

The left side of the Communication page lists the available communication methods (and shows whether each one is enabled); the right side holds the settings for the selected method. Turn on the Enable switch in those settings to show all of the fields. After you click Save, go back to Home and click Restart Service to apply the changes.

5.6.1. Cloud Settings

Click the Enable switch to turn on cloud platform communication.

Once cloud communication is enabled, the server settings are complete and the automatic collection tasks of the target machines and groups are switched on (see 5.3.1.2. Task Settings and 5.4.1.2. Group Task Settings), task data is uploaded in real time to the designated standard cloud platform over a standard protocol, where it can be stored, analysed and shown on dashboards. Bivrost runs a standard cloud platform server at tb.bivrost.cn; contact support to arrange a trial (see Cloud Platform Manual).

• Enter the cloud platform address in Broker Address.
• Enter the token the cloud platform has assigned to the gateway in Token.
• With Enable Broadcasting on, the gateway broadcasts data through the cloud platform to the other gateways on that platform.
• With Enable Gateway Linking on, the gateway receives data broadcast through the cloud platform by the other gateways on that platform. Add the UID and token of each gateway you want to link to under Gateway Links, in the following format:

UID,token;

Separate multiple linked gateways with ;.

Note

When the settings are complete, click Save, then go back to Home and click Restart Service to apply the changes.

5.6.2. MODBUS Settings

Click the Enable switch to turn on MODBUS communication.

Once MODBUS communication is enabled and the automatic collection tasks of the target machines and groups are switched on (see 5.3.1.2. Task Settings and 5.4.1.2. Group Task Settings), the gateway uses the MODBUS protocol to store the task data in the corresponding address registers — see section 3, MODBUS Communication, of the Communication Protocol.

• Byte(4) Order selects the decoding format used in MODBUS communication for 32-bit data (long integers such as Int32, single-precision Float and any other type that occupies two register addresses). The default is “DCBA”.
• Byte(8) Order selects the decoding format used in MODBUS communication for 64-bit data (double-precision Double and any other type that occupies four register addresses). The default is “HGFEDCBA”.
• Encoding selects the string encoding used by the MODBUS protocol. The default is “Chinese (GBK)”.
• With Reverse String on, the character order of strings is reversed.

Note

When the settings are complete, click Save, then go back to Home and click Restart Service to apply the changes.

5.6.3. MQTT Settings

Turn on the Enable switch to start MQTT communication.

Once MQTT communication is enabled and the automatic collection tasks of the target machines and groups are switched on (see 5.3.1.2. Task Settings and 5.4.1.2. Group Task Settings), the gateway uses the MQTT protocol to convert the task data into JSON messages and publish them to the designated MQTT broker — see section 4, MQTT Communication, of the Communication Protocol.

The MQTT settings are: Mode, Broker Address, Port, Client ID, Anonymous, Username, Password, Data Report Topic, RPC Request Topic, RPC Response Topic, Encoding, Array to String and Publish on Value Change.

• Data Report Topic is the topic an automatic collection task reports its result on over MQTT. The default is “r”.
• RPC Request Topic and RPC Response Topic are used by the RPC interface. Both are blank by default, which disables the RPC interface. Once they are set, the gateway subscribes to the RPC request topic and publishes the result of each request to the RPC response topic — see 4.2. RPC Interface of the Communication Protocol.
• With Publish on Value Change on, the automatic collection tasks enabled in the machine task settings and group task settings only upload a result when the collected value has changed.

Note

When the settings are complete, click Save, then go back to Home and click Restart Service to apply the changes.

5.6.4. Database Settings

Turn on the Enable switch to start database communication.

Once database communication is enabled and the automatic collection tasks of the target machines and groups are switched on (see 5.3.1.2. Task Settings and 5.4.1.2. Group Task Settings), the gateway writes the results of those tasks to the designated database. The database types currently supported are SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL and InfluxDB v2.x. See section 5, Database Communication, of the Communication Protocol.

The database settings are: Type, Broker Address, Port, Username, Password, Bucket, Table Prefix, Storage Mode, Data Retention Period (h), Use Local Time, Enable Primary Key, Write on Value Change and so on.

• Type is the type of database: SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, InfluxDB v2.x and so on.
• Broker Address is the IP address of the server the database runs on.
• Port is the port of the server the database runs on.
• Username and Password are used to sign in to the database.
• Bucket is the name of the database.
• Table Prefix adds a prefix in front of the default table names.
• Storage Mode offers Log, Real Time, User Defined and so on.
  • Log mode: every time the gateway reads data from a machine it writes a matching record to the database. The database keeps the complete history.
  • Real Time mode: every time the gateway reads data from a machine it finds the matching record for that machine in the database and updates it with the latest data; no history is kept.
  • The default storage mode is User Defined: click the Settings button on the right and use the “Database Custom Save Mode Settings” dialog to put each individual task into Log mode or Real Time mode. In the dialog, the left column is Types (Logging Mode), the middle column is Types (Real Time Mode) and the right column is Types (No Action) (not recorded). Drag an interface with the mouse into the mode you want, or click the left and right arrow buttons to move every interface on one side across to the other. Click anywhere outside the dialog to close it, then click Save on the page to store your custom settings. By default Alarm, Machine OEE and Group OEE are in Real Time mode and all other data is in Log mode.

• Data Retention Period (h) is how long data is kept in the database, in hours. If it is set to x, the gateway runs a scheduled database cleanup after start-up and automatically deletes data older than x hours. The default is 0, which keeps all data.
• With Use Local Time on, data is written using the local time of the time zone set in 5.12. Settings; otherwise UTC is used.
• Enable Primary Key adds a primary key column to every table in the database.
• With Write on Value Change on, the automatic collection tasks enabled in the machine task settings and group task settings only write a result when the collected value has changed.

Note

When the settings are complete, click Save, then go back to Home and click Restart Service to apply the changes.

5.6.5. Gateway File Server Settings

Turn on the Enable switch to start the gateway file server. The gateway file server is a file server created locally on the gateway that machines can reach over FTP or as a shared folder. Once it is running, the File Server Type option in 5.3.1.3. DNC Settings can be set to “Gateway File Server”.

The username and password are shared by FTP and the shared folder. Both default to dnc_user. At present only the password can be changed.

Turn on Enable FTP to allow the gateway file server to be reached over FTP. The FTP address is:

ftp://iotgw or ftp://<gateway-IP>

Under the FTP home directory each machine has its own folder, named after the machine’s IP address.

Turn on Enable SMB to allow the gateway file server to be reached as a shared folder. Each machine has its own shared folder, named after the machine’s IP address. The shared folder address is:

\\iotgw\<machine-IP> or \\<gateway-IP>\<machine-IP>

Note

When the settings are complete, click Save, then go back to Home and click Restart Service to apply the changes.

5.6.6. HTTP Settings

Turn on the Enable switch to start the HTTP service.

With Enable IP Whitelist on, the gateway only accepts HTTP interface requests from valid IP addresses on the whitelist. The Whitelist can hold several IP addresses, separated by “;”.

Note

When the settings are complete, click Save, then go back to Home and click Restart Service to apply the changes.

5.6.7. Hub Settings

Turn on the Enable switch to start the Hub service. A Hub server is used to reach the gateway’s interfaces remotely, so that configuration can be changed remotely and gateways on different sites can exchange data. Contact support to have one deployed.

• Enter the Hub server address in Broker Address.
• Enter the token the Hub server has assigned to the gateway in Token.
• With Enable Broadcasting on, the gateway broadcasts data through the cloud platform to the other gateways on that platform.
• With Enable Gateway Linking on, the gateway receives data broadcast by other gateways through the Hub server. Add the UID and token of each gateway you want to link to under Gateway Links, in the following format:

UID,token;

Separate multiple linked gateways with ;.

Note

When the settings are complete, click Save, then go back to Home and click Restart Service to apply the changes.