B&B Electronics VFG3000 - Manual - Manual (Page 47)

A DVANCED C OMMUNICATIONS W ORKING WITH M ODEMS
R EVISION 1 P AGE 31
TCP/IP download facility, its web server, its shared serial ports, and to any TCP/IP protocols
that have been selected via the Communications window.
S OME T YPICAL A PPLICATIONS
The sections below list some typical applications of modem technology…
• You want a Fieldbus Gateway in a remote location to send an email to a service
engineer to inform him of a fault condition. By configuring an on-demand
connection to an Internet Service Provider, the Gateway is instructed to
automatically connect when an email is to be sent, and then to hang-up when the
message has been transferred.
• You want a Fieldbus Gateway in a remote location to send messages directly to
the cell phones of a group of service engineers to inform them of a fault
condition. By configuring a GSM modem with SMS support, the Gateway is
instructed to notify the engineers of the fault by means of short text messages.
Further, when a given engineer replies to the message to indicate that he will
deal with the problem, the Gateway can optionally forward the reply to all the
other engineers, letting them know that someone has taken ownership of the
issue.
• A Fieldbus Gateway in a remote location is configured to accept incoming
connections from a PC based at a central office. Once the connection is made,
the Gateway’s database can be remotely upgraded by instructing the Fieldbus
Gateway Manager configuration to download via the TCP/IP link. If so
configured, the Gateway’s web server can be accessed so as to provide remote
control facilities. Best of all, by installing virtual serial port software on the PC
and by enabling port sharing on the Gateway, a PLC programming package can
be used to download to the programmable controller connected to the Fieldbus
Gateway—with the software ‘thinking’ it is talking over a standard COM port!
• A Fieldbus Gateway in a remote location is configured to accept incoming
connections from a SCADA system located in a central office. The SCADA
package can use Modbus TCP/IP to access gateway blocks within the Gateway,
thereby reading and writing data collected from devices connected to the
Gateway’s serial ports. The SCADA package can also make direct contact with
devices connected to the Gateway by means of the Gateway’s IP routing
capability.
There are obviously many other applications beyond these few examples.