OXYGEN-NET¶
Note
This is an optional feature and requires a license.
OXYGEN-NET can be used to combine several DEWE2/3 systems connected to the same ethernet network to one entire high channel count measurement system. DEWE2/3 systems combined to an OXYGEN-NET system can be synchronized and controlled with one Master unit.
The hostnames of the systems combined to one OXYGEN-NET systems must be unique, i.e. if several DEWE2-A4 are combined to one OXYGEN-Net system, they must be named uniquely, i.e. DEWE2-A4-1, i.e. DEWE2-A4-2, etc.
The hostnames can be changed in the Windows settings (see Fig. 589) under Control panel → All Control Panel Items → System → Computer name.
Fig. 589 Changing the hostname¶
Glossary
Master unit: A measurement unit which queries data from another measurement unit and controls it is denoted as Master unit. Only one measurement unit can be configured as Master unit in an OXYGEN-NET system.
Slave unit: A measurement unit which transfers data to a Master unit and is controlled by it is denoted as Slave unit. Several measurement units can be configured as Slave unit in an OXYGEN-NET system.
ORION DAQ/DSA hardware is not supported with OXYGEN-NET.
Supported Hardware Topologies¶
The following topologies of synchronization and Data Transfer paths are supported within OXYGEN. The main difference between these topologies is, if the single nodes are synchronized via TRION-SYNC-BUS or TIMING Modules, i.e. TRION-BASE, -TIMING or -VGPS boards.
TRION-SYNC-BUS without TIMING¶
This topology is free-running without any external synchronization source and all nodes are connected together with TRION-SYNC-BUS. This is the default setting and should be used, if no absolute timestamping is required. All the data acquired within the system is synchronous, but there is no reference to a 3rd party system.
Fig. 590 Topology for TRION-SYNC-BUS without TIMING¶
An optional TRIONet must be connected to a measurement node via USB and TRION-SYNC-BUS.
TRION-SYNC-BUS with TIMING¶
In addition to the former topology, this one uses a TIMING-Module in the first measurement node. Use this topology, if you need to be synchronous to an absolute timestamp.
Fig. 591 Topology for TRION-SYNC-BUS with TIMING¶
The Enclosure, which has installed the TIMING-Module, is automatically the master for TRION-SYNC-BUS for all other nodes.
TIMING without TRION-SYNC-BUS¶
The third option is, to install a TIMING-Module in every node. Use this topology, if the distance between each node exceeds the limit of TRION-SYNC-BUS, or the use of a cable is not capable (e.g. mobile measurements)
Fig. 592 Topology for TIMING without TRION-SYNC-BUS¶
An optional TRIONet must be connected to a measurement node via USB and TRION-SYNC-BUS.
Note
A mixed usage of these topologies is not allowed and supported!
OXYGEN-NET - Menu overview¶
The OXYGEN-NET menu is split up in three different sections: Nodes, Sync and Settings.
OXYGEN-NET Menu – Nodes¶
Fig. 593 OXYGEN-NET menu – Nodes¶
In the Nodes menu, the user gets an overview about all measurement devices that are connected to the same ethernet network and have the OXYGEN-NET option enabled. To enable and disable OXYGEN-NET, refer to OXYGEN-NET Menu – Settings.
Devices with OXYGEN-NET enabled and which allow to be claimed can be claimed and connected to the OXYGEN-NET system. After claiming a device, it can be used in the OXYGEN-NET system. Claimed devices are regarded as Slaves. Thus, claiming must always be done by the master device and must not be done by slave devices. For allowing and preventing measurement devices to be claimed, refer to OXYGEN-NET Menu – Settings. To claim a device, just click on the Claim button below the respective measurement device (see Fig. 594).
Fig. 594 Claim a measurement device¶
Claimed devices can be released from the OXYGEN-NET system by clicking on the respective Release button (see Fig. 595). After releasing the measurement device, it can be used as a standalone device again or connected to another OXYGEN-NET system.
Fig. 595 Release a measurement device¶
The Node filter (see Fig. 596) filters the listed measurement devices according to All, Available or Claimed devices.
Fig. 596 Nodes filter¶
OXYGEN-NET Menu – Sync¶
Fig. 597 OXYGEN-NET menu – Sync¶
Auto setup: Enable/Disable Automatic Setup of Sync.
Enabled: The synchronization is done automatically by the DEWE2 enclosure. If the Master device does not have a measurement hardware (Notebook, PC), the first claimed Slave is automatically configured as Sync Master. Synchronization is set to TRION-SYNC-BUS. No setting can be changed, as long as Auto setup is activated.
Disabled: User can change all synchronization settings. Use this, if a TIMING-Module is installed
Sync Status Indicator: See here the actual state of the overall system sync. Refer to Troubleshooting for more information.
The Sync indicator will be:
Red, if no valid synchronization signal is connected to the SYNC I/O connector
Orange, if a valid synchronization signal is connected to the SYNC I/O connector but the system is not locked yet (this might take some seconds and will be locked automatically)
Green, if a valid synchronization signal is connected to the SYNC I/O connector and the system is locked.
The Sync indicator is available in the Action bar as well if the Sync Setup is closed (see ② in Fig. 14).
For details about the different synchronization settings and possibilities with different TIMING modules, refer to Sync Setup.
OXYGEN-NET Menu – Settings¶
Fig. 598 OXYGEN-NET menu – Settings¶
In the Settings menu, the user can enable or disable the OXYGEN-NET functionality and select if the measurement device shall be claimable or not.
If OXYGEN-NET is disabled, the measurement device can neither be used as Master nor Slave unit in an OXYGEN-NET system. Thus, the device is not visible for other users in the Nodes menu of other DEWE2/3 systems (see OXYGEN-NET Menu – Nodes). If OXYGEN-NET is enabled, the device can either be used as Master or Slave unit and is listed in the Nodes menu of other DEWE2/3 systems.
If Allow claim is enabled, the measurement device can either be used as a Master unit or be claimed by another device and used as a Slave unit (see Fig. 599). If Allow claim is disabled, the measurement device can only be used as a Master unit (and claim other devices) but not as a Slave unit (see Fig. 600).
Fig. 599 Visibility for other users if OXYGEN-NET is enabled and Allow Claim is enabled¶
Fig. 600 Visibility for other users if OXYGEN-NET is enabled and Allow Claim is disabled¶
Setting up an OXYGEN-NET System¶
The following steps describe the procedure to configure several devices to an OXYGEN-NET system. Possible hardware connection schemes can be found in Supported Hardware Topologies.
Generic Setup¶
Connect all measurement devices that shall be used with in the OXYGEN-NET system to the same ethernet network and make sure that the IP addresses of all measurement devices are within the combined to one OXYGEN-NET system. If the Devices are configured with DHCP and there is no DHCP-Server, the operating system fallback is used (IP-Address Range 169.x.x.x)
Note
The connection to the ethernet network must be finished before OXYGEN is started on the measurement devices.
Start OXYGEN on all measurement devices and Enable OXYGEN-NET in the OXYGEN-NET menu Settings (see Fig. 601) on all devices
Fig. 601 Enable OXYGEN-NET¶
Select Allow claim on the devices that shall be configured as slaves (see Fig. 602). Without enabling Allow claim, the Slave units cannot be claimed by the Master unit.
Fig. 602 Allow claiming of slave devices¶
Go to the OXYGEN-NET menu Nodes on the Master unit. In the Available Nodes section, all measurement devices with OXYGEN-NET enabled are listed. By clicking on the Claim button (see Fig. 603), the individual device is added to the OXYGEN-NET system as a Slave unit and can be controlled by the Master unit.
Fig. 603 Claiming of measurement devices¶
Note
If a device should not be listed in the Available Nodes section though expected, refer to Troubleshooting.
After claiming a device by the Master unit, it is listed in the OXYGEN-NET System section (see Fig. 604) of the OXYGEN-NET menu Nodes and may be released from the OXYGEN-NET system again by clicking on the Release button
Fig. 604 List of claimed devices¶
After claiming a device, the screen of the device will be locked, and the information Claimed by… will be displayed in the lower right corner of the software
Fig. 605 Claimed information on the Slave device¶
Use with TRION-SYNC-BUS¶
Connect the SYNC cables to the measurement devices.
The Master measurement unit must be the Sync master within the OXYGEN-NET system. Therefore, connect one end of the Sync cable to a SYNC OUT or SYNC I/O connector of the Master unit and connect the other end to a SYNC IN or SYNC I/O connector of the Slave unit. The Sync signal can be daisy chained to several Slave units (see Fig. 606).
Fig. 606 Sync wiring of different OXYGEN-NET system variants¶
The cable for the synchronization signal must be connected from measurement device to measurement device and cannot be transmitted via an ethernet router.
A green background color of the SYNC indicator on all devices will display that the sync wiring is correct.
Fig. 607 Correct sync wiring¶
Note
If the background color of the SYNC indicator is orange, the sync wiring is incorrect. For further information, refer to Troubleshooting.
All Slave units are now synchronized to the relative time base of the Master unit and a measurement may be started by clicking the Record button on the Master unit.
Use a TIMING-Module in case, you need an absolute time base in the first (Master) system.
Use with TIMING-Modules only¶
Make sure, every DEWE2/3 has installed exact one TIMING-Module in the first slot (Star slot) (except TRIONet, there is no TIMING-Module supported in the case of OXYGEN-NET)
Connect the Timing Source Signal (e.g. GPS Antenna, IRIG or PTP Grandmaster Clock)
It is not necessary to use the same Source within every node, you can use GPS at the first node and PTP at the second node, see Fig. 608.
Go to OXYGEN-NET → Sync and disable the Auto setup option
Select the right TIMING Source for each Enclosure. Select node to change settings.
Fig. 608 Sync View with TIMING-Modules. Select node to changesettings¶
Inspect the Synchronization Indicator if an error occurs, check the connection of the selected synchronization source (or the LED Indicator of the TIMING Module).
Error Messages:
If the system is configured in a way, that is a not allowed topology, there is an Error Message:
Fig. 609 No valid sync setup, with a hint, which node is not configured correctly¶
If there is a problem, that at least one Node can’t be synchronized, there is the Error (Out of Sync) message. Check each node individually.
Setup Generation on an OXYGEN-NET System¶
The measurement screens on the Master unit can be configured like on a standalone measurement unit. For details, refer to Adding Instruments to the measurement screen.
Measurement screen configuration on Slave units can be configured like on a standalone measurement unit as well. For Setting up the measurement screen and the creation of software channels (like Power, Math Formulas,…), use the Remote Desktop Connection or a VNC-Tool (we recommend UltraVNC).
Data acquisition sample rate can differ from each Node. But the user has to take care that only integer multiple sample rates are set.
Data Channels of a Slave unit can be configured via the Master unit. After claiming the Slave unit by the Master unit, the channels of the Slave unit will be visible and accessible in the Channel List of the Master unit. The example in Fig. 610 shows a DEWE2-A4L-Slave unit (equipped with one TRION-2402-MULTI-4-D) connected to a Laptop-Master unit without TRION hardware connected. When settings of a Slave unit channel are edited via the Channel List of the Master unit, the changes will be transferred to the Slave unit.
Fig. 610 Slave unit channels visible in the Master units’ Channel List¶
The blue slider marked with an orange arrow in Fig. 610 will activate or deactivate the data acquisition from the channel
The red button marked with a green arrow in Fig. 610 will enable the storing of the data
The green button marked with a blue arrow in Fig. 610 will enable the data transfer from the Slave unit to the Master unit.
Fig. 611 shows the following possible combinations:
Fig. 611 Channel transfer and recording combinations¶
Channel A1/1 will only be acquired but not stored or transferred. Data may only be used for math calculations on the Slave unit.
Channel A1/2 will be stored on the Slave unit but not on the Master unit
Channel A1/3 will be transferred to the Master unit but neither stored on the Slave unit nor on the Master unit. The channel may only be used for math calculations on the Slave unit or the Master unit.
Channel A1/4 will be transferred to the Master unit and stored both on the Slave unit and the Master unit.
Note
It is not possible to store a channel only on the Main unit and not on the Slave unit.
When the setup is saved on a Master unit, the settings of the Slave unit are stored to the setup file on the Master unit, too. There is no separate setup file stored on the Slave unit. The file stored on the Main unit includes channel settings, screen configurations, … on the Slave unit.
Math channels and Power groups must be created on the Slave units before claiming them by the Master unit. After claiming the Slave unit, these channels can be transferred and stored on the Master unit as well or used for other calculations on the Master unit.
Math channels and Power groups that are created on the Master unit and include channels from the Slave unit are calculated on the Master unit. I.e. all calculations that are created on the Master unit are rendered on the Master unit. If they shall be rendered on the Slave unit, they must be created before claiming the Slave unit by the Master unit like it is explained in the paragraph above.
It is not possible to transfer data from the Master unit to a Slave unit or between Slave units but only from the Slave units to the Master unit.
If a setup file is loaded on the Master unit which contains an OXYGEN-NET configuration, OXYGEN tries to claim the required Slave units automatically while the setup is loaded. OXYGEN must already be running on the Slave units and is not started automatically during the setup load. If the Slave unit can’t be claimed, the hardware mismatch dialog will open (see Fig. 22).
Recording Data with an OXYGEN-NET System¶
After pressing the Record button on the Master unit, all transferred data channels and the data channels connected directly connected to the Master unit will be stored to one data file on the Master unit.
After pressing the Record button on the Master unit, a local data file is created on each Slave unit containing all data channels (with the red Record button on the Channel List enabled) that are connected to the Slave unit.
Triggered Recording is supported. Trigger Events can be defined on the Master. Individual trigger settings on a Slave unit will be ignored.
Multi-File Recording is supported. If Multi-File Recording is enabled on the Master unit it will also be applied to the data file stored locally on the Slave units. Multi-File settings done on a Slave unit will be ignored.
User reduced statistics recording is supported (see Triggered Events). The user reduced statistics data are not transferred from the Slave units to the Master unit to avoid an increase of the data to be transferred. They are calculated on the Master unit for the Slave unit channels that are transferred to the Master unit.
Prompting Header Data at recording start is only applicable to the Master unit, not to Slave units
Additional Information¶
Typical data transfer rates (80 MB/s):
16bit: up to 350 channels @ 100 kHz
24bit: up to 350 channels @ 50 kHz
The Master unit can either be a measurement unit with TRION hardware connected or a laptop without TRION hardware connected to. If a laptop without TRION hardware is used as Master unit, the first Slave unit claimed by the Master unit is defined as Sync master.
The measurement devices must be connected to the same ethernet subnet before OXYGEN is started.
The sync wiring can be done before OXYGEN is started or when OXYGEN is already running.
The setup on the Slave units must be roughly prepared before claiming them, only existing channels can be configured from the master.
If the hard disk of the Master unit is full, the recording will stop automatically on the Master unit and on all Slave units.
If the hard disk of a Slave unit is full, the recording will only stop on the affected Slave unit but not on the other devices.
If the software mode of the Master unit is switched to PLAY mode, because a data file is opened, the Slave units are released from the Master unit.
The Node names are the operating systems host names. These can be edited in e.g. Windows under System → Info → Change PC Name.
Troubleshooting¶
If a device is not listed in the Available Nodes section as expected, make sure that
The Node filter is set to All or Available
OXYGEN-NET is enabled on the missing measurement device
The network connection is working
The IP address of the missing measurement device is within the same subnet range
If the sync wiring is incorrect, the background color of the SYNC indicator will be orange and the message Waiting for sync will be displayed in the lower right corner of the software (see Fig. 612). If this appears, make sure that the sync wiring is correct. For further information, refer to OXYGEN-NET Menu – Sync and Fig. 606.
Fig. 612 Incorrect sync wiring¶
If the sync wire is disconnected during the measurement, a Sync Lost marker is added to the Event List and the message Waiting for sync will be displayed in the lower right corner of the software. The background color of the SYNC indicator will become orange.
Fig. 613 Software feedback if sync signal is lost during the measurement¶
The recording will be continued until the Stop button is pressed. Be aware that the recording will not be time synchronous any more without valid sync connection!
A reconnection of the sync wire will not help to resync data during recording. The measurement must be stopped before data is time synchronous again.
If the sync wire is reconnected during the measurement, the SYNC indicator will become red and the message Invalid synchronization signal will be displayed in the lower right corner of the software.
Fig. 614 Software feedback if sync signal is reconnected during the measurement¶
If a slave device loses the network connection during the measurement
The master device adds a Node Lost marker to the Event List and displays the message Slave Node Lost:… in the lower right corner of the software (see Fig. 615).
Fig. 615 Software feedback on master device if slave node loses network connection¶
The affected slave device adds a Node Lost marker to the Event List and opens a Master Lost pop-up menu (see Fig. 616).
Fig. 616 Software feedback on slave device if slave node loses network connection¶
If the user selects Unlock from master node, the recording will be continued until the Stop button is pressed and the slave device can be used as standalone unit.
If the network connection is fixed in the meantime, the pop-up window on the slave device will close again and the slave device can be controlled by the master device again. Data recording is still synchronous, because the sync connection was still active. A Node found marker will be added to the Event List.
The measurement on potential other slave devices is not affected and they do not realize that a slave node was lost.
If the master device loses the network connection during the measurement
The master device adds a Node Lost marker to the Event List and displays the message Slave Node Lost:… in the lower right corner of the software (see Fig. 615).
Fig. 617 Software feedback on master device if slave node loses network connection¶
All slave devices add a Node Lost marker to the Event List and open a Master Lost pop-up menu (see Fig. 616).
Fig. 618 Software feedback on slave device if master device loses network connection¶
If the user selects Unlock from master node, the recording will be continued until the Stop button is pressed and the slave devices can be used as standalone units.
If the network connection is fixed in the meantime, the pop-up window on the slave device will close again and the slave devices can be controlled by the master device again. Data recording is still synchronous, because the sync connection was still active. A Node found marker will be added to the Event List.
Limitations of OXYGEN-NET¶
No data transfer between different Slave units or from Master unit to Slave unit. Data can only be transferred from Slave units to Master units.
Disabling of redundant storing on the Slave unit is not possible. If a channel is transferred to the Master unit, and storing is activated, the data will always be stored on the Slave unit and the Master unit.