Network Interfaces
Network Interfaces in SCS send and receive traffic over the Internet Protocol (IP). It does these using either the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). When creating a new Network Interface you must specify which protocol your sensor is using to output it's data and [optionally] the IP address of the sensor itself. Be sure the sensor traffic can reach the SCS server and isn't being blocked/dropped due to subnets, firewalls or other network setup and traffic control measures.
A good way to test network sensors is to use a client based tool on the server itself (hyper-term, putty, wireshark, etc) to listen for the traffic and verify that it is arriving as expected.
The Basic tab consists of the following fields:
- Description
- Provide an optional description of this item.
- System Name
- System generated name, read only format standard across all SCS systems.
- Useful for post-processing data on shore from multiple different sources/vessels.
- Useful for rotating personnel as each ship will always comply with this format.
- If you wish to have a more user friendly name you can edit the Display Name attribute below
- Display Name
- User supplied name
- Can be anything you wish though must be unique.
- Type
- The Type of Sensor Interface being defined.
- This is set upon creation and cannot be changed after the fact. You can copy the interface's Message Definitions and paste them into a new interface of a different type if needed.
- Enabled
- A flag letting SCS know if this interface is actively providing data or if it should be ignored by client applications such as ACQ.
- Installed To
- If the Physical Device is actually supplying data to SCS you can link those datasets to this specific device by Installing the device to the Sensor Interface. When you swap a physical sensor out be sure to update this portion of SCS to reflect your changes!
- Network Protocol
- The IP protocol to use for this interface (must match method being used/expected by sensor itself)
- IP Address
- The address of the sensor supplying the data to this interface
- If sensor is providing data over UDP Broadcast then this should be set to 255.255.255.255.
- Port
- The port to use when establishing the socket connection (TCP) or to listen on (UDP)
The Advanced tab consists of the following fields:
- Comment
- A general comment pertaining to this item
- Keywords
- Optional tags used to assist with text searches and metadata
- Installed To
- Similar to the Installed property on the Basic tab, however this instance allows you to manage historic installations.