TPC-2006

[Tom_SAVU]

May I connect a TPC-2006 to a cFP system with a cFP-1808 network interface or I need a cFP controller ?
Tom

[Travis G.]

Hello Tom,

You cannot connect the NI TPC-2006 to a Compact FieldPoint network using only the NI cFP-1808.  The NI cFP-1808 network interface module is not a Programmable Automation Controller (PAC) in the true sense of the term because it contains no programmable processing capabilities and no memory.  Therefore, you cannot embed a custom program on the cFP-1808 to communicate over a network. 

With a full blown PAC such as the NI cFP-20xx, you can create and embed a program on the controller that oversees the communication of data between different nodes of a distributed network.  For example, imagine a system where a cFP-20xx acts as a server for the data being acquired from various cFP analog or digital modules.  A client such as the TPC-2006 can connect to the server over Ethernet and request and send data back and forth. 

The cFP-1808 does not have the ability to act as such a server.  It is simply used as a 'dumb' network connection between an intelligent networked device (a PC) and hardware performing data acquisition (cFP modules).  The main purposes of a cFP-1808 are for customers who simply need to access data from a Compact FieldPoint module from LabVIEW on a host computer, or for customer who need to expand a system that already contains a programmable network controller such as the NI cFP-2000.

For more information and solutions about Programmable Automation Controllers, see www.ni.com/pac and if you have any further questions feel free to reply to this post.

Regards,
Travis Gorkin
Applications Engineering
National Instruments
www.ni.com/support

[Tom_SAVU]

Hi Travis, thank you for your answer.
I don't understand why I can connect a cFP-1808 to a PC and I can't connect it to a TPC-2006, which is also a PDA like computer and it has an Ethernet interface.
Tom

[Travis G.]

Hello Tom,

The difference between connecting the NI cFP-1808 network interface module to a PC and connecting it to the NI TPC-2006 lies in the difference between the development and execution environment.  When programming with LabVIEW on a PC running Windows XP (or some variation thereof), the development and execution environment are one in the same.  You write your code on the block diagram, press the run button, and LabVIEW compiles and executes that code, all within the same environment.  For the TPC-2006, the development environment and execution environment are separate.  You develop your application using the LabVIEW PDA module on your PC, but when you run the program, it is actually compiling the code into an executable to run on the Windows CE OS of the TPC-2006, and deploying that executable to the device.

When communicating through the cFP-1808, this difference is important because the cFP-1808 does not have any programmable functionality.  When your application is running on a PC, it uses the FieldPoint Read/Write VIs within LabVIEW to make driver calls that go out and get data from the cFP modules, using the cFP-1808 simply as a networked tunnel to that data.  In the case of the TPC-2006, these FieldPoint Read/Write VIs cannot be compiled by LabVIEW PDA to run on its Windows CE OS.  Also, there is no way to install the FieldPoint drivers on the TPC-2006 because they were developed to run on traditional Windows operating systems and Real-Time PACs like the cFP-20xx. 

Instead of using the FieldPoint drivers to get data back and forth from the TPC-2006 and cFP modules, this is done with TCP/IP Communication VIs that can be compiled to run on the Windows CE OS.  These VIs are the only way to access the Ethernet interface of the TPC-2006.  There are some existing utilities and example VIs that I am in the process of refining for developing such Ethernet applications for the TPC-2006.  I will be sure to update this post with links to these upon completion.

These are good questions and I hope I am explaining them clearly enough.  Let me know if I can elaborate any further.

Regards,
Travis Gorkin
Applications Engineering
National Instruments
www.ni.com/support

[Tom_SAVU]

Thank you very much Travis, now it's more than clear.

These days I am trying to define a configuration and what you told me it's very important.
It means that I can take into account the possibility of sending data from cFP-1808 to TPC-2006 through TCP/IP (or to pull from cFP in TPC).

This will be also very usefull in many other applications.
Thanks again, I am looking forward to your posts in this thread.
Happy New Year !

Tom

[Travis G.]

For all those interested, here is a link to some new content regarding the NI TPC-2006.  This whitepaper describes the basics of incorporating an HMI for monitoring and controlling a distributed industrial system, the main hardware and software features of the NI TPC-2006, and some information and example programs for creating applications for the touch panel computer using the LabVIEW PDA Module.  The application notes and example programs linked towards the end of the document are libraries of VIs that can be used as utilities for programming efficient and flexible TCP/IP communication applications for distributed systems.  Enjoy and please post with any further questions!

Creating LabVIEW Applications to Communicate Between PACs and the NI TPC-2006 Industrial Touch Panel...