Tixi.Com

Hello,

I am currently developpping an monitoring application for an industrial system controlled by a Mitsubishi PLC (FX Series).
We plan to replace the existing GSM modem we are currenlty using with TIXE as iti seems to be reach in features we need. We are especially impressed by the capability of storing data in its own memory.

As a developper I have some questions regarding the integration I would need answer before choosing TIXI Modem as a solution.

1. We are using .NET as out developping platform.
For instance, when dialing a number we send AT commands to the appropriate COM port. From what I read on the available documentation on your web site I understand that with TIXI I would sent some XML formatted text.
Q1: Will this text be sent in the same manner to the COM port?
(simply write a string containing XML to the COM?)

2. Browsing your website I came accross the following:
"Send and receive SMS
- Landline network: Deutsche Telekom, AnnyWay
- Mobile network: T-Mobile, Vodaphone, E-Plus, O2, Cityruf "
I suppose that TIXI works with normal SIM cards from any operator available in the country used.
Q2: Is TIXI limited to the above mentione mobile/fixed telephony operators or it can be used with any SIM card from any operator anywher in the world? (we are located in Romania)

3. E-mail: Send and receive e-mails
Q3: How does TIXI sends email if there is no internet connection available?
Does it use the WAP service of the SIM card? If so this means that the SIM card must be WAP enabled. This is because the mobile operators here does not enable WAP by default.

4. WebServer
Assuming thah there is no internet connection available to the location of the modem. The only communication available is GSM.
Q4: How does one user, using InternetExplorer from his computer back home has access to the data in the modem without installing any agents on his computer?
Does the modem uploads the data at specified intervals to a public webServer from where it became accessable to users?
Please note that this might be sensitive data that must be keept private and stored on the company's servers.

5. The only connectivity to the remote monitored system is GSM.
Assuming that from time to time I have to collect the data from the TIXI's memory in order to store it in our internal database, this raises few questions:
Q5_1: How is the connection initialized?
- From the remote TIXI to the destination modem connected to the user's computer?
- The user's computer initializes the connection by dialing the number of the TIXI's SIM Card and 'requests' the data?
Q5_2: Keeping in mind that the only connection is GSM and this might be sometimes costly, what is the volume of data per minute of connection that can be transfered between the remote TIXI and the Computer that will store the data in an internal database?

I hope that the details above gives you an ideea about what we kind of application we are trying to developp and will make it possible for you, also, to reccomend us the list of your products we will need.

Looking forward for your reply.

Puuh, a lot of questions ! Here we go:


First of all: Will the monitoring application directly (COM) be connected to the FX, or will you dial into the FX ?
We have two groups of modems:
a) Industrial 11bit modems that support Hayes compatible AT-Commands
b) Alarm Modems with PLC protocols (e.g. FX) controlled by TiXML-Commands.


Yes, both can be controlled via COM-port with baudrates up to 230k.
For TiXML we recommend hardware handshake, data format 8N1.


You can use any operator or SMSC. It works like a mobile phone.
Just for landline devices (HMxx) you have to use an operator and phone socket that supports CLIP (caller ID presentation) and landline SMS.
I don't know if this is available in romania, so i would recommend to use GSM devices (HGxx), which will work world wide.


We use CSD (circuit switched data) to connect to an internet PPP dialin point. This is also known as "wap". For most countrys outgoing data connection are enabled by default. Just for incoming CSD connection you sometimes need a special contract.


Just dialin to the modem PPP server. Your PC will get an IP address from the modem, so you can use any broswer to access its website.


The webserver runs inside the modem.
You may send the data to a special web service that we offer for a monthly fee. You will have to register and get your own account details.


You can dial into the modem using its SIM card data number, authenticate via a special TiXML command and thereafter read the log memory.
Or you let the modem send you the data periodicaly via email with CSV attachment.
Or you use our web service which i already mentioned above.


GSM (CSD) uses 9600bps.

_________________
Tixi Support Team

E-Mail-Support, Mo-Fr, 9:00am - 5:00pm, Tixi-Support@tixi.com
Support-Hotline, Mo-Fr, 9:00am - 5:00pm, +49-30-406 08 300

Hello,

Thank you very much for your detailed answer.
Please find below more details from my side that answer/raise more questions.(sorry about that )

1. The TIXI will be directly connected to the PLC and it will be in a remote location, hence we will dial TIXI using another GSM modem we wlaready have.
So we will have a 'normal' GSM modem connected to the COM port of the computer hosting the monitoring application. The monitoring application will dial the SIM inside the TIXI and perform specific actions such as collecting data, sending commnads and so on.

Is it possible to use TIXI with its full features in this scenario?


2. License and additional software.
We are very pleased about the built-in storage feature of TIXI. We will need the additional 64MB in order to store historical data.

However we need to know what software license needs to be purchased in addition to the modem itself in order to have it fully operational(the features we need/don't need are listed below):
- auto answer when the monitoring application calls in order to read PLC
- read PLC for real time data (I beleive that we need FX drivers)
- store istorical values in TIXI for later interogation(any special protocls, databases, communication libraries?)
- read TIXI memory for the historical stored values(same question as above)

- at this phase we do not need WebServer feature as this project is in the first phase of developpment.

Also, one important aspect is the distribution of TIXI Modem +additional software.
We will distribute our monitoring application with TIXI for every customer purchsing our products.
Will we need new license for every software or library that might be needed or it will be enough purchasing the TIXI modem and use the same?

If the above gives you a good image about what we are trying to implement, we will highly appreciate if you will give us a price quotation for our needs.

Best Regards

Yes, the Tixi Alarm Modem will monitor the FX and is able to log its data and send alarm messages. You can also dial into the Alarm Modem to collect the data via TiXML and even connect directly to the FX (TransparentMode).


Do you really need 64MB data ? If you are connected via GSM, you only have a bandwidth of 9600bps. To collect 64MB will take a whole day !
I recommend to use 2MB and send tha data daily to a storage server. That would be the better solution...


You'll need:
- Tixi Alarm Modem GSM, ProductCode "HG21"
- Antenna 5DB, ProductCode "ZA-DE-5DB"
- Serial cable, ProductCode "ZK-R9M9F180"
- Feature Pack for FX-Protocol, ProductCode "FP-MIT-FX"
- FeaturePack for Datalogging, e.g. 10 Variables, ProductCode "FP-DL010"
- Programming Software TILA with Datalogging, ProductCode "TILA2-DL"


The TILA2-Software is a single desktop license. You can install it on one PC.
The Feature Packs are bound to the hardware. Therefore you'll need separate Feature Pascks for every device.



Please contact our sales team via e-mail to get an individual offer.

_________________
Tixi Support Team

E-Mail-Support, Mo-Fr, 9:00am - 5:00pm, Tixi-Support@tixi.com
Support-Hotline, Mo-Fr, 9:00am - 5:00pm, +49-30-406 08 300