Communications

Ports

Ports configuration allows the user to configure which communication ports (Commgr Ports in I/O setup) will be used for communication. When using the Route feature, BCS can be configured to route VCP messages for an external Veronte device with a known address (ID) through a given port.

Ports menu

Each of the different ports can be configured as either of the following options:

• Forward: Any messages generated by this unit (i.e. Telemetry or response messages to certain commands) will be sent through these ports.

• Route: Any messages received at any Commgr Port with the defined address will be re-sent through the defined port. It is possible to route several addresses through the same port, but is not possible to route the same address through several ports. Only the first configured port will be used. Routing also applies to messages generated by the unit for the defined address.

Note

The same port cannot be used as Forward and Route at the same time.

It is possible to define up to 4 routing setups, which can be switched unsing the Ports action of the Automations menu. Routing 1 will always be selected by default when booting BCS.

Application example

A practical example of the use of this menu are BCS Ground unit configurations. These configurations should have configured a Routing of Address 2 (Veronte Ops) through the Commgr port to which the USB consumer is connected (to allow connection to the PC). In this example, Port 1 producer is the one connected to USB consumer.

This way, any messages that are received through a Commgr Port (i.e. through Veronte LOS), will be re-routed through Port 1 (USB) and received by Veronte Ops Software, including any messages generated by BCS ground unit itself.

Warning

An incorrect Port configuration can disable USB communication. If this happens, BCS will not be able to be detected through Veronte Link software. If this is the case, please visit Maintenance mode - Troubleshooting section.

Comstats

The Comstats feature allows BCS to make an estimation of the overall quality of the communication channel.

BCS will send periodically (If enabled) a message with its current communication statistics (Packets sent and received per second). Then, any other BCS unit can receive this information and compare against its own statistics to estimate the average amount of packets lost in the communication.

The results of this estimation can be monitored in variables RX Packet Error Rate (ID 2000) and TX Packet Error Rate (ID 2001). These variables can be used to enable, for example, failsafe actions in case of degradation or loss of communications.

Comstats menu

It is possible to configure the source or destination of the statistics, as well as the frequency at which the Comstats message is sent:

• RX Auto: Enabling this option will use the first remote AP found. If this option is disabled, the user must choose manually the address of the unit used for Comstats calculation.

• TX: When enabled, the unit will periodically send its Comstats message (set the period). Select the address to which the message should be sent:

  • App 2: Veronte Ops address.

  • Broadcast: All units on the network.

  • Veronte v4.X XXXX: To a specific unit.

Note

Enabling Tx will enable BCS to send its Comstats message, but in order to compute Packet Error rate it’s necessary to receive the TX message from a different unit.

Warning

Packet error rate is a good indicator of the status of the communication, but it is not representative of the radiolink status. For monitoring the status of the radiolink RSSI Variables (820-822) shall be used instead. Depending on the configuration it is posible to have bad Error rates with good RSSI (overloaded radiolink) or good Error rates with bad RSSI (degraded communication with low load on radiolink). For the best results, it is recommended to use a combination of both statistics for failsafe automations.

Iridium

Checking the Enable box will enable the use of Iridium communication through the Iridium Consumer/Producer in the I/O setup.

Warning

Before using the module, the user will have to register both of them (sender/receiver) in the RockBlock website. Please find more information about the registration process in this link: https://docs.rockblock.rock7.com/docs/rockblock-management-system.

Iridium menu

In this menu the following parameters have to be set:

• Synchronization time: This is the transmission period, i.e., the time between 2 consecutive messages. This is a parameter that the user should configure taking into consideration its mission.

• Destination address: SN (Serial Number) of the destination Iridium module.

Note

To configure the syncronization time, it would be advisable to think about how the user want to use the Iridium communication. The user will pay for credits, and each credit means one message. Each individual message has to be paid, so the syncronization time can be configured in order not to run out of credits.

Veronte LOS

In this section, the serial port that communicates from the microcontroller to the internal radio is configured.

Warning

If the user changes the baudrate on the internal radio, it is also required to change it here and vice versa.

Veronte LOS menu

• Baudrate: This specifies how fast data is sent over a serial line.

• Length: This defines the number of data bits in each character: 4 to 8 bits.

• Stop: Number of stop bits sent at the end of every character: 1, 1.5, 2.

• Parity: Is a method of detecting errors in transmission. When parity is used with a serial port, an extra data bit is sent with each data character, arranged so that the number of 1 bits in each character, including the parity bit. Disabled, odd or even.

Note

All these settings are already specified for a given device, therefore, BCS should match with them in order to be able to communicate.