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SATEL NMS PC
USER MANUAL
SATEL NMS PC Version 2.0.18
User Manual Version 2.5
Table of contents
SATEL NMS PC Version 2.0.18
User Manual Version 2.5
Connecting the modems .......................................................................... 13
5 DESIGNING RADIO SYSTEMS AND NETWORKS ........................................ 20
General notes about networks in SATEL NMS PC .................................... 20
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Essential network information checklist .................................................. 21
Adding a radio modem substation or repeater to an existing network...................... 30
Replacing a deployed broken radio modem with a spare ....................................... 30
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7 SATEL NMS PC MONITORING ................................................................... 84
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9 SATEL PACKET FILTER EDITOR ................................................................. 103
Custom Log File: Example Trigger and Action definitions ..................... 108
Send email example: Action Definitions ................................................ 110
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1 INTRODUCTION
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SATEL NMS PC is a software package designed by SATEL Oy to assist in the configuration, monitoring and diagnostics of radio modem networks consisting of equipment manufactured by
SATEL Oy. The program works in Windows® XP Windows® Vista or Windows7 operating systems.
SATEL NMS PC allows users to define their system as a list of networks and the constituting modems. Each network has exactly one Master modem and several substations and optional repeaters. The networks may be viewed as a list of modems or a graphical representation of linked modems. Also available are data about communication traffic, diagnostic information and alarms. Modem settings can be accessed and modified both online and locally. Automatic features are provided to assist in settings management, e.g. automatic generation of routing settings.
Note: This User's Manual describes essential features and functions of the SATEL NMS PC software only. Information relating to radio network design or technical details of the different
SATEL radio modem models, including the recommended settings, can be found in the manuals delivered with each product.
It is recommended that this SATEL NMS PC manual be used in conjunction with the appropriate radio modem manual for your installation.
This User Manual applies to SATEL NMS PC Version 2.0.18
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2 SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS
SATEL NMS PC Version 2.0.18
User Manual Version 2.5
All rights to this manual are owned solely by SATEL OY (later called also SATEL). All rights reserved. The copying of this manual without the written permission from the owner of the rights by printing, copying, recording or by any other means or the full or partial translation of the manual to any other language including all programming languages using any electrical, mechanical, magnetic, optical, manual or other methods or devices is forbidden.
SATEL reserves the right to change the technical specifications or functions of its products or to discontinue the manufacture of any of its products or to discontinue the support of any of its products without any written announcement and urges its customers to ensure, that the information at their disposal is valid.
SATEL software and programs are delivered ”as is”. The manufacturer does not grant any kind of warranty including guarantees on saleability and guarantees pertaining to applicability to a certain application. Under no circumstances is the manufacturer or the developer of a program responsible for any possible damages caused by the use of a program. The names of the programs as well as all copyrights relating to the programs are the sole property of SATEL. Any transfer, licensing to a third party, leasing, renting, transportation, copying, editing, translating, modifying into another programming language or reverse engineering for any intent is forbidden without the written consent of SATEL.
SATEL PRODUCTS HAVE NOT BEEN DESIGNED, INTENDED NOR INSPECTED TO BE USED
IN ANY LIFE SUPPORT RELATED DEVICE OR SYSTEM RELATED FUNCTION NOR AS A PART
OF ANY OTHER CRITICAL SYSTEM AND ARE GRANTED NO FUNCTIONAL WARRANTY IF
THEY ARE USED IN ANY OF THE APPLICATIONS MENTIONED.
Salo, FINLAND 2013
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3 NMS FUNDAMENTALS
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This chapter gives basic knowledge about NMS in general and SATEL NMS in particular.
3.1 General NMS concepts
NMS stands for Network Management System. Network management is typically defined as follows:
Network management is the execution of the set of functions required for controlling, planning, allocating, deploying, coordinating, and monitoring the resources of a network.
Network management can be further divided into five conceptual areas (The ISO Network
Management Model): o Performance management o Configuration management o Accounting management o Fault management o Security management
Of these areas, Security and Accounting management are used to control user accounts of the managed devices, which is irrelevant in the case of SATELLINE radio modems. The other three areas, however are relevant to radio modems, and are discussed below.
3.1.1 Performance management
The goal of performance management is to measure network performance and make available settings and controls so that performance can be maintained at an acceptable level.
Performance management involves three main steps. o Performance data is gathered. o Data is analyzed to determine baseline (normal) operation levels. o Appropriate performance thresholds are determined for each variable so that exceeding these thresholds indicates a problem worthy of attention.
SATEL NMS supports performance management by monitoring the operation variables of radio modems, such as signal strength (RSSI), voltage and temperature and allowing the user to define alarm thresholds for each variable.
3.1.2 Configuration management
The goal of configuration management is to monitor network and system configuration information so that the effects on network operation of various versions of hardware and
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Configuration management stores this information for easy access. When a problem occurs, the stored information can be searched for clues that may help solve the problem.
The above definition of configuration management has been originally created in an internetworking environment. In a radio modem network, the version numbers of hardware and software can be tracked, and SATEL NMS makes these available. However SATEL NMS also allows changes to made to the settings of the managed devices’ (ie. the radio modems’) settings, which is a task usually delegated to other protocols and methods in the IP world. This feature is called Remote Configuration in SATEL NMS.
3.1.3 Fault management
The goal of fault management is to detect, log, notify users of and (to the extent possible) automatically fix network problems to keep the network running effectively. Fault management involves first determining symptoms and isolating the problem. Then the problem is fixed and the solution is tested on all important subsystems. Finally, the detection and resolution of the problem is recorded.
SATEL NMS provides the basic tools to detect problems and make changes to the network settings from a centralized location, thus simplifying the fault management process of your organization.
3.2 SATEL NMS
SATEL NMS is a comprehensive system for managing SATEL radio modem networks. It includes many software modules and interfaces, running on several platforms.
3.2.1 Features
The main features of SATEL NMS are: o Non-intrusive operation o Remote configuration o Monitoring of network operating parameters o Network design tool
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3.2.2 Components
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SATEL NMS consists of a set of interfaces and features offered by certain SATEL radio modem models, including SATELLAR RU, SATELLINE-3AS(d) NMS, SATELLINE-3AS(d) Epic (C) NMS and
SATELLINE-3AS(d) VHF. Using SATEL NMS it is possible to monitor the deployed radio modem network for certain diagnostic parameters and, if necessary, make changes to the modems’ settings online.
The NMS Solution provided by SATEL consists of the radio modems, which support the NMS
Protocol, and the SATEL NMS PC software package, which provides setup and monitoring functions.
Used to configure a routing network
Protocol translator and serial port multiplexer
SATEL NMS PC Setup
Sett ing s
SATEL Serial Server NMS Protocol Radio modem
Di ag no st ics
Radio modem
SATEL NMS PC Monitoring
Radio modem
Used to monitor a running network
Figure 1: Components of the SATEL NMS solution
3.2.3 Software
The SATEL NMS PC software package contains four Windows applications: SATEL NMS PC,
SATEL NMS PC Monitoring, SATEL Serial Server and Packet Filter Editor.
SATEL NMS PC is used to design the modem network and upload the initial settings to the modems. After deployment, the software can be used to make changes to the settings remotely by radio connection. Also routine maintenance tasks such as replacing or adding a modem to the network, running communication tests etc. are possible using the software.
SATEL NMS PC Monitoring is used to monitor a deployed radio modem network while it is in operation. It provides logging of network parameters and events displays trend graphs and can react to events by sending alarms and running external commands.
SATEL Serial Server provides the other applications multiplexed access to the serial ports of the computer.
Packet Filter Editor is used to define packet filters needed for custom data protocol support.
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3.2.4 NMS Protocol
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The basic method of controlling the SATEL NMS features is through a modem’s diagnostics port, which is one of its serial ports set to operate in the diagnostic (NMS) mode. The NMS port accepts binary NMS commands. This is called the NMS Protocol.
Since the NMS Protocol is a binary protocol, it is not designed for human eyes. Another protocol, called the SATEL Serial Server Command Protocol (S3CP) is an ASCII protocol, and is suited for interactive command line operation as well as software controlled operations.
However, the modems currently in production do not directly support S3CP. Instead SATEL Serial
Server (part of the SATEL NMS PC installation), which can translate S3CP to the NMS Protocol and back.
The above protocols allow access to all the diagnostic parameters of the modems in the radio network. The RAM memory of the modems being scarce, the modems do not generally store large log files themselves. Instead, diagnostics are polled from the radio modems at regular intervals and stored in a central location, usually a Windows PC running SATEL NMS PC
Monitoring.
3.2.4.1 NMS ID
NMSID (or NMS ID) is the identifier of a setting, diagnostic value or command that can be sent to or received from a modem. Every possible setting etc. has its own identifier. For example, the
NMSID of transmitted power of the radio in SATELLINE 3AS(d) NMS is 1.267.
The NMSID consists of two numbers separated by a period character. The first number is the access level (level 1 settings are user settings). The second number is the actual identifier.
The NMSIDs supported by a modem are listed in the user manual of the modem. You can also retrieve the list from the modem using SATEL NMS PC.
3.2.4.2 Message sending modes (ONLINE and OFFLINE)
SATEL NMS can send messages in one of two modes.
If the mode is OFFLINE the packet will be sent immediately to the radio network. If there is already a packet, such as a user data packet in the modem network, and the modem network contains long repeater chains, the new packet may collide with the data packet. This is referred to as the Offline operation mode, because it is best used when the user system is offline and no user data is being transmitted, but NMS messages are.
If the mode is ONLINE the packet will be placed in the master modem’s outgoing NMS message buffer and wait for a user data packet to be sent to the same address as the new NMS
packet. When such a user packet is sent, the NMS frame is attached and sent inside the same transmission, thus avoiding collisions. This is known as the Online mode, as it can only be used when the user system is Online. If there is no user data traffic, NMS frames will not be sent at all
in this mode! This mode depends on the user system to poll each modem in turn. If a modem is not contacted by the user protocol, NMS packets are not able to reach the modem either.
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This mode should be used when there is much data traffic to all modems and data packet loss due to NMS versus DATA packet collisions is not acceptable.
3.2.4.3 Message addressing modes (Normal and ANYCAST)
Normally NMS Messages are sent to the recipient by setting the DADDR field of the message.
DADDR must correspond to the Modem Address Setting (NMSID 1.398) of the destination modem. For example if the destination modem’s address setting is 2, the outgoing NMS message must be sent to destination address (DADDR) 2.
In the specific case of ONLINE Monitoring this normal method of delivering messages can result in long delays. Consider a large network consisting of 100 radio modems operating under a single master. Assume the system is a SCADA system and the data protocol is a polling protocol such as IEC 60870, with one RTU per radio modem. If the SCADA master uses about 1 second to query each RTU, the whole polling sequence takes 1-2 minutes.
Now if an NMS Monitoring message is sent to a modem X in the network, it is possible the outgoing message will have to wait in the buffer for up to 2 minutes before being sent. This happens because NMS Monitoring is unable to synchronize its polling sequence with the data polling sequence. This can cause significant delays to Monitoring, with some modems seeming to drop out altogether.
The solution is to use the “Anycast” addressing mode. In this mode, outgoing NMS messages are not sent to any specific address; instead they go to whichever address the next data packet is going to. The NMS response message will have address information, so the original sender
(usually NMS PC Monitoring) will know which modem the response came from. This way a network of modems can be monitored efficiently.
Anycast is not currently available for SATELLAR RU modems.
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4 GETTING STARTED
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SATEL NMS PC can be used to o Design a network of SATEL NMS modems o Apply settings to SATEL modems o Remotely change settings of SATEL modems o Monitor a network of SATEL modems
4.1 Quick start
To get started quickly with your NMS modems:
1. Install SATEL NMS PC to your Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 computer.
2. Connect one of your modems to the PC. (See 4.2 for details)
3. Start the program.
4. Click the New network button.
5. Follow the To-do list, clicking each item in turn, to create your network.
6. Once you have completed the To-do list, test your network by running the NMS Radio
Connections test.
7. You can start monitoring the network by clicking Monitoring… and then Start SATEL
NMS PC Monitoring button.
See Chapter 5.9 for more detailed instructions.
4.1.1 Next steps
Once you have successfully tested the modems and monitored the network in OFFLINE mode, you can proceed to connect your own equipment to the modems. The Master modem needs to be connected both to your master device and to SATEL NMS PC, using a two-port serial cable. If you need to change the serial port settings of the modems, you can do so using SATEL NMS PC through radio (Remote Configuration).
Please read the rest of this user manual carefully. You can also contact SATEL technical support, who will be happy to help you in case of problems.
4.2 Installation
SATEL NMS PC is installed by running the installer program. This installer copies all files into the
Program folder, defaulting to {the Windows ‘Program Files’ folder}\SATEL NMS PC.
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For example: C:\Program files\SATEL NMS PC in Windows Vista and Windows 7, the default directory is C:\Program Files(x86)\SATEL NMS PC
4.2.1 File types of SATEL NMS PC
SATEL NMS PC uses a few extra files and file types, summarized in the following table.
File extension or name
.saxd
.sax
.log
Location any any
Install directory or user defined
Log Directory
File type
Satel
Network
Configuratio n file
SATEL XML
File
Log file
Programs
SATEL NMS
PC and
Monitoring
SATEL NMS
PC and
Monitoring
Explanation
This file contains a saved system, including all networks and modems.
Older version of .saxd. Loading and saving supported for compatibility reasons. Saving in
.saxd format only.
Monitoring Contains network events. See chapter 6 for more information.
.xml Install directory Packet Filter definitions
SATEL NMS
PC and
Packet Filter
Editor
Contains various data protocol definitions.
SATELNMS
.ID
Install directory NMSID definitions
All SATELNMS.ID contains NMSID definitions. In some cases this file might need to be updated when modem FW version is updated. menu of SATEL NMS PC.
Note: It is recommended not to alter any files manually, instead use SATEL NMS PC to load, modify and save the files.
The version information is available in the Help->About
4.3 Connecting the modems
This user guide only addresses connections needed for the NMS system. Mounting the modems physically, connecting antennas and power supplies are explained in the modem user manual.
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4.3.1 Serial ports and functions
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There are two serial ports on each SATELLINE-3AS(d) NMS, SATELLINE-3AS(d) Epic (C) NMS or
SATELLINE-3AS(d) VHF modem, Serial Port 1 and Serial Port 2. Each of these ports has three possible functions, one of which can be active at a time. o DATA, used for user data transfer o NMS, used for NMS protocol o OFF
Note that only one of the ports can be a DATA port and one can be an NMS port at the same time, so for example having both ports in NMS mode at the same time is not possible.
The NARS-1F cable allows access to serial port 1. However, to access both port 1 and 2 at the same time, a two-port serial cable (for example CRS-NMS) is needed. This cable has one 15-pin connector (connected to the modem) and two 9-pin connectors, which are labeled ‘1’ and ‘2’, corresponding to port 1 and port 2 of the modem. By default the connector labeled ‘2’ is used for NMS.
See the modem manual for information on how to change the function of the ports.
SATELLAR RU modems have one D9 connector. There are two possible hardware variants, with either RS-232 or RS-485 support. The D9 can support two serial ports if the hardware is RS-
232. The RS-485 variant cannot be used as a Master Modem if simultaneous DATA and NMS functionality is needed (this is usually the case). A two-port serial cable for SATELLAR RU RS-232
D9 is available from SATEL. SATELLAR RU can also be set to accept NMS commands on the normal D9 serial port by using the function button, as explained in the SATELLAR user manual.
This is useful for initial setup using SATEL NMS PC.
4.3.2 Connections during network setup
During initial network setup, SATEL NMS PC needs a NMS PROTOCOL connection to all modems to synchronize their settings.
There are two useful ways to connect the modems during initial network setup:
1. Full operation connection
2. Programming mode setup connection (or SATELLAR RU function button mode 2)
See Table 1: NMS Port Connection methods for details.
Connection methods
Full operation connection
Substation data connection
Programming mode connection
NMS demo master connection
NMS substation demo connection
Purpose SETUP and/or
DEPLOYED master modem.
DEPLOYED substations
SETUP DEMO DEMO
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Description
Picture
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Serial and radio
DATA and NMS connections available
Serial port DATA,
NMS radio connection
Setup only, no radio connection possible
NMS serial and only radio connection
NMS radio connection only
Figure 2: Full operation connection
NO NO
YES *) NO NO PROG mode
Cable needed
(SATELLINE)
CRS-NMS-01
PORT 1 function
DATA or NMS
NARS-1F
DATA
NARS-1F
NMS *)
NARS-1F
NMS
NARS-1F or power only any, not used
PORT 2 function
NMS or DATA any, not used any, not used any, not used any, not used
Table 1: NMS Port Connection methods
*) Programming mode is usually used with terminal emulation software (such as SATELLINE SaTerm) to access the Terminal Setup menu of the modem. Instead of terminal emulator software, SATEL NMS PC may be connected to the modem, as the modem will respond to NMS protocol messages while in programming mode.
In this case the modem can only be configured, radio messages cannot be sent while the modem is in programming mode.
4.3.2.1 Connection procedure
This procedure must be followed when swapping modems connected to the PC.
1. Power modem off
2. Disconnect previous modem
3. Connect new modem
4. Power modem on
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Figure 2: Full operation connections Figure 3: Programming mode connection
4.3.3 Connections in a deployed system
One of the modems in a deployed system is the Master Modem of the system. The other modems are substations (including repeaters).
The Master Modem is special since SATEL NMS PC software connects to the rest of the modems through it, using the radio channel. This is called remote or Over-The-Air (OTA) operation.
One serial port (typically port 1) is configured as the DATA port and the other as the NMS port, which is connected to the PC. SATEL NMS PC will connect to this serial port to send and receive
NMS PROTOCOL messages from the master modem and all the substations.
A substation modem in a deployed network only needs a serial connection to the data terminal equipment, since all NMS commands are sent and received through the radio (OTA). (See
Figure 4). The NMS port is not used in these modems, only the DATA port needs to be
connected to the user equipment.
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Figure 4: Serial connections in a deployed NMS network
4.3.4 Other connection types
In some cases the port configuration may need to be changed so that port 1 is used for NMS and port 2 for DATA. One such case is if the data port is in RS-485 mode. RS-485 is only supported on port 2 of SATELLINE-3AS(d) NMS, therefore data must go on port 2 and NMS on port 1.
When a two-port (CRS_NMS) cable is not available, a regular cable (e.g. NARS-1F) may be used to demonstrate NMS features by setting port 1 as the NMS port on the Master Modem.
This configuration is only usable for NMS PC demonstration purposes. User data cannot be transferred in this configuration.
4.3.5 Connection checklist
To establish a connection between SATEL NMS PC and a modem, please follow the checklist
1) Make sure the modem has power
2) Make sure that the modem is in the appropriate operating mode. a. Programming mode if you wish to change the settings of the local modem only. b. Normal mode if you wish to also use the remote control features
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3) Identify the port which has been configured as the NMS port of the modem. If the modem is in programming mode, port 1 is used. In Normal mode, either port 1 or port 2 may be configured as the NMS port. If you are unsure, see the modem’s setup screen or you can first connect the modem in programming mode and change the port setting before going back to normal mode.
4) Connect the modem’s NMS port to any free serial COM port of the computer
5) Start SATEL NMS PC a. Click the “New Network” button
6) The PC’s serial port needs to be opened. Click the Connect button in SATEL NMS PC
Setup. The connect window appears. a. Click Detect available COM ports. SATEL Serial Server is started automatically.
A list of serial ports in the machine then appears in SATEL NMS PC.
- If you have firewall software installed you might be asked to allow outgoing connections from SATEL NMS PC, or to allow SATEL Serial
Server to work as a server. SATEL NMS PC does not usually connect to the Internet, but this needs to be allowed because Serial server and the other programs communicate with each other using the IP protocol in the local machine. b. Select the correct port from the list and click Test connection. A NMS message is sent to the port to see if a modem answers. If “No response” is received, try another port or check your cables and port settings. By default, NMS modems use
9600 bps, 8N1 as the port settings. SATELLAR RU uses 115200 bps, 8N1. c. Once the modem responds, click OK to proceed.
7) SATEL NMS PC Setup will ask what to do with the found modem. If you wish to create a new network using the modem, click Add and start following the To-do list. See 5.4 for more information. Otherwise you may just click Add and go the Modem View if you wish to examine and/or change the individual modem’s settings.
4.3.6 TCP/IP Connections
Instead of a serial port connection, SATEL NMS PC Monitoring and Setup are able to use a
TCP/IP (Internet Protocol) connection to the master radio modem. This is useful in case a serial cable cannot be used for some reason, such as the distance between the PC and the master modem.
In this case additional hardware is usually needed to act as a bridge between the internet and the master modem. Usually a serial port server is used.
Note that most port server hardware available come with virtual serial port drivers which can be installed on the PC. You may wish to use a virtual COM port instead of an IP port connection in
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SATELLAR CU can also be used to as a TCP/IP access point for NMS messages. In this case, normal TCP/IP radio traffic is not available, the network is configured using SATEL NMS PC and only the Master modem needs a CU (SATELLAR 2DS) The role of the CU is simply to route NMS messages to the SATELLAR RU network.
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5 DESIGNING RADIO SYSTEMS AND NETWORKS
You should already have a general design ready for your network when starting to use SATEL
NMS PC. SATEL NMS PC can be used to automatically calculate the routing and other settings of radio networks, but it cannot calculate link budgets or performance requirements of data traffic.
5.1 General notes about networks in SATEL NMS PC
In SATEL NMS PC a system may contain one or more networks. The distinction between systems and networks has been adopted to allow monitoring of multiple networks at the same time.
Each network is defined by having its own frequency, Network ID and master modem. Modems in different networks do not communicate with each other (Except in very rare cases).
A system is a collection of networks. SATEL NMS PC saves systems into .saxd files and SATEL
NMS PC Monitoring may be used to monitor all networks of a full system at the same time.
5.2 Routing modes
The Routing mode setting controls how data is transmitted in the radio network. Currently the
SATELLINE 3AS NMS modem family, SATELLAR RU and SATEL NMS PC support a routing mode called “NMS Routing” (aka Source Routing).
5.2.1 NMS Routing
This mode is suitable when the DATA protocol is a polling protocol and all radio traffic is originated from and controlled by the data master station. Thus substations (RTUs) are not allowed to start sending data without being asked first. This rule is not enforced by the radio modems; it is entirely up to the data system. Breaking the rule could cause collisions on the radio channel.
SATEL NMS supports this type of routing mode using a set of features including routing tables, packet filters and terminal addresses.
5.2.1.1 Routing tables
Routing tables are stored at the master modem. They are generated by SATEL NMS PC during the “Calculate Routes” operation and stored during the “Synchronize” operation.
Routing tables contain information in a row format. Each row defines the chain of modems through which a certain RTU may be reached. The modems are identified by Modem Address.
The RTU is identified by a Terminal Address. The modem address chain is sent along within the radio frame so each modem (repeater) along the way knows where to send it next. When a response is sent by the RTU, the chain is reversed and the process is repeated in inverse.
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This behaviour means that routing information is only stored in the master modem. Therefore it easy to add modems to and change routes of a network even after deployment.
To generate routing tables, the terminal addresses of RTUs must be given to SATEL NMS PC.
This is done by adding “Terminal Addresses” to each substation radio modem’s settings, one address per connected RTU. SATEL NMS PC uses this information to generate routing tables, which are stored in the master modem.
Note that routing tables are needed for NMS traffic to work, too. This means that even a demo network without any data traffic needs routing tables.
5.2.1.2 Protocols, Packet filters and Terminal addresses
To successfully route a data packet to the correct substation, the master modem must determine the Terminal Address of the packet. This is accomplished using Packet Filters. A Packet Filter is a firmware routine running in the Master modem, which looks at the data packet and finds the address field in the data.
The Packet Filter routine has settings to support different data protocols. Selecting a “Protocol” in SATEL NMS PC affects the Packet Filters settings of the master modem.
Repeater modems do not need to be configured with terminal addresses, but may have them in case RTU’s are used at the repeater stations.
5.3 Essential network information checklist
The following table lists information needed while designing a network.
Item Explanation
General system topology
How many networks will your system consists of? Each Master or Base station you have will become the Master Station of one Network. Each network has exactly one Master Modem.
Network ID A string of 8 characters. Select a unique ID for each network in the system. The modems only accept radio messages sent by modems that have a matching Network ID. This prevents data from neighbouring networks operating on the same frequency from getting mixed up with each other’s traffic. Note that usually neighbouring networks should have different frequencies. Network ID is an additional safety precaution.
Frequency You will usually need to apply for a private frequency from the local authorities. Make a note of this frequency and input it into SATEL NMS
PC.
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Network protocol
Terminal addresses data
Substation names
Link budget
FEC on or off?
Additional radio settings
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Which data protocol is your network using? MODBUS, IEC 60870, ANSI or SATEL I-Link, for example.
SATEL NMS PC Setup needs to know the protocol, so that correct Packet
Filter settings can be loaded into the master modem. (For NMS demonstration networks without any data traffic, any protocol is fine.)
You’ll need the protocol addresses of all the terminals you plan to connect using the radio modem network and information about which radio modem substation each terminal will connect to.
If you are only using the modems to demonstrate NMS without actual user protocol traffic, terminal addresses still need to be defined so that routing tables are generated. SATEL NMS PC and the Master Station modem depend on the routing tables to send NMS messages to the substation modems.
Each radio modem should be named using a descriptive name; the location where the substation is to be deployed is normally used.
You’ll need a link budget so you can select the correct TX Power settings for the modems. For desktop testing use the lowest TX Power setting possible, and switch to the proper TX Power calculated in the link budget before deploying.
FEC stands for Forward Error Correction. Enabling FEC improves data transmission reliability, at the cost of some of the data transmission capability. Please consult the modem manual for details.
SATELLAR RU has additional radio settings which must be set. Please consult the SATELLAR manual. SATEL NMS PC can be used to set the values of the settings.
5.3.1 Creating a simple Network
Here are step-by-step instructions for designing a network using SATELLINE 3AS(d) NMS modems.
1) Connect a modem using a serial cable as explained in 4.3
2) Start the SATEL NMS PC Setup program
3) Click New Network
4) The To-do list appears. Click all the To-do list items in order. (You can also skip some steps if you want to do them in a different order). The program will ask you to input all needed settings. (See 6.4 for more about the To-do list). a. Click Name the network and input a name for your network. b. Click Add the first modem. The program will ask you to configure communication settings. Click OK. The Communication settings window appears.
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User Manual Version 2.5 i. Click Detect available COM ports ii. Select your COM port by clicking on it on the Available COM ports list. iii. Click Test Connection. If your modem is detected, its serial number will appear beside the Test Connection button. Otherwise a Timeout or error is reported. Check your cable and port settings on both the modem and PC.
If the modem is in Prog mode, it’s port settings are always 9600,8,N,1. iv. Once your modem responds when you click test connection, close the window by clicking OK v. Wait while settings are loaded. c. Click Choose network settings i. If the Frequency is incorrect, input the correct frequency by clicking
Chance… ii. Input your Network ID by clicking Change ID iii. Set FEC on or off iv. Select the Protocol by clicking Select Protocol v. Ensure the NMS Message transfer mode in OFFLINE at first. Change it to
ONLINE once your data traffic is running. d. Click Choose settings for Master Station i. Change name if you wish ii. Select TX Power iii. NO Terminal addresses are needed for the Master station iv. Choose serial port settings e. Click Add a new modem f. Click Choose settings for Modem 2 i. Change name if you wish ii. Select TX Power iii. Define one or more terminal addresses, unless this is a Repeater with no connected terminals. There must be at least one terminal at the end of each repeater chain. Use “dummy” terminal addresses if you don’t have any real ones (if this is demo network, for example). iv. Choose serial port settings g. Click Add link to Master Station i. Draw a link to the other modem h. Click Calculate Routes
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connection procedure in 4.3.2.1) and click OK.
iii. The program will display the Serial number of the modem and asks if you wish to associate the modem. Click Yes iv. Wait while the modem is synchronized. m. Click Save the system
5) Now you have a two modem network properly configured.
6) Re-connect your master modem and click the Detect button in the toolbar to ensure it is connected.
7) Go to the Network info view by clicking the network’s name in the System tree view
8) Using another cable, ensure your other modem has power. Attach antennas to both modems.
9) Test the network by clicking NMS Radio connections under the Tests groupbox. a. Both modems should respond.
10) Now your two modem system is configured and tested! Next steps are a. Add more modems b. Configure Monitoring settings c. Run extensive desktop tests d. Deploy the network
5.3.2 Adding modems to an existing network
Modems may be added by clicking “Add Modem using defaults” in Network design view
(6.7.4). The settings of the new modem are copied from the Default Modem settings (see
below). In addition, SATEL NMS PC Setup will manage the settings so that network-wide settings such as Frequencies and FEC are the same in all modems.
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Using the Default Modem settings
Use the Default Modem settings view to ensure that all modems will have the same general settings. Go to the Default Modem view, by clicking on Default modem under
Settings in the system tree view.
You can change the default modem settings to values which should be common to all modems in the network.
Now whenever you create a modem using the Add Modem using defaults command, it will have these settings already selected.
After adding the modem, add a logical radio link to the Master Station, or if a direct link to the master is not possible, nearest repeater.
In the Design view: o Select the modem icon o Right click o Select add link o Click the target modem
5.3.3 Defining Terminal Addresses
For routing to work, each modem must have a terminal address, or several addresses in case there are several user terminals connected to the data port using for example an RS-485 adapter. These correspond to the actual addresses of the user’s protocol. SATEL NMS PC will use the defined terminal addresses to generate the routing tables of the master modem.
Note that, in NMS Routing mode, although the terminal addresses are defined in the Modem
View for each substation modem, the terminal addresses are only saved to the master modem in the form of the routing tables. Therefore changing a terminal address does not necessitate updating of the substation modem settings, only the master modems’ settings.
The Terminal addresses are defined in the Basic Settings tab of Modem View. Select each modem in turn on the tree view under the Modem List item and define their terminal address(es) by clicking on the “Add…” button under the Terminal Addresses heading.
The terminal addresses are defined using the Input Terminal Address window (Figure 5), which
appears when the “Add…” button is clicked.
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Figure 5: Input Terminal Address window
The green/yellow/red bar located on top indicates if the address you are typing is legal for the selected protocol filter.
The format of the number you are inputting; Decimal, Hexadecimal or ASCII, depends on the selected protocol. The length of the address depends on the protocol that is in use. The maximum length supported by SATEL NMS is four bytes. If a protocol has a four-byte address, then:
-
In decimal mode, values from 0 to 4294967295 are accepted.
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In hexadecimal mode, values range from 0 to FFFFFFFF.
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In ASCII mode from one to four characters are accepted.
In all cases the value is displayed in Hexadecimal format in the Address in packet box . Addr1,
Addr2 etc. refer to the packet filter address bytes. This information can be useful when defining custom protocol filters using Filter Editor.
You must take care to input the address of the equipment that will be actually connected to the modem in question once the network is deployed.
A terminal address may be changed by double-clicking on it in the list in Modem View.
5.3.4 Protocol example: I-LINK Protocol
The SATEL I-LINK protocol is an ASCII protocol, i.e. it uses human-readable characters in the protocol packets. To use SATEL NMS with I-LINK as the DATA protocol, remember to select the
I-LINK protocol in the Main Network View.
The slave address is input in decimal format.
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Figure 6: I-Link address switches
The address set using the dipswitches of the I-LINK 100 I/O Converter must be converted to a decimal number. For example if dipswitches “64”, “16” and “1” are selected, the address is
64+16+1 = 81 in decimal format. See the I-LINK manual for details about the address format.
Figure 7: Terminal address input window
For example Address 1 will appear as Addr2=0x30(‘0’) and Addr1=0x31(‘1’), because character ‘0’ equals 30H and character ‘1’ equals 31H in the ASCII character coding system.
5.3.5 Generating Routing Tables
Click the Calculate Routes button in the toolbar or in the To-do list. A message box will appear to inform you what settings were automatically changed. The Routing tables of the Master modem are generated based on the links drawn between modems and on the terminal addresses defined in the Modem View. If you change either of these, click Calculate Routes again.
Routing tables are saved to the master modem when it is synchronized.
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5.3.6 Transmitting Settings to the Modems
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All changes to the network so far have only affected the settings within SATEL NMS PC. Now the settings are to be transmitted to the modems. To accomplish this, each modem in turn is connected to the PC and their settings are then uploaded from the PC into the modem.
1) Go to the modem’s Modem settings view
2) Click Synchronize
3) If SATEL NMS PC has not connected to that modem before, it shows the Unknown
modem address dialog (See 6.8.2). In this case, connect your modem and click OK.
4) Wait while the modem is synchronized.
Repeat the above sequence for each modem.
If at any time you are not sure of which modem is connected to SATEL NMS, click the Detect button.
5.3.7 Testing the network
First connect the Master modem to the PC and click Detect. This ensures the Master modem is connected.
For further testing, a Ping test is provided in the Tools menu. Enter number of messages to send and target address. SATEL NMS PC will send RSSI requests to the modem address and measure the time it takes the modem to answer.
There are also other tests in the Tools menu, and SATEL NMS PC Monitoring may also be used to test the network.
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6 SATEL NMS PC SETUP
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This chapter explains how to use SATEL NMS PC Setup. At the beginning of the chapter you will find an overview of the program features and a list of common tasks. Towards the end of the chapter all the commands, views and windows of the program are explained.
6.1 Overview
SATEL NMS PC Setup is a network administrator’s tool, and it allows the user to: o Set up a radio modem network initially o Draw the network using modem icons and link arrows o Automatically determine radio modem settings for each modem of the network o Upload settings to each radio modem individually o Run a series of tests on a radio modem network o Change radio modem settings remotely using the radio connection o Add radio modems into the network o Replace radio modem hardware o Configure monitoring settings for SATEL NMS PC Monitoring o Save and load radio modem system files o Export a device list
6.2 Common tasks
This subchapter lists some common tasks and how to perform them. Refer to later sub-chapters for explanation of the different windows, views, commands etc. of the program.
6.2.1 Creating a new network
Software required: SATEL NMS PC Setup
Setting up a network of SATEL NMS-capable modems using SATEL NMS PC Setup is relatively easy. Broadly speaking, the process consists of the following steps.
1. Acquire at least two radio modems and necessary cabling
2. Install and start SATEL NMS PC Setup
3. Create a new network in SATEL NMS PC Setup
4. Follow the To-do list in the lower left-hand-corner of the program window
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5. Test your network’s radio connections in your lab
6. Deploy your network
6.2.2 Adding a radio modem substation or repeater to an existing network
Software required: SATEL NMS PC Setup
Go to Design View and click New Modem. Then follow the To-do list to finalize settings. (Add necessary links to/from the new modem. Add a terminal address. Select serial port settings.
Click Calculate Routes. Synchronize the Master and the new modem)
Finally test the new modem before deploying.
6.2.3 Replacing a deployed broken radio modem with a spare
Software required: SATEL NMS PC Setup
You need to have access to the .saxd file for the system which the broken modem is part of.
Load the .saxd file. Then connect the spare modem to your PC and go to the Modem View of the broken radio modem. Click Replace Modem and follow the instructions. Once the spare modem has been synchronized, test it. Finally go to your site to remove the broken modem and install the spare modem.
6.2.4 Setting up a redundant master modem
Software required: SATEL NMS PC Setup
Purpose: Configure settings so that NMS Monitoring is able to cope with a radio modem network where the master station is redundant, i.e. there are two master radio modems, one of which is the primary device, while the other is a backup. Your own system (e.g. SCADA) is responsible for powering up the secondary modem in case the primary modem stops responding for some reason. SATEL NMS PC Monitoring has a connection to both modems and will use whichever is currently powered up to monitor the radio modem network.
What to do: First set up a network with one of the master modems. Then, when everything works, duplicate your network using the Duplicate Network command found in the Network menu and use Replace Modem on the master modem in this new duplicate network, replacing it with the backup hardware. Also go to Network settings view and in the Primary Network selection box, select the original network. Also use different COM port for each. Now
Monitoring can use the backup master if the primary master stops responding, and vice versa.
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Note that all the substation radio modems appear in both networks. If there are changes to the substation modems, these changes need to be duplicated in both networks.
Strictly speaking this is not a problem, unless modems are added, removed or replaced. Best course of action is to make all changes in the primary network and then remove the secondary network and duplicate it again as explained above.
6.3 Main window
When SATEL NMS PC Setup is started, the main window appears. The main window is divided into areas which have different purposes.
Figure 8: SATEL NMS PC Setup Main Window
Main window area
Menu bar
Toolbar
Purpose
Most commands appear in the menu. Some of the commands are also usable from the various views
Most common commands can be run from the toolbar
More information
See chapter 6.5
See chapter 6.6
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System tree view
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View area
To-do list
Shows the structure of your System (networks, modems etc.). Click on items in this tree to
access the different views.
For information about the views, see chapter 6.7
This area shows the currently selected view. For information about the views, see chapter 6.7
See chapter 6.4 This area always shows remaining tasks you need to accomplish to get your system or network working properly.
Click on each task in order to complete them!
6.4 To-do list
Following the To-do list is the easiest way to set up a system.
The To-do list updates automatically and shows remaining tasks to be performed to get your network working. Only the modems need to be added using the Design View, the To-do list will remind of everything else.
Figure 9: To-do list
Click on the To-do list items in order. When clicked, items in the list execute an action, such as showing a dialog window to ask you for the system name.
To-do list item Explanation
Select Network ID
Name the system/network
Opens a dialog where you can enter the
Network ID
Opens a dialog where you can enter the name
Choose network settings/settings for modem
Select protocol
Set terminal address
Shows the relevant view and a short message explaining the view
Opens a dialog which allows selection of the protocol
Opens the Terminal Address Dialog
Calculate routes Same as clicking on Calculate Routes on the
Toolbar
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Synchronize modem
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Synchronizes (sends the settings to) the modem.
6.5 Menu Commands
Below you can find a list of all the menu commands available in SATEL NMS PC Setup.
Note that all menu commands are not available at all times. Some commands require that a certain type of object (Network or Modem, for example) is currently selected or another type of condition exists (such as unsaved changes).
Figure 10: Menus
6.5.1 Context menu
The context-sensitive menu is accessed by right-clicking on the program. You will be presented with a list of menu commands depending on the selected object. All these commands also appear in the main menu.
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Figure 11: Context menu
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6.5.2 File Menu
Location: Menu bar. Contains commands for manipulating files and objects
Menu Command Required selected object
New->New
System
None
Description
Clear current system and create a new one. Will ask for user confirmation.
Other locations / keyboard shortcuts
New->New
Network
System/None Add a new empty network to the current system
Empty system
view, Ctrl-N
New->Add modem using default settings
Open
Save System
Save System
As…
Export System
Network
None
System with unsaved changes
System
System
Add a new modem to the selected network. Initial modem settings are copied from the default modem
settings.
Open an existing .sax or .saxd file
Save the changes in the system to the
.sax or .saxd file. (.sax not recommended)
Save the system to a new .saxd file
Design view,
Context menu,
Ctrl-M
Empty system view, Toolbar
Ctrl-S
Rename System
Exit
System
None
Save the .saxd as uncompressed XML for further processing in external programs.
Change the name of the system.
This name is independent from the
.saxd file name, although the .saxd file name defaults to the system name when first saved.
Exit the program. If there are unsaved changes, will ask user for confirmation.
Alt-F4
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6.5.3 Edit menu
Location: Menu bar.
Menu Command Required selected object
Copy
Paste
Preferences
Text
Text input field
None
Description Other locations / keyboard shortcuts
Ctrl-c Copy the currently selected text
Paste text to input field Ctrl-v
Open the Preferences
dialog
6.5.4 Network menu
Location: Menu bar. Network-related commands.
Figure 12: Network menu
Menu Command
Connection…
Required selected object
Network
Description
Open the Connection dialog to specify general connection settings for the current network.
Other locations
/ keyboard shortcuts
Toolbar
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New Network
Change network name
Duplicate Network
Delete Network
Add modem using default settings
System
Network
Network
Network
Network
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Adds a network to the system Ctrl-n
Rename the selected network. Note that Network name is different from
NetworkID. NetworkID is used as a
“password” for communication between modems, while Network name is used to identify the network for users.
Creates a new network in the system and copies all settings, modems and links from this network to it. Useful as backup and when defining redundant networks.
Network
Settings View
Removes the selected network from the system
Adds a new modem to the network and copies settings from the Default
modem settings to it.
Ctrl+M,
Network design view
Add modem using hardware
Network Ask the user to connect modem hardware and adds the connected modem to the network.
Network design view
Calculate routes
Change a radio setting
Diff
Export Modem List
Network with changed routing settings
Network
Check to see if network settings are valid and generate routing tables for the master modem.
Toolbar
Network with modems
Network with modems
Opens a window which can be used to change radio settings of a deployed network easily and safely.
Shows all differences between the modem settings of all the modems in the network.
Generates a text listing of modem names, addresses, serial numbers and terminals addresses, which can be copied to external programs, such as Excel.
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6.5.5 Modem menu
Location: Menu bar. Modem related commands.
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Figure 13: Modem menu
Menu Command Required selected
Add link object
Modem and at least two modems present in network.
Only shown in
Network Design
View.
Description
Starts the link drawing mode. Click on the target modem. Link direction is automatic. If a link cannot be created, a message explaining the issue is shown.
Other locations / keyboard shortcuts
Context menu,
CTRL+L
Delete incoming links
Duplicate
Change name
Modem
Modem
Modem
In case of problems, create links starting from the master modem first.
Deletes all links pointing towards selected modem.
Creates a new modem in the network and copies all settings from selected modem to the new modem.
Renames the modem. This is the name shown on the LCD screen of the modems.
Modem View
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Set as master
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Copy to defaults
Delete modem
Replace modem
Modem
Modem
Modem
Modem
Makes the selected modem into network master. Will automatically set necessary settings in all modems, switch link directions and generate routing tables.
Copy all settings from this modem into the default modem settings
Removes the selected modem from the network
Used to replace the selected modem’s currently associated hardware with other hardware. All settings are moved to the new hardware by synchronizing.
Shows the Modem Settings
View
Modem View
Ctrl+D
Ctrl+P Modem
Properties
Modem
6.5.6 Link menu
Location: Menu bar. Link related commands.
NOTE: To select a link, go to Network Design View and click on the “/” character on the link arrow.
Menu Command Required selected object
Delete link
Reverse
Link
Link
Description
Removes the link
Changes link direction, if possible
Other locations / keyboard shortcuts
Context menu
Context menu
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6.5.7 Tools menu
Location: Menu bar. Contains tests and occasionally helpful commands
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Figure 14: Tools menu
Menu Command Required selected object
Local modem status
Network
NMS Radio connections test
Custom connections test
NMS Ping
Network
Network
Network
Description
This tool checks which modem is connected to the serial port and shows some information about it.
This tool tries to contact all radio modems in the network by sending NMS messages through the master modem, and displays a report on which modems answered.
This is a useful tool to check whether the modems have radio contact with each other.
Same as NMS radio connections, but uses the
Custom connections if they have been defined, otherwise uses the network’s connection.
Send several NMS messages to a single modem to test the radio link quality.
Reports RSSI and elapsed time.
Other locations / keyboard shortcuts
Network info view
Network info view
Network info view
Network info view
Ctrl+I
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Launch Filter
Editor
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Starts the external program
“SATEL Filter Editor.exe”.
information.
Network Settings View
6.5.8 Help menu
Menu Command
About
Required selected object
None
Description
Display program version and loaded SATELNMS.ID file version information
Other locations / keyboard shortcuts
6.6 Toolbar
The toolbar contains some essential commands. These commands also appear in the menus.
Figure 15: Toolbar
Some commands appear grayed-out (inactive) if they cannot be executed at the moment. Refer to the table below for explanation.
Toolbar
Command
Active if Description
Open Always Open an existing .sax or .saxd file
Save System There are unsaved changes Save the system to the .saxd file
Monitoring A Network has been created Open the Monitoring settings view.
Connection A Network has been selected Open the Connection dialog to change the connection settings of the selected network.
Detect
Calculate routes
A Network has been selected Try to detect if a radio modem can be contacted using the current connection settings of the selected network.
A Network has been selected and there are changes to routing settings
Check to see if network settings of the selected network are valid and generate routing tables.
NOTE: Always click “Calculate routes” after making changes to links between modems or terminal addresses in modems and follow the
To-do list to take the new settings into use.
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6.7 Setup views
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Here you’ll find all the different views of the setup program explained. The views appear in the
View Area of the Main Window. See 6.3
6.7.1 Empty system view
This view is shown when no networks are present in the system. This view is reached by o Starting the program (if auto load option is not on) o Creating a new system (File->New->New System)
Figure 16: Empty system view
Options in this view:
Option
Create a new network by clicking
New Network
Explanation
A system contains one or more Networks. A network contains modems. You need at least one network in the system to be able to work with modems.
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Open an existing system file by clicking Open…
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If you have an existing .saxd or .sax file, you can open it.
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6.7.2 Network info view
This view is shown when you click on the network root node on the System Tree View. The text of the root node is the network’s name.
Figure 17: Network info view
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Options in this view:
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Option
View Network information
Design-time operations
Explanation
Basic info about the network is shown.
Click Design View button to go the
Network design view
See 5.5.7 for explanation of the tests. Perform some tests by clicking on buttons in the
Tests group box.
Perform Post-deployment operations. You can Change a radio setting of the
6.7.3 Network settings view
This view can be reached by clicking on “Settings” in the tree view, immediately below the network root node.
Figure 18: Network settings view
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The view has two sections. In the upper section (see Figure 19) is a dynamic, scrollable list of
generic network settings. Only the settings supported by the master modem are shown in this list, therefore networks of modems with older firmware or different models may not show all settings shown here.
Figure 19: Network settings
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The settings are explained below:
Group box Explanation
Network name and
Connection
NMS Message
Transfer mode
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Name : You may set the network’s name by clicking Change network name…. The name is shown in SATEL NMS PC Setup and Monitoring applications, and their logs, but is not saved into any modems.
Connection: The network’s connection settings. This connection is the default connection, where the master modem is assumed to be connected while monitoring or remote administration is performed. Other modems can be connected temporarily to this connection while they are being synchronized.
Click on the Connection… button to change the settings. (This will open the
Connection Settings dialog)
This selection affects how SATEL NMS PC Setup transmits NMS messages to the
radio network while doing remote configuration. See chapter 3.2.4.2 for
explanation of ONLINE and OFFLINE modes. Note that this setting does NOT affect how SATEL NMS PC Monitoring transmits messages. That setting appears in the
Monitoring Settings View.
Common settings
Network ID Level *
Terminal address length and maximum route count *
Substation modem return routes *
Network ID : The Network ID is a string of 8 characters. It is used by the radios as a sort of password, so only modems with the same Network ID are able to decode each other’s messages. NMS PC sets the Network ID to all modems when changed.
Click Change ID… to choose the ID.
Frequency : This is the frequency of the network. Both TX and RX Frequency settings are affected and will have the same value. Clicking Change frequency… will open a window which assists in selecting a valid frequency, given the capabilities of the modem HW.
Routing : Currently selected Routing mode. Can be changed by clicking on Select
Routing mode. Only shows routing modes supported by the modem model and
NMS PC.
Device Model: Different device models support different features. If a modem hardware has been connected, the model is detected automatically. Otherwise
(when designing a network before having hardware), use Select device model to choose the radio modem family you are planning to use. This way SATEL NMS PC can show the correct features in this and other screens for the desired model.
Network ID Level indicates the version of Network ID encoding. Level 0 is the default. In Modem SATELLINE 3AS NMS models, FW 4.0.13 or later, improved encoding level 1is available. Always use Level 1 if it is available on all modems of the network.
SATELLAR RU does not need this setting, improved mode is automatically on in all versions.
This feature is supported on SATELLINE 3AS NMS family with new Hardware and FW
V4.0.13.34 or later. Up to 200 source routes and modems per network are supported, but maximum terminal address length is limited to 2 bytes (16 bits). To enable, select “16bit (Max 200 routes)” from the selection box. 32bits is the default.
Only the Master modem needs to support this feature for it to work. (Other limitations may also apply)
Return routes is a new feature supported in SATELLINE 3AS NMS radio modem family with FW versions 4.0.13.32 or later. A return route is normally automatically created in a Substation modem’s RAM when it receives a data message from the
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Protocol
Master modem. Any responses from the serial port/RTU are sent back to the Master using the return route. If the radio modem resets before the response is sent, it is lost, as the return route is erased from RAM.
The default setting is Do not generate default return routes and it works as explained above. If Generate default return routes is selected, a static return route is created and stored in the Substation modems, therefore allowing responses to be sent to the master even after the substation has reset before a radio message from the master is received. The tradeoff is that whenever network routes are adjusted, substation modems need to be synchronized. Normally only the Master needs to be synchronized when routes change.
Here you can select the protocol your system uses for data transfer. Click Select
Protocol to open a dialog which allows you to select the suitable protocol.
If your protocol does not appear in the list, you can use the Packet Filter editor (see
chapter 9) to create one. Click Launch Filter Editor to access the Packet Filter editor
SW. NOTE: This is very advanced configuration. Please contact SATEL if you have any questions.
Redundancy - If this is a secondary network, select the primary network
Over the air data encryption **
Primary Network: Leave this setting as “none” unless you are defining a secondary
(redundant) network, as explained in 6.2.4.
Click on Encryption to set encryption ON or OFF. Click Keys.. to open the
encryption key window, see 6.8.4
Settings common to all modems in the network.
*) SATELLINE 3AS NMS modem family only
**) SATELLAR RU only
6.7.3.1 Settings common to all modems in the network
This group box controls settings which are common to all modems of the network. You can change the values marked RW by double-clicking on them. When these values are changed, all modems need to be synchronized again. Additionally, these values cannot be synchronized through radio connection; they need to be changed by synchronizing each modem using a serial cable.
It is suggested to use the Change a radio setting function to change these values if they need to be changed
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Figure 20: Settings common to all modems
Explanation Common
Setting
TX Frequency
RX Frequency
NetID
Master
Address
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It is possible to change TX and RX frequencies individually using this setting, but care must be taken as dual frequency use is not fully supported by SATEL NMS PC
This is the same as Network ID, above.
Substations in a network must know the Master Modem’s address. This is also set automatically by SATEL NMS PC whenever the Calculate Routes or Set As Master functions are run.
Explanation SATELLINE
3AS NMS
Family only
FEC Mode Forward Error Correction. FEC can give better sensitivity, with a little longer communication delays. See modem manual for details.
This is the same as Network ID Level, above. Network ID
Level
SATELLAR RU only
DSP FEC
Mode
Explanation
Over-the-air encryption
Selected channel width
Selected Air
Speed
Multiplier
Training sequence length
Forward Error Correction. FEC can give better sensitivity, with a little longer communication delays. See modem manual for details.
Encryption ON/OFF. To set encryption keys, see Over the air
data encryption, in 6.7.3.1 and 6.8.4
See SATELLAR manual for more info.
See SATELLAR manual for more info.
See SATELLAR manual for more info.
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6.7.4 Network design view
You can open this view by clicking on “Design” in the System tree view or Network info view.
This view is used to design your network.
You can add modems and radio links and addresses and routing tables. Modems are represented by icons, which can be moved. You can select multiple modems at the same time by dragging a selection box around them. This is useful for creating multiple links at the same time or moving many modems simultaneously.
Figure 21: Network design view
Option
Add modem using default settings
Explanation
Add a new modem to the network, copying default settings from the default modem settings view.
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Add modem using hardware
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Connect your modem hardware and load all settings from the modem to the program. You should use this to add the first modem to a new network, because all the common settings in it are copied to default modem settings and thereafter used for the rest of the modems. The To-do list will use this same function to add the first modem.
Select one of two icon sizes for the modems. Large icons/small icons selection
Background button
Clear button
Opens a file selection window, which can be used to add a background picture to your network map. After an image file has been selected, it can be resized using the handle on its lower-right corner.
Removes the background picture.
Keep aspect ratio checkbox
Names/Addresses/Ter minal addresses/All
Controls if the background picture should retain its shape while being resized.
Select what is shown in the text labels underneath the icons.
The modem name is shown first
[A:<number>] means the modem address
[TAs:<numbers>] means all terminal addresses defined for the modem
Show routing tables checkbox
Shows or hides the routing table sidebar (right side of the view)
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Network map
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This area shows the modems and links that have been defined.
You can click on a modem to select it, after which you can perform operations on the selected modem. The operations are accessed through the Menu bar, Toolbar or the Context menu
(right click).
You can create a link or links by first selecting a modem or multiple modems (by dragging a selection box around them), then right-clicking the mouse to bring up the Context-menu. Select Add
Link from the context menu: The link(s) appear and start following the mouse. Click on the modem you want to link to finish link creation. Clicking elsewhere will cancel link creation.
Links point from the Master Modem toward the substations. Any modem which has both incoming and outgoing links becomes a repeater.
Usually link direction is adjusted automatically. Sometimes a link cannot be created, in this case make sure other links point to correct directions, by Reversing them if necessary, and try again.
You can select a link by clicking on the “/” character on it.
Selected links can be reversed and deleted. Use the context menu
(right-click). See also 5.5.6
Routing tables This area can be brought up by selecting Show routing tables. The routing tables shown are the result of the latest Calculate routes operation. Routing tables are not uploaded into the master modem until it is synchronized.
The text [changed] indicates that the routing tables have not been uploaded yet.
You may make changes to the routing table by deleting and creating links. Since routing tables are only stored in the Master
Modem, substations and repeaters are completely unaffected by changes to the links. This makes it easy to try alternate routes if for example link quality is not good enough along some routes.
6.7.5 Modem list view
Clicking “Modems” in the System tree view opens the Modem list. This list shows all the modems of the network as a list, as well as some of their key properties. You can select modems on this list and perform menu commands on them.
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Figure 22: Modem list view
Modem List Column
Name
Model
Serial
Connection
Address
Role
Incoming links
Outgoing links
Explanation
Name of the modem
Modem model, this information is read from the modem itself.
Serial number, read from the modem itself. If [unknown], the modem has never been synchronized and therefore its serial number is not known to SATEL NMS PC Setup. The software uses the serial numbers to associate specific modem hardware with their settings stored in the Setup program.
Shows which connection settings are used to contact the modem. This value is usually the same for all modems, unless
Custom connections have been defined for some modems.
The modem’s NMS address. This is NOT a terminal address.
The modem’s role in a network; Either Master Station,
Substation or Repeater.
List of modems which link to this modem.
List of modems this modem links to.
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6.7.6 Modem settings view
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This view is shown when you select a modem on the Tree system view or double-click a modem on the Network design view or the Modem list view.
This view shows the settings of one modem. The settings are separated into three tabs: o Basic settings o N Changes since last sync (N is a number telling how many settings have changed) o Advanced settings and control
There is also the Synchronize button which will read the modem settings and send any changes made in SATEL NMS PC Setup to it. The Last sync date label shows the time of the last synchronization of the modem.
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6.7.6.1 Basic settings tab
The first page shows the most important settings of a modem.
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Figure 23: Modem settings view: Basic settings
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Basic settings tab
Connection
Modem information
Radio settings
Terminal address list
Serial port functions
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Explanation
By default all modems are reached by the connection defined in network settings (Connection button in toolbar or in
Network settings view). This means that when the modem is synchronized, it is either directly connected to the port defined in network connection, or the Master is connected to that port and the other modems are reached through the master by radio connection.
If you wish to connect some modems directly to the PC by using a different connection, you can define a custom connection here.
Change name button opens a dialog to change the modem’s name.
Choose model is used to set the modem model if an actual modem hardware has not been yet connected.
Replace modem is used to swap a broken modem for a spare. See 5.2.3
Firmware version is shown in case a hardware has been connected.
You can change the TX (transmit ) Power of the modem. All choices shown are supported by the modem if a Hardware has been connected.
Signal threshold can also be changed. See modem manual for details.
Warning! If you select a too low power setting for a deployed modem it might stop responding after being synchronized.
This area lists all addresses of user terminals connected to this modem’s data port. This information is needed so that routing tables can be generated.
Use Add to add a terminal address.
Select a terminal address in the list and click Edit or doubleclick it to edit the terminal address.
Select a terminal address and click Remove to remove it.
NOTE: Making changes to terminal addresses require
Calculate routes and synchronizing the Master modem to become effective.
The broadcast route is an advanced feature used in some data protocols; please contact SATEL for more information.
You can select which port is the DATA port and which is the
NMS (Diagnostics) port. Note that SATEL NMS PC Setup contacts the modem using the NMS port, unless the modem is in Programming (prog) mode or behind a radio link. This means if you change these settings and attempt to synchronize while not in prog mode, synchronize will refuse to
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Data port settings
Settings managed by SATEL
NMS PC
Sync your modem in programming mode if you wish to change these settings. See chapter 4.3 for more information.
These settings affect the selected DATA port. If Port 1 function is DATA, these affect port 1. If Port 2 function is DATA, these affect Port 2. See the Advanced… tab for settings of both ports if necessary.
See your radio modem manual for details about serial port settings.
These settings must be set to valid values before synchronizing the first modem, unless hardware was connected before designing the network.
These settings are usually automatic, but nevertheless in some cases may need to be set manually.
Role: Is the modem a Master Station, Repeater or Substation
Modem address: The NMS Source routing address of the modem.
6.7.6.2 Changes since last sync tab
The second tab of Modem settings view shows the changes that have been made to the modem’s settings since the last Synchronization of that modem. Here you can preview the changes before synchronizing them to the modem.
The title of the tab shows how many changes are currently waiting to be synchronized.
Note that in some cases a simple change to for example protocol or routing could generate many changes in this window. This is because SATEL NMS PC automatically calculates all necessary settings.
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Figure 24: Modem settings view: Changes since last sync
6.7.6.3 Advanced settings and control tab
The final tab, Advanced settings and control shows ALL available modem settings, including basic settings, and allows you to modify, send and receive them from the modem individually and immediately without synchronizing. Note that to make changes permanent, the Save settings command must be given to the modem. Synchronize does this automatically for you, but if you use Send selected to change values, you must give the Save settings command yourself. If you
Reset or power down the modem, all settings not saved are returned to their previously saved values. To get up-to-date settings visible on the Advanced settings and control list, use synchronize immediately after a reset.
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Figure 25: Modem settings view: Advanced settings and control
UI element Explanation
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View button/menu
Get selected button
Send selected button
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Select which settings you wish to display, and which columns appear on the grid.
User: Shows all user level NMSIDs (Access level 1)
Maintenance: Shows access level 5 NMSIDs
Factory: Shows access level 9 NMSIDs
Note that only level 1 settings may be changed.
Categories: Sort settings into categories, such as Radio settings and Port settings. If this is disabled, all settings appear as a single list
Columns available:
Name: Name of the setting
ID: NMSID of the setting
Value: Current value. If Bold, it has been changed
Type: Data type of the setting
Updated: When was it last received from the modem
RW: Is it readable and/or writable. Write-only settings are commands
Previous value. The value before it was changed
You may select a setting by clicking on its Name. By holding down SHIFT or CTRL, you may select multiple values. Click this button to load all selected settings from the modem
Click this to send all selected settings to the modem. They usually take effect immediately. Some settings may require an Init Radio or Reset command before they take effect. See modem manual for details.
Note that the settings must be Saved to modem non-volatile memory to become permanent. This can be achieved by using the
Save user settings command. If they have not been saved, they are lost when the modem is reset. Note that Synchronize saves settings automatically.
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Settings grid
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Commands
More Commands
The Grid shows the settings. Columns may be selected from the
View button/menu. Settings may be sorted by clicking the column headers. Settings may be edited by clicking in the Value column.
Green settings may be edited, yellow settings are read-only. If red settings appear, you need to update your NMS PC software to a newer version.
When you edit values, either a selection list opens, or you may type in the new value. In case of typing, press the Enter key to
finish editing, otherwise the change is canceled.
Changed settings are shown in Bold.
Reset modem button sends the reset command to the modem. All unsaved changes are lost.
Restore factory settings will return the modem settings back to factory defaults. Using this command may cause the modem to stop responding to radio messages, until it is re-added to the network and synchronized using the serial cable.
Select a command from the Command selection list, then select argument (usually Yes or True), and finally click Send Command.
The Command selection list depends on the modem model, but always contains at least the “Save user settings” command which can be used to save the settings previously sent to the modem using Send selected so that they are permanently stored in the modem’s non-volatile memory (Flash or EEPROM depending on modem model)
6.7.7 CommLog view
This view shows NMS message traffic to and from the modems of this network. Only SATEL NMS
PC Setup traffic is shown here, other programs have their own message logs.
The log text can be selected using Ctrl-A and copied to the clipboard using Ctrl-C. In case you are contacting SATEL for help with communication problems, the log text could be helpful.
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6.8 Windows and dialogs
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6.8.1 Connection settings window
This window is shown when SATEL NMS PC Setup requires you to define the communication settings to reach a Modem’s NMS Protocol Port.
Figure 26: The Connection settings window showing Port settings tab
When this window is shown, usually the best way to proceed is to click Detect available COM ports, select a port form the list, and click Test connection, followed by OK if the test was successful (Modem detected).
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There are two tabs in this window, as well as some commands common to both tabs. All the settings in both tabs affect the connection, so for example the Test connection button should be used after changing any setting to make sure the connection works.
The common buttons are explained below and the two tabs later.
UI element
Test connection
Explanation
Attempts to open the defined connection and queries the modem using NMS Protocol. The value requested is the serial number of the modem. If the test is successful, the serial number is shown beside the Test connection button, otherwise an error message, such as “Modem Timeout” is shown.
Accept selected connection settings and close the window
Close window without changing connection settings.
OK
Cancel or [X]
6.8.1.1 Port settings tab
This tab controls the most common port settings.
UI element
Connect using
Explanation
Select connection method to use o A serial port on this machine: Normal RS-232 serial port, or another serial port that appears to Windows as a COM port, such as a Virtual COM port or USB-toserial adapter. (default)
IP Address
IP Port o A serial port on another machine … : As above, but the serial ports of another windows PC reachable using an internet protocol address may be used.
Both above methods use SATEL Serial Server to access the serial ports. The first method automatically starts Serial
Server when needed, while the second method requires that
Serial Server is running in the target machine. o Direct connection to a TCP/IP port: If using a serial port server device or another method which allows direct access to an NMS port of a SATEL modem on a TCP/IP address, use this setting.
The IP Address where SATEL Serial Server is hosted. If “Direct connection…” (see above) is used, the address of the NMS port.
The TCP port where SATEL Serial Server is hosted. If “Direct connection…” (see above) is used, the TCP port of the Direct connection NMS port.
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Serial port settings
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Change port settings
Serial ports available in the system
Shows current serial port settings. Clicking on the Available
COM ports list will change these values to those clicked.
Click Change port settings to modify port settings. Also see
SATEL Serial Server settings view. (chapter 7.1)
Opens Port settings dialog, allowing you to change port settings manually.
This list shows all serial port devices installed into the machine. The list is read from the Windows registry by SATEL
Serial server when Detect serial ports is clicked.
Detect serial ports Lists available serial ports. In case your port is not listed, use the Change Port Settings button.
6.8.1.2 Additional settings tab
There are some additional settings in the Additional settings tab of the Connection settings window.
UI element
NMS Message sending mode
Explanation
This is the same setting that appears also on Network settings view. If you are defining a custom connection, this is a separate setting. o Offline: Send messages immediately o Online: Wait for user data
See 3.2.4.2for more information
Offline mode NMS message Timeout
Online mode NMS message Timeout
Host requires a password
Time in milliseconds after which a non-responding connection is closed.
This applies both to SATEL Serial Server and Direct IP port connections.
If you get “Timeout” or “No Response” errors, try increasing this value.
In online mode the time a message takes to travel to and return from a substation depending on the total user polling cycle duration. The online mode timeout should be set to at least the user polling cycle duration plus time between polling cycles. If you see many “No response” messages, especially during monitoring, try increasing this value. See also 5.9
If the serial port server requires a password, one may be configured here. o Trigger is a text, such as a password prompt, which SATEL NMS
PC programs expect from the connection before they send the password. o Password is the password required to open a connection to the port
This setting may only be used with the “Direct connection to a TCP/IP port” connection method on the main tab.
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Figure 27: Connection settings window: Additional settings tab
6.8.2 Unknown modem address dialog
This is shown when you attempt to synchronize a modem for the first time, but the connected modem is already associated with another modem in SATEL NMS PC Setup. For example, you have just synchronized your master modem, and then click the Synchronize button of another modem, but the master modem is still connected.
Figure 28: Unknown modem address dialog
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address, click Set Address… o Click Cancel to abort whatever you were doing
6.8.3 Over-the-air radio settings change window
This window is used to change radio settings of a deployed network. It is displayed be choosing
Change a radio setting from the Network menu.
NOTE: This feature requires that all modems have firmware version 4.0.14.0 or later.
Figure 29: Over-the-air radio settings change window
UI element
Choose… -button
List of settings
Start –button
List of modems
Explanation
Open a window which is used to choose the settings to be changed.
Shows all radio-critical settings and their current values and either the new value to be set or the text “Will not be changed” if the setting is not going to be modified. Click the Choose… -button to change the settings.
Starts the process. The process cannot be stopped manually, but if anything is not going right it will stop automatically and display the reason.
Shows all the modems and their current status while the process is running.
Modems can be excluded from the process using the checkmarks in front of their names. Note that modems excluded will become
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Additional notes about the process:
First a connection test will be made, so if a modem is unreachable the process will stop safely. The same applies during the process.
NOTE: It is recommended to always change the whole network! If you disable a modem, it will “drop out” of the network until it is either manually changed to the new setting by visiting on-site, or the whole network is changed back to original settings.
If you have long repeater chains and disable one repeater in the chain, you should manually disable also the modems behind it, or the process will fail. This will also cause the whole branch to “drop out” of the network.
6.8.3.1 Background
When critical radio settings are changed, radio contact will be lost to farthest modems along the repeater chain until all modems have been changed. Therefore radio settings must be changed starting from the remotest modems and working up the repeater chain towards the master, which will be changed last.
In Figure 30: Example network with repeaters there are six modems. Modems S2 and S3 are
farthest from the master (M), therefore they appear first in the list. See the table below for an example of a modem list for this network.
Figure 30: Example network with repeaters index
0
1
2
3
4
5
Modem
S3
S2
S1
R2
R1
M distance
3
3
2
2
1
0
Modem at index 0 will be changed first, then index 1 and so forth, until the Master modem is changed last. The list is used to order all radio message operations during the process.
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Broadly speaking, the process consists of the following steps:
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1. Preparation step a. Generate a list of all modems, ordered from farthest to nearest (in repeater steps) b. Stop DATA traffic c. Test radio connections to all modems d. Determine the NMSIDs and values of all radio settings to be changed e. Calculate automatic radio settings restore timeout value and send it to all modems
2. Transmit settings step a. Send all new settings to all modems in order (see step 1a)
3. Activation step a. Send InitRadio command to all modems in order (see step 1a) b. Test new settings by sending GetVal to all modems in order (see step 1a)
4. Save settings step a. Save new settings to all modems by sending SaveUserSettings command to all modems in order (see step 1a)
5. Finished
6.8.3.2 Error handling
The algorithm has been carefully designed to minimize the risk of errors and the chance of modems dropping out of the network (which would necessitate a visit to the site). For example, the process automatically stops and removes any changes made if any modem suddenly stops responding.
However there is always a risk of something going wrong. Usually the rewards outweigh the risks, because instead of visiting all the sites, you are only forced to visit some of the sites IF something goes wrong, which is unlikely.
6.8.4 Encryption keys window
This window is used to set the network-wide encryption keys used in SATELLAR RU.
It can be opened by clicking Keys… in the Network settings view, Over the air data encryption
Also see the SATELLAR manual for more information about encryption.
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Figure 31: Encryption keys window
UI Element
Key input method group box
Generate keys group box
Input keys manually group box
Notes
Checksum
OK Button
Purpose
The easier way is to Generate keys from password. Keys can also be input manually.
Input your password. The keys will be generated when Generate is clicked, and shown in the next group box.
Generated keys are shown here. If you wish to input keys manually, each key consists of 16 bytes, in hexadecimal notation, each byte preceded by a backslash (\) character.
Further information on how the keys are saved to modems.
A short checksum (four bytes) which can be read from modems to check if they have the same keys.
When OK Button is clicked, the keys are saved to all modems’ change list. They will be taken into use after each modem is Synchronized.
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6.9 Monitoring Settings view
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Monitoring settings are selected using SATEL NMS PC Setup, but the monitoring is performed by
SATEL NMS PC Monitoring. The settings are saved into the .saxd file, which is loaded by
Monitoring.
The settings consist of general settings, the Poll List, Trigger settings and Action settings. NMS PC
Monitoring will send NMS messages to the radios according to the poll list, and react to the responses according to the Trigger and Action definitions.
The Monitoring Settings View (Figure 32: Monitoring settings view) is used to define all
monitoring settings, including the custom log file settings.
Figure 32: Monitoring settings view
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UI Element
Start SATEL NMS PC Monitoring Button
Import triggers and settings button
NMS Message sending mode
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Purpose
Start the Monitoring program using these settings.
Asks to save the system if needed.
Import trigger and action settings from a different system file.
This setting affects how SATEL NMS PC
Monitoring will send NMS messages. o Use “offline” mode when there is no DATA traffic. o Use “online” mode when there is DATA traffic.
See chapter 3.2.4 NMS Protocol for more
information.
6.9.1 Polling Settings tab
In this tab (Figure 33) the polling settings are defined. The Poll List is a list of NMS messages
sent to the network by the Monitoring program to gather network status information from the modems. This view allows you to define the Poll List.
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Figure 33: Polling settings tab
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6.9.1.1 Easy polling settings
In this box polling settings can be defined in a simple and easy way. Changes done here will be reflected in the Poll List visible in the lower part of the view. A typical configuration is to select all parameters in the “Diagnostic parameters” box. In the example configuration Modem
Temperature and Voltage parameters are monitored.
UI Element
Diagnostic parameters Box
Update Button
Delay between poll cycles
Delay between each poll message
NMS Monitoring Message send mode
Purpose
Select which parameters you wish to monitor (typically all).
Voltage is the input voltage of the radio modem
Temperature is the highest temperature value measured inside the RF board during transmit
Last RSSI is the measured Signal Strength of the incoming message which contains the NMS poll message asking for the RSSI.
RSSI is link RSSI measurement in both directions of each link. RSSI values are stored in modems and
NMS Monitoring asks for each value separately.
Combined diagnostic values is a single NMSID which contains Last RSSI, Noise Level, Voltage,
Temperature and Transmit power measurement. It is recommended to use this combined ID together with
“RSSI” to get the most effective Monitoring setup possible. In large networks (more than 30 modems),
RSSI should be omitted.
Updates the poll list. Click this if you have added or removed modems or changed the connections settings.
When all items in the list have been polled once, the polling is paused for this many seconds.
A new poll message is sent this many seconds after a response is received to the last message.
Controls how NMS messages are sent to the network by
SATEL NMS PC Monitoring and the master modem.
Offline: Messages are sent immediately (But the
Delay settings do apply)
Online: Messages wait in the Master Modem’s outgoing message buffer until a DATA message going to the same address is being sent. The message is attached to the data message.
Anycast: Requires modem firmware version 4.0.14.0 or later. Messages wait in the Master Modem’s outgoing message buffer until any DATA message going to any modem of the network is being sent.
The NMS message’s DADDR is set to the same value as the data message’s DADDR and it is attached to the data message.
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Note: It is strongly recommended to use Anycast to monitor a deployed network during data traffic operation if your firmware is new enough. This will significantly reduce the delays of monitoring.
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6.9.1.2 Log files
These settings control log files written by NMS PC Monitoring.
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UI Element
Log file directory
Set log directory button
Main log file prefix
Append prefix to all log files
Purpose
Currently set directory for log files.
This log file directory setting affects the directory where the default SATEL NMS PC Monitoring log files are stored.
Change the log file location to a writable folder.
The installation directory is not recommended.
The log file names start with this text. Current date is also added to the log file name.
Check this to use the prefix with all log files in addition to the main log file.
6.9.1.3 Graph length and memory usage
These settings control trend graph data displayed in NMS PC Monitoring.
UI Element
Graph data points to keep in memory
Purpose
This number controls how many data points is kept in RAM memory while Monitoring is running.
This value is per graph (or line in the poll list).
When the graph has this many data points and a new one is added, oldest data are removed from memory.
Data remain in the log files even though they are removed from RAM.
SATEL NMS PC Setup gives you an estimate of the amount of RAM needed when you set this number. The estimate is just an estimate, and can be off by 50% or more.
6.9.1.4 Poll List
This group box shows the poll list and allows advanced configuration (not usually necessary).
UI Element
Allow advanced configuration Checkbox
Add Button
Remove Button
Duplicate Button
Purpose
If unselected, use easy polling settings. If selected, easy polling settings become disabled and advanced controls (below) are enabled.
Add an item to the poll list
Remove the selected item from the poll list
Duplicates the selected poll item. Note that duplicates are
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Edit button usually not useful as such and need to be edited.
Edit the selected poll item. Opens the
6.9.1.5 Edit poll message window
Edit poll item window.
Figure 34: Edit poll message window
This allows advanced configuration of each poll message.
UI Element
Poll message type
Message value
NMSID
Select… -button
Network
Modem
Comm Port
Timeout
Purpose
Choose SETVAL for “RSSI”, GETVAL for the rest (including “Last
RSSI”)
For RSSI, this must be the address of a modem in the network, which is linked to the destination modem.
Shows the name of the current NMSID
Opens a window to choose the NMSID to monitor.
Which network to monitor
Which modem to monitor
The connection to use
Custom timeout for this message
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6.9.2 Trigger Settings tab
A Trigger specifies a condition which, if it exists in the network, will cause an Action to be executed and/or an alarm to be activated inside SATEL NMS PC Monitoring.
Every NMS message response received from the modem network will be compared against all the defined Triggers. If a Trigger matches the response, the Action or Actions specified in the
Trigger are executed and an optional Alarm is displayed.
The trigger settings tab shows defined triggers and allows adding, removing and editing triggers.
Figure 35: Trigger settings view
UI Element
Trigger log file prefix
Add
Remove
Duplicate
Edit
Move Up/Move Down
Purpose
This text is appended to the log file names. Current date is also added to the file name. A trigger log is automatically written into the log file directory.
Shows the Edit trigger window and if the user clicks OK, the new trigger is added to the list.
Removes the currently selected trigger from the list.
Makes a copy of the currently selected trigger and adds it to the list.
Opens the Edit trigger window allowing the user to change the currently selected trigger.
Change the order of the triggers in the list.
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6.9.2.1 Editing a Trigger
When “Add” or “Edit” button in the Trigger settings tab is clicked, the Trigger editing window appears.
Figure 36: Trigger editing window
UI Element
Name
Trigger type
Purpose
This is a freely chosen text which is used to name the trigger.
This setting specifies what kind of comparison is made when the trigger is compared to a value received from the network
Setting not responding is less than is greater than
Description
The Trigger matches if an NMS query sent to the network does not receive a response. NMSID and
Threshold are ignored in this case.
The Trigger matches if a received NMS Parameter has the same NMSID as this trigger AND the
NMS value is less than the specified threshold
The Trigger matches if a received NMS Parameter
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NMS value is greater than the specified threshold
Same as “is less than” but only triggers once, not every time a value is received. If a value higher than threshold is received and then a lower value is again received the trigger triggers again.
CANCEL -button raises above link breaks link ok
Similar to “drops below” but for values that are higher than the threshold.
If a modem does not respond this trigger triggers once, and will not trigger again until the modem has responded once and then fails to respond again.
If a modem did not respond to a message and then responds to another message, this trigger triggers.
A number the received value is compared to determine if the Trigger matches. Threshold
NMSID
Applies to
This trigger causes an alarm when triggered
The trigger is only compared to received values with the same NMSID as in the
Trigger definition. Click the “Select” button to select the NMSID.
NOTE: A Trigger will never match if the same NMSID does not exist in the Poll
List. (Because in that case the value is never received from the network)
Which modems the trigger applies to.
It is usual to select all modems in the system, but in some cases it may be useful to match a trigger only to values received from a specific network or modem. For example, it may be permissible for some substations to reach temperatures of 40 degrees, but important repeaters and master modems must remain at 35 degrees or below. (Note: these are arbitrary numbers used as an example only.)
In these cases, specific triggers may be defined for each different case.
This setting causes an alarm in SATEL NMS PC Monitoring when the Trigger matches. The alarm is shown in the alarms view of Monitoring, a red message is displayed in the window and an alarm log is written into the directory specified in
Additional Actions Select all Actions that should be executed when the Trigger matches.
OK-button
NOTE: This list is empty until some Actions have been defined in the Actions tab of Monitoring Settings.
Save the changes and close window
Discard changes and close window
6.9.3 Action Settings tab
Actions allow NMS PC Monitoring to respond to events or changes detected by starting an external program or writing a custom log file (useful to export monitoring events to other programs). Similar to Triggers, Actions may be Added, Removed, Edited and Duplicated in this view using the buttons.
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Action settings are defined in the Action settings tab (Figure 37).
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Figure 37: Action settings view
UI Element
Action log file prefix
Alarm log file prefix
Add
Remove
Duplicate
Edit
Move Up/Move Down
Purpose
This text is appended to the log file names. Current date is also added to the file name. An action log is automatically written into the log file directory.
This text is appended to the log file names. Current date is also added to the file name. An alarm log is automatically written into the log file directory.
Shows the Action definition window and if the user clicks OK, the new action is added to the list.
Removes the currently selected action from the list.
Makes a copy of the currently selected action and adds it to the list.
Opens the Action definition window allowing the user to change the currently selected action.
Change the order of the actions in the list.
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6.9.3.1 Adding or editing an Action
When “Add” button in the Action settings tab is clicked, the
Action definition window (Figure 38:
Action definition window) appears. Note that if the “Edit” button is clicked the view is slightly
different because the type of an action cannot be changed after it has been created.
Figure 38: Action definition window
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UI Element
Action name
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Tabs: Execute a command and
Write to file
Purpose
This is a freely chosen string describing the Action.
Select the action type by selecting the appropriate tab.
Tab
Execute a command
Write to file
Description
A command line command is executed.
A text string will be written into a file.
Filename
Line to insert into file
Command
The full name, including path, of the file where the log line is written. The file will be opened, written into, and then closed immediately.
The text that will be written into the file. A Windows-standard line feed will be added automatically. The text may consist of any text and/or any number of the variables defined below.
The executable file which will be called when the action is run. Full path is recommended, though depending on the setting of the environment variable PATH might not be needed.
Parameter list… The command line parameters that will be passed to the executable.
Available variables
These variable names may be used on the Line other fields, see above. The variable will be replaced by the appropriate value when the action is performed.
Variable
$t$
Description
Tab Character.
Examples
$n$
$ModemName$
$NetworkName$
$NmsID$
$NmsName$
Additional Newline
(windows style linefeed)
Name of the modem.
Name of the network.
Name of the NMS parameter.
Master Station
SCADA Demo Net
ID of the NMS parameter. 1.86
Voltage
Temperature
Ceiling
$NmsValue$
$NumValue$
$LogTime$
Value of the NMS parameter.
Numeric value
Including the minus sign if the value is negative and a decimal point and an appropriate number of decimals if applicable.
Time part of the time when the action was run. hh:mm:ss:msec
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12
-10.2
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13:55:53:0354
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$LogDate$
$TriggerName$
$TriggerDescription$
$ActionName$
$ActionDescription$
$Unit$
$OtherModem$
Date part of the time. yyyymmdd
Name of the trigger which executed this action.
Human readable description of the trigger, including most of the other parameters.
Name of the action.
Human readable description of the action, including most of the other parameters.
The unit of the parameter in short form. Not all parameters have a unit, in this case the value is an empty string.
The name of the modem which originated the transmission whose signal strength was measured by
$ModemName$.
Applicable only with the
RSSI NMS Parameter, otherwise this will be an empty string.
20071030
Voltage Low
Write to log
V
C dBm
Modem 2
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7 SATEL NMS PC MONITORING
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This chapter describes the SATEL NMS PC Monitoring program. At the beginning of the chapter there is an overview of the features and instructions for common tasks. Towards the end of the chapter all the windows and views of the program are explained.
7.1 Overview
SATEL NMS PC Monitoring is intended to perform the following functions: o Regular polling of diagnostics variables from a radio modem network using SATEL
NMS Protocol o Writing of monitoring logs (including traffic, trigger, action and custom logs) o Displaying of trend graphs and other diagnostic information o Executing actions based on the values of and changes in the diagnostic variables.
Monitoring cannot be used to make any changes to the network settings.
Since Monitoring is a separate executable, it can be run with different user privileges than the
Setup program. In particular, it is usually a good idea to restrict access to Setup for certain key persons, while Monitoring can be installed to a wider user base.
7.2 Common tasks
7.2.1 Starting the program
Once you have a fully setup system created using SATEL NMS PC Setup and saved in a .sax file, you can start monitoring. Monitoring can be started in one of two ways: o From within SATEL NMS PC Setup, by clicking Start NMS PC Monitoring in the
Monitoring settings view. The .saxd file is loaded and monitoring started automatically. o By starting SATEL NMS PC Monitoring from the Windows start menu, command line, shortcut etc. In this case, you need to load the .sax file separately using the menu command File->Open, unless the .sax file name is given to Monitoring as a command line parameter, in which case the file is loaded and monitoring is started automatically when the program starts.
If Windows is configured to log in automatically and a shortcut to Monitoring (including the .sax filename) is added to the Windows Startup folder, the program will be started automatically if and when the PC reboots.
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7.2.2 Viewing diagnostics
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In the Main window (chapter 7.3) you can select from the various available views.
7.3 Main window
The main window has three main areas: The Main menu, The Alarm indicator and the View area.
Figure 39: NMS PC Monitoring, Main window
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Main window area
Main menu
Alarm indicator
View area
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Purpose More information
Most commands appear in the menu.
Some of the commands are also usable from the various views
If there are defined alarm conditions in the system and the Monitoring is
ON, the Alarm indicator will turn bright red color in case an alarm happens.
You can click on the Alarm indicator to show the alarms.
This area shows the currently selected view.
See chapter Menu commands
See chapter Alarms
For information about the views, see chapter Monitoring views
7.4 Menu commands
Here are listed all the menu commands available in SATEL NMS PC Monitoring.
Figure 40: Monitoring Menus
7.4.1 File Menu
Location: Menu bar. Contains commands for manipulating files.
Menu Command Description
Open…
Load logs…
Exit
Open a system (.sax or .saxd) file
Load old logs (Main log file type) to display the diagnostic data contained in the log.
Use this to access older monitoring data which have been removed from the RAM memory of NMS PC Monitoring.
This menu is only available when monitoring is OFF.
Stops monitoring and closes the program. Log files remain, but will not be loaded automatically the next time the SW s started, use Load logs… to see older monitoring data.
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7.4.2 Monitoring menu
The name of this menu changes to indicate whether monitoring is on or off. It also shows whether the NMS message transmitting method is ONLINE or OFFLINE. (This can be selected in
NMS PC Setup Monitoring settings view).
Menu Command
Start
Description
Start monitoring. Will send NMS messages defined in the SATEL NMS
PC Setup Monitoring settings view, Polling List, to gather diagnostic information from the radio modem network.
Stop
As polling proceeds the views of NMS PC Monitoring are updated.
Stop monitoring. If monitoring is Started again, the previous monitoring data will remain and be shown as normal. (Unless the whole program is closed and restarted)
7.5 Monitoring views
The views are accessed using the Tabbed control located at the top of the View area. The name of the view is displayed on the tab. Click on the tabs to change the view.
7.5.1 Link Map tab
This view shows the network as a map, almost exactly like the NMS PC Setup does. Information about modem diagnostics can be shown on the modem icon labels (by checking the option) and link RSSI values are shown on the links.
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Figure 41: Link map view
Options in this view:
Option
Selection list for Network names in the system.
Selection list of small or large modem icons.
Explanation
A system contains one or more Networks. Each network has their own topology (modems and links) Only one can be displayed at a time. Choose which one you wish to be displayed.
Select either Small Icons or Large Icons (modem icons). The link line thickness line will also change.
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Show diagnostics on labels.
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Link RSSI values (both directions) are always shown on the link labels (if they are polled). Check this option to show other values below the modem icons.
Move the icons around. The icon positions can be changed but the new position will not be saved and will return to normal when the program is restarted. The positions must be changed in NMS PC Setup to be permanent.
7.5.2 Trend Graphs tab
This view shows diagnostics in graph form. Each received value from the system becomes a data point in one of the graphs. Data from all networks in the system is displayed.
Figure 42: Trend Graphs view
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Options in this view:
Option
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Explanation
<feature not supported yet> Use “All in one”
Time scale
Start date
Start time
Colours button
Autoscroll
Crosshairs
Graph Legend
Choose the time span to be shown. The selection equals the length of the X-axis on the graph.
Choose “Fit All” to show all available data.
Select first visible date on the X-axis of the graph. Note that if
Autoscroll is selected, this and Start time are disabled (greyed) and the first visible data point depends on the Time scale and current date time.
Select first visible time on the X-axis of the graph. See comments regarding Start date, above.
Choose colours of the graph background, grids and numeric labels.
The view will scroll automatically forward and display the newest data points as they arrive.
Two lines are drawn intersecting at the mouse cursor to help with the comparison of graph values.
One row is displayed for each Poll Item that has been defined in Monitoring settings (NMS PC Setup).
Selecting a line in this view causes the corresponding graph to be drawn with a thicker line width.
The Checkboxes control visibility of the graphs. You can easily check either All, None, Same Modem or Same ID graphs by clicking the small buttons at the top of the Legend.
Choose the colour of a graph The color of a graph can be changed by first selecting, then right-clicking on a color box and selecting ”Color” from the pop-up menu. The color choices are not saved and are randomized each time a system file is loaded.
Choose line style of a graph By first selecting a value, then right clicking in the Graph
Legend view, the context menu appears.
You can choose one of three line style:
Line: data points are connected by straight lines
Flat line: changes in data are shown as steps
Bars: Each data point is drawn as bar from the origin (Y=0)
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You can also choose if Dots are drawn at the position of each data point (default on)
7.5.3 Log tab
The log lines consist of several tab-separated values. These are explained in the following table.
Values can be copied from the log by selecting lines and choosing Copy from the pop-up menu
(accessible by right click) or Ctrl-C.
In this view the NMS messages sent and received to and from the system radio modems are shown. This is the NMS transmit log for the program. It is also written into a file. See chapter 8.
Path to the log files is shown at the bottom of the window.
Figure 43: Log view
See chapter 10.1 for more information about the log.
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7.5.4 Status tab
Show latest status of all NMS diagnostic values being polled from the modems. Each row shows the status of one unique variable.
Figure 44: Monitoring Status View
Column
Network
Modem
NMS ID
NMS Name
Age
Value
Explanation
Name of the network this diagnostic value and modem belong to.
Name of the modem.
NMSID of the diagnostic value.
Name of the diagnostic value.
How “fresh” the value is, i.e. how much time has passed since the value was last received.
The actual value, including conversion.
7.5.5 Alarms tab
This is a list of new and old alarms. When alarms happen, they will be listed in the new alarms area. When “Move to Old Alarms” is clicked, the alarms are moved to old alarms and the alarm indicator will turn green. This way you can “acknowledge” the alarms and still retain a list of alarms that have occurred earlier.
Click Clear to remove old alarms permanently from this view. The alarm log file will not be affected.
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Figure 45: Alarms tab
7.5.6 Triggers
This is a list of triggers that have been activated. Click Clear to remove old trigger activation records permanently from this view. The trigger log file will not be affected.
Figure 46: Triggers tab
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7.5.7 Actions
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This is a list of actions that have been performed by SATEL NMS PC Monitoring. Click Clear to remove old action records permanently from this view. The action log file will not be affected.
7.6 Troubleshooting
During monitoring the following problems might appear.
View Symptom
Log One remote modem always responds with an ERROR “No
Response
Received”
Possible cause
The modem address is incorrect in monitoring settings
Solution
Open the .sax file in NMS PC Setup and try to ping the modem. If the modem responds, the problem is in monitoring settings. Go to the
Monitoring settings view and click “Update”, then save system and restart monitoring.
Modem settings are incorrect
Log One or more remote modems sometimes respond ERROR
“No Response
Received”
Message collisions
Try to ping modem as above. If no response is received, the modem’s settings are incorrect.
Click Calculate routes and then synchronize the modem. Try to ping the modem to see it works before starting monitoring.
No power or antenna Check the cables and power supply.
Radio interference There might be radio interference on the frequency. Try another frequency if legally possible. Try increasing TX power and/or enabling FEC.
Log All modems in a network except the master
modem always respond ERROR
“No Response
Received”
ONLINE mode with no user data traffic
If your own DATA system is running and you are sending NMS messages (monitoring is on) in the OFFLINE mode, message will collide sometimes. How often, depends on the polling interval of your system and the monitoring. Switch monitoring to use ONLINE mode to remove collisions, OR make polling interval(s) longer to lessen the amount of collisions.
ONLINE mode depends on user data to reach the modems. Since the master is directly connected using a cable, it responds.
Either start the user data traffic or go to NMS
PC Setup, Monitoring settings and switch to
OFFLINE mode.
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Log All modems in a network always respond ERROR
“No Response
Received”
No connection to master modem
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Check cables and/or connection settings. Use the “Local modem status” test in NMS PC
Setup to make sure your cable / master connection is working. Then go to Monitoring settings, click Update and save the system.
Then restart monitoring.
Serial server is not configured correctly
Serial server’s IP port setting (default 55555) must be the same that appears in the Log
(example: localhost:55555:COM1)
If bitrates and serial port settings other than
9600,8N1 are used, they must be configured in the serial server’s Communication settings page.
If the above suggestions do not help, please do not hesitate to contact SATEL Technical Support.
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8 SATEL SERIAL SERVER
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This utility program allows multiple SATEL NMS PC programs to access the same (or different) serial ports. It is therefore a serial port multiplexer for NMS traffic. It can also convert IP connections into serial port connections. The serial port settings can be pre-configured in SATEL
Serial Server or changed from the client NMS PC Setup using S3CP.
Most of the time Serial Server works transparently in the background but sometimes it may be useful or necessary to use it for some special configuration.
8.1 Overview
SATEL Serial Server is a separate program executable. It is meant to perform the following tasks: o Act as a multiplexer and translator between SATEL NMS PC client programs and the serial ports of the PC. o Allow installing and using the client programs from a different PC than the serial ports are located in. (Using TCP/IP) o Allow the possibility to configure default serial port settings for direct TCP/IP access
SATEL NMS PC Setup and Monitoring act as clients to Serial Server’s server. The clients access the server using TCP/IP sockets. For this reason Serial Server is configured to listen at a TCP/IP port, usually 55555, though this can be changed.
The TCP/IP traffic uses RAW sockets, and the protocol used is called S3CP (SATEL Serial Server
Command Protocol). Usually this protocol is completely invisible to the user and there is no need to be concerned over it. (Protocol documentation available separately)
S3CP includes commands to handle serial ports and send and receive NMS messages. Serial server translates the TCP/IP requests to SATEL NMS Protocol messages which are passed to the serial ports and this way to the NMS (diagnostic) port of the Radio Modem. The responses from the modem are translated back to S3CP and sent to the client.
An alternative way to form a connection from NMS client programs to the NMS Port of a modem is to define a direct TCP/IP port mapping. In this way, Serial Server can be configured to listen at another (or more) TCP/IP port number(s), for example 55556, which is then directly mapped to a serial port, for example COM1. This kind of mapping also requires pre-defining
serial port settings, such as baud rate, parity etc. See 8.3.3 for more information. If this kind of
connection is used, the client SW must be configured to use a Direct TCP/IP connection, see
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8.2 Common tasks
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8.2.1 Accessing the Serial Server User Interface
Serial server is started by other SATEL NMS PC Programs as they need it. If you need to use the user interface (views) of Serial Server, the window can be accessed by clicking the icon in
Windows Task Bar.
Figure 47: Serial Server icon
When the Task bar item is clicked, the window opens.
Figure 48: Serial server log tab
Note that usually serial server does not need to be configured or accessed in any way. The NMS
Client programs automatically start Serial Server in the same PC and communicate with it. Only if you wish to define default serial port settings and/or change the serial server preferences do you need to open serial server.
8.2.2 Using serial ports of another computer
If the serial ports and the NMS programs are located in different PC’s, the Serial Server must be installed into the PC having the ports, and the programs in the other PC can communicate with it over TCP/IP and use the serial ports. In this case the serial server must be started manually or from the Startup folder of Windows, for example.
See 8.3.3 for more information.
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8.2.3 Troubleshooting serial port problems
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Some problems with serial port hardware can cause the serial ports to get stuck, unable to be opened or become unresponsive. Some serial port hardware or drivers cannot tolerate the port being opened or closed quickly. For this reason Serial Server by default keeps the ports open for
15 seconds, rather than open and close them in quick succession. See 8.3.4 for hardware
compatibility settings if you are having problems.
8.2.4 Command line use
Serial server can be used directly by opening a terminal connection to its command port (default
55555).
We recommend using putty.exe. Configure the connection as a RAW connection (no telnet control codes or SSH!) By writing “help” and pressing enter you can get a list of commands and instructions.
8.3 Server views
8.3.1 Server Log
This view (Figure 45: Serial server log tab) shows information about the server. It shows incoming TCP/IP commands from NMS Client SW (NMS PC Setup and Monitoring), NMS
Messages sent to and received from the Serial ports, and miscellaneous server messages.
8.3.2 Serial port list
This view shows the current status of all known serial ports in the PC.
Figure 49: Serial port list view
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Column
Port
Status
BPS
Settings
IP Port
Description
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Explanation
Serial port name/number
Open: A client has opened the port and is using it
Open_x0: No client is using the port, but Serial server is keeping it open because the KeepOpen feature is in use ( See 7.3.3 )
Open_x2 (or more): Several NMS PC client programs are sharing the port
InUse: The port is in use by a program (or serial server itself if update has not been clicked)
Available: Port is not in use by any program unknown: Automatic port status detection (See7.3.3) is off and Update has not been clicked, the port’s status is unknown.
If status begins with Open, shows the port speed which Serial Server is using for that port. If Status is anything else, shows the default port speed that will be used if the port is opened without the opening software specifying a speed. This can happen for example if a direct TCP/IP connection is opened
(See 7.3.3)
Anything said about the BPS column and status also applies to this column.
Shows the other settings of the serial port.
The first number is the number of data bits: 7 or 8
The second character is the parity settings: N(o parity), E(ven parity), O(dd parity), M(ark) or S(pace).
The third character is the number of stop bits:0, 1 or 2
Usually 0. This means no direct IP port has been mapped to this serial port.
Other numbers indicate that a direct IP port HAS been mapped (See 7.3.3)
If a description has been given for the port, it is shown here (See 7.3.3)
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8.3.3 Communication Settings
This view allows you to configure the TCP/IP ports the Serial Server is listening at, and define default serial port settings.
Figure 50: Communication Settings view
View control
IP Port for interactive command line mode
Predefined port settings
Explanation
This is the main IP port where serial server is expecting connections from SATEL NMS client programs. This port uses the S3CP protocol.
Default port settings and Direct IP port to serial port mappings can be defined here. Just click and edit the table directly.
Serial Port
BPS
Settings
Enter the desired serial port name like shown, “COM1” is the serial port 1 etc. This String is the Windows Device Name of the serial port.
Define a serial port speed. Use only valid speeds that the modem supports and is configured with. Examples: 2400,
19200.
Define port settings. Use only valid settings that the modem supports and is configured with.
The first number is the number of data bits: 7 or 8
The second character is the parity settings: N(o parity), E(ven parity), O(dd parity), M(ark) or S(pace).
The third character is the number of stop bits: 0, 1 or 2
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Description
Cancel changes
Apply and Save settings
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Write a freely chosen description for the port if you wish. This description is shown in NMS client programs (Setup), in the
Network connection settings window, Available COM ports list.
Lose all your changes in this view and load the last saved settings.
Save and start using the settings you have entered. Settings are saved into the Windows registry.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Satel\SATELSerialServer\1.0)
Please do not modify them manually, there are no hidden settings!
8.3.4 Additional Settings
This view controls the settings of Serial Server
Figure 51: Additional Settings view
View control
Detailed server logs
Automatic port status detection
Timeout (ms)
Explanation
Shows more text in Server Log view. Additional log items are mostly hexadecimal dumps of the NMS protocol.
Automatically tries to open serial ports to see if they are available.
Some serial ports and/or drivers crash when this option is on. If you are having problems, disable it.
Timeout of NMS Messages in milliseconds. Leave this as a very large number (default 10000, or 10 seconds), as the client programs handle timeouts. Setting this to a lower number can cause “No Response” problems in Monitoring!
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Keep COM ports open
(hardware compatibility setting)
Time to keep port open
Maximum server log size
Cancel changes
Apply and Save settings
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Keeps serial ports open for some time, instead of closing and opening them in between of all NMS messages.
Some serial port hardware require this to be enabled, others require it to be disabled. Most work either way. Default is
Enabled.
This value is in seconds. Default is 15. IT is usually not needed to edit this value.
How many lines of Server Log to keep in RAM. If set too large, updating the Server Log View takes significant CPU resources. It is recommended to keep this below 5000.
Lose all your changes in this view and load the last saved settings
Save and start using the settings you have entered. Settings are saved into the Windows registry.
(HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Satel\SATELSerialServer\1.0)
Please do not modify them manually, there are no hidden settings!
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9 SATEL PACKET FILTER EDITOR
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This tool program is used to define packet filters settings used by Master Modems in NMS
Routing mode networks to extract addresses from outgoing data packets for use in routing.
There are several protocols already supported as well as some general-purpose and example packet filters included with SATEL NMS PC. In case these are insufficient to your needs, you may define your own packet filters to use with your program.
SATEL technical support also can help in defining filters for your needs.
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10 LOG FILES
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SATEL NMS PC programs will write some log files. Some of the programs also contain logs which are not written to disk, but can be viewed in the program window and copied to the clipboard. The user can also cause SATEL NMS PC Monitoring to write custom log files during
monitoring by defining certain triggers and actions. (see 6.9.3.1 Adding or editing an Action)
Whenever a program adds a new log line to the log file on disk, the program will do so according to the following procedure:
1. open the file
2. write into it
3. close it
This makes it possible to import data into other programs in almost real time from the log file, because the log file is not reserved for exclusive use by the program. Any reading program must also take care to open the file for shared read-only access so as not to prevent the writing.
10.1 Log types
SATEL NMS PC Monitoring will write a log file to the location defined in monitoring settings of
SATEL NMS PC Setup. The log file is a Tab-separated file. There is one log entry per line.
One log file per day will be generated. The log files are named in the following format: satelnms yyyymmdd.log where yyyy is the year, mm is the month and dd is the current day.
Example: satelnms20081229.log
File name satelnms triggers actions alarms yyyymmdd yyyymmdd yyyymmdd
.log
.log
.log
Custom yyyymmdd .log
None
None
Location
Default: Program
Install directory
OR
Monitoring Log file directory, if set.
Any directory
Format Description
Tab-separated Monitoring traffic log
Lines of text
Lines of text
Custom
In Serial Server Lines of text
In NMS PC Setup Lines of text
Monitoring trigger log
Monitoring action log
Tab-separated Monitoring alarm log
Application
SATEL NMS PC
Monitoring
SATEL NMS PC
Monitoring
SATEL NMS PC
Monitoring
SATEL NMS PC
Monitoring
Custom user log SATEL NMS PC
Monitoring
Serial server log
Comm Log
SATEL Serial Server
SATEL NMS PC
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10.1.1 Monitoring traffic log
SATEL NMS PC Monitoring writes all sent and received NMS messages into this log file. The log file is created when the first line of the day is written, i.e. there will never be an empty log file.
Log file columns, separated by tab characters:
Value
Timestamp
Connection settings string
Network name
Example(s)
20120920 15:33:35:917
Description
Time when the message was sent or received. Format is YYYYMMDD hh:mm:ss:msec localhost:55555:COM13,9600,8N1 Connection used to send/receive the message. Format is <ip address>:<ip port>:<serial port>,<bps>,<databits,parity,stopbits>
SATELLINE NMS Network Name of the network as defined in NMS
PC Setup. Note that in a multi-network system, all network’s messages appear in this view.
Destination modem address
3
Destination modem name
Modem 3
NMS Message type VALUE
NMSID
NMS Value
1.111
1.80
-50
-91 dBm, From 2
Address where the message was sent to / received from
Name of the modem where the message was sent to / received from
Message type. One of GETVAL, SETVAL,
VALUE, ERROR.
NMS ID of the diagnostic parameter requested/received.
Value of the diagnostic parameter, or
“Timeout” if the modem could not be reached. Note that this is a “RAW” value, no conversions have been made.
(So Voltage values are 10x larger here than actually)
Link RSSI values include the signal strength and originating modem address.
Example lines from a log file: (Note that tab characters have been replaced by dual spaces here for readability)
6.6.2007 14:17:26 localhost:55555:COM5 Test Net 3 Modem 3 SETVAL 1.3086 1
6.6.2007 14:17:26 localhost:55555:COM5 Test Net 3 Modem 3 VALUE 1.55 -95 dBm, From 1
6.6.2007 14:17:28 localhost:55555:COM5 Test Net 1 Master Station GETVAL 1.80
6.6.2007 14:17:28 localhost:55555:COM5 Test Net 1 Master Station VALUE 1.80 120
6.6.2007 14:17:31 localhost:55555:COM5 Test Net 2 Modem 2 GETVAL 1.80
6.6.2007 14:17:31 localhost:55555:COM5 Test Net 2 Modem 2 VALUE 1.80 121
6.6.2007 14:17:33 localhost:55555:COM5 Test Net 3 Modem 3 GETVAL 1.80
6.6.2007 14:17:33 localhost:55555:COM5 Test Net 3 Modem 3 VALUE 1.80 122
6.6.2007 14:17:34 localhost:55555:COM5 Test Net 1 Master Station GETVAL 1.83
6.6.2007 14:17:34 localhost:55555:COM5 Test Net 1 Master Station VALUE 1.83 29
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10.1.2 Monitoring trigger log
SATEL NMS PC Monitoring writes a line into this log whenever a trigger matches. The log file is created when the first line of the day is written, i.e. there will never be an empty log file.
The log file contains one event per line. The line contains Timestamp (example: 6.6.2007
14:10:53), followed by Trigger name and Description. The values are NOT tab-separated.
Examples:
29.10.2008 15:48:13 Trigger: Modem 2, Voltage Floor(1.80) is less than 12. Causes Alarm
29.10.2008 15:48:55 link breaks: Modem 2, (15.4095) link breaks . Causes Alarm
10.1.3 Monitoring alarm log
SATEL NMS PC Monitoring writes a line into this log whenever an alarm is caused by a trigger.
The log file is created when the first line of the day is written, i.e. there will never be an empty log file.
The log file contains one event per line. The line contains the following columns:
Timestamp (example: 6.6.2007 14:10:53)
Network Name (example: Test Net)
Modem address (example: 3)
Modem name (example: Modem 3)
NMSID (example: 1.83)
NMSID Name (example: Voltage)
Value (example: -95 dBm, From 1)
Alarm condition
Trigger threshold
Example log line (tabs replaced by double spaces for clarity):
29.10.2008 15:47:49 test 1 Master Station 1.80 Voltage Floor 102 is less than 12
10.1.4 Monitoring action log
SATEL NMS PC Monitoring writes a line into this log whenever an action is performed in response to a matching trigger. The log file is created when the first line of the day is written, i.e. there will never be an empty log file.
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The log file contains one event per line. The line contains Timestamp (example: 6.6.2007
14:10:53), followed by Action name and last result. The values are NOT tab-separated.
10.1.5 Custom User log
Custom user logs are written by SATEL NMS PC Monitoring. The user must define trigger and actions settings that cause Monitoring to write the log. Many variables are available to be written into the log.
10.1.6 Serial server log
SATEL Serial Server includes a log view with details about several communication events between it and the other programs as well as the modems.
Lines from this log can be selected using the mouse and copied using the keyboard shortcut
Ctrl-C. This can be useful if troubleshooting NMS communication issues with SATEL Technical support.
Information included in this log: o Serial port opening and closing o NMS message requests and responses o NMS Errors
10.1.7 Comm Log
SATEL NMS PC Setup has a log view for communication events and messages. Lines from this log can be selected with the mouse and copied using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-C. This can be useful if troubleshooting NMS communication issues with SATEL Technical support.
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This chapter contains some examples of configuring the settings.
11.1 Custom Log File: Example Trigger and Action definitions
Programs used: SATEL NMS PC Setup
This example shows how to configure Monitoring settings of a system so that the following functionality is achieved:
Diagnosed parameters are
Voltage of each modem
Temperature of each modem
RSSI of each link in both directions
An entry will be written in a Custom Log file when (and ONLY when):
The Voltage of a modem drops below 12 Volts
The Temperature of a modem rises above 40 degrees Celsius
The RSSI of a Link drops below -105 dBm
An NMS message timeouts
The filename of the custom log will be “C:\work\NMS_SCADA_alarms.log”
11.1.1 Polling settings
These settings are defined in the Polling settings tab (6.9.1). All Diagnostic parameters are
checked. Other settings are left as they are.
11.1.2 Actions
One Action, “Write to Log” will be defined. This is done first, so that the Action may be added straight away to the Trigger definitions.
Use the Action settings tab (6.9.3). Click Add and use the following values:
Action name Write to Log
File name c:\work\NMS_SCADA_alarms.log
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Line to insert
$TriggerName$$t$$ModemName$$t$$NmsName$$t$$NmsValue$$t$$Lo gTime$$t$$LogDate$
The line that will be written to the log consists of the following variables, separated by ASCII tab characters: TriggerName, ModemName, NmsName, NmsValue, LogTime, LogDate. A linefeed
(Windows-style) is automatically added after every line written into the log.
The line could also have included any text, additional linefeeds and/or multiples of the same variable.
11.1.3 Trigger settings
Four triggers will be defined. This is done in the Trigger settings tab (6.9.2). Click “Add” and
select the correct values according to the following table. Then Click OK and repeat for the next
Trigger.
Applies to
Cause
Alarm
Actions Name Type Threshold
Voltage Low less than 12
RSSI Low less than -105
Temperature
High greater than
40
0
NMSID
Voltage Floor
RSSI
Temperature
Ceiling
-
All modems in system
Yes
Write to
Log
11.1.4 Example log file
To create this example, the settings defined in chapter 7 were loaded into SATEL NMS PC
Monitoring and the network was allowed to run for a few minutes. At first, modem 2 was without power, which caused the No response entries in the log. The Voltage was kept below 12 Volts for both modems, which caused the Voltage Low entries. The radio connection was poor (No antennas & low TX power), which caused the “RSSI Low” entries in the log.
Voltage Low Master Station Voltage Floor 109 13:53:43:0197 20071030
No response Modem 2 Voltage Floor No response 13:53:55:0041 20071030
No response Modem 2 Temperature Ceiling No response 13:54:09:0432 20071030
RSSI Low Master Station RSSI -109 dBm, From 2 13:54:19:0088 20071030
No response Modem 2 RSSI No Response 13:54:23:0822 20071030
Voltage Low Master Station Voltage Floor 110 13:54:29:0463 20071030
No response Modem 2 Voltage Floor No response 13:54:34:0197 20071030
No response Modem 2 Temperature Ceiling No response 13:54:48:0572 20071030
RSSI Low Master Station RSSI -109 dBm, From 2 13:54:58:0213 20071030
No response Modem 2 RSSI No Response 13:55:02:0948 20071030
Voltage Low Master Station Voltage Floor 109 13:55:08:0604 20071030
No response Modem 2 Voltage Floor No response 13:55:13:0338 20071030
No response Modem 2 Temperature Ceiling No response 13:55:27:0713 20071030
RSSI Low Master Station RSSI -109 dBm, From 2
Voltage Low Master Station Voltage Floor 110
13:55:37:0370 20071030
13:55:42:0698 20071030
Voltage Low Modem 2 Voltage Floor 107
RSSI Low Master Station RSSI
13:55:47:0448 20071030
-109 dBm, From 2 13:55:53:0354 20071030
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Notes
The tab character should be used as a delimiter in the custom log file, since the NMS values may contain other characters typically used as separators, such as commas (,) and semicolons
(;). The $NumValue$ variable can contain numbers, the minus sign ’-‘ and/or the decimal point
‘.’.
11.2 Send email example: Action Definitions
This chapter shows example action settings which can be used to send email messages.
NOTE: The email sending functionality is not included in SATEL NMS PC. An external email sending application must be used. In this example, a program called sendemail.exe is used.
SATEL is not affiliated with the maker of this program in any way, and does not offer user support for the program beyond this document.
11.2.1 Preparation
Define the network and polling and trigger settings similarly to the previous chapter.
11.2.2 Action setting to send email
Install an email sending program, such as the sendemail program
( http://caspian.dotconf.net/menu/Software/SendEmail/ ) or Blat (http://www.blat.net/)
Test the program using the windows shell (Start->Run->cmd.exe) first. When you know which command line options are needed to send email in your environment, you are ready to define the Action.
Go to Monitoring->Action settings tab (see 6.9.3). Click Add. Select the Execute a command
Tab, and fill in the fields.
Command is the full name including path to the sendemail.exe
Parameter list is the command line including all the options necessary.
You may use the SATEL $variables$ to include information about the alarm in the email message.
The screenshot below gives an example command line.
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