cRIO remote access protocol

[Collmar]

Currently I have a set-up that allows me to communicate remotely to my cRIO using serial and TCP/IP protocols with serial modems and wi-fi routers/bridges. I would like to be able to extend this network using a cellular modem. Is it possible to use the TCP/IP functionality of my code to allow communication via a cellular modem or would I need to use LabVIEW's Web Service capabilities?

If this is only possible using a Web Service, is it possible to have a Real Time application and a Web Service simultaneously running as a startup application on a cRIO? I want the option to be able to actively switch the communication protocols in the case of networking issues.

Thanks,

Matt

[PatJamSim · Accepted solution]

Hello Matt,

In general terms, the answer to your main question is yes, you can use a cellular modem to network to a cRIO.  Devices like the BlueTree BT-6600 and Sierra Airlink Raven X have been used with cRIOs in the past.  In terms of utilizing only TCP/IP protocol with these modems, you would need to configure the modem to port forward information to the cRIO based on the modem's IPv6 and port designation.  TCP/IP functions in LabVIEW only need these two pieces of information I was able to find a few pieces of information about using cRIO and cellular, but nothing specific regarding setup or any difficulties you might face.  This sort of network setup is beyond the scope of what we support here at NI, so unfortunately there's not much in our database about it.

It should not be necessary to use a Web Service to connect through the modem as long as you configure the TCP/IP ports and IPs correctly.  Web services use the HTTP protocol to transfer data over Ethernet or whatever physical network layer is in place.  As such, the web service is just a wrapper for information that is transmitting over the same lines of communication.  If you are unable to configure TCP/IP properly, then web services may still work, but configuring ports and IPs is easier with TCP than web services.  Also, you cannot run a real time application and a web service simultaneously as startup applications.  You could configure an application that includes web interface VIs, or configure a web service that includes background application action, but you cannot have two startup applications.  If you configured a real time application that utilized TCP/IP, you could set up a background set of code that utilized HTTP instead.  This would allow you to switch between the protocols by using some sort of input control, like a Boolean network published shared variable, to select which case executes.  This implementation is highly dependent on what you are trying to accomplish.

Hopefully you will find some of this information useful.  Good luck working with your application.

[RaulPerez]

Hello we am trying to do something very similar to this. We have a few cRIO 9030 controllers and they are going to be placed in a water tight chamber out in the sea. 

We would like to communicate* with the controller from land and the first thing we thought was using cellular modem. 

Did this solution work? What kind of setup would I need in order for this to work?

Are there any other approaches to solving this problem?

*By communicating we mean being able to connect to the target, deploy data, restart the controller, debugging it and updating the software.

[JoshuaP]

By communicating we mean being able to connect to the target, deploy data, restart the controller, debugging it and updating the software.

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I would recommend taking a look at NI SystemLink.  You could have a SystemLink server running in a cloud instance like AWS or Azure and use it to aggregate data, configure you application, restart the controller, and update your application.

[JoshuaP]

By communicating we mean being able to connect to the target, deploy data, restart the controller, debugging it and updating the software.

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I would recommend taking a look at NI SystemLink.  You could have a SystemLink server running in a cloud instance like AWS or Azure and use it to aggregate data, configure you application, restart the controller, and update your application.

[RaulPerez]

Yes, I think SystemLink would be an ideal tool for this setup once the communication is already established.

What I mean is what kind of hardware do I need in order for this setup to work? and what type configuration of do I need in order to establish this communication?

[KingPGeorge]

Hi Raul,

I'm not sure if I fully understand your question, but supported hardware includes PXI (Windows), CompactRIO (NI Linux Real-Time), and Windows PCs.

See here for some getting started information:

Getting Started With SystemLink

https://www.ni.com/en/support/documentation/supplemental/17/getting-started-with-systemlink.html

Thanks,

Peter George

Applications Engineer

National Instruments