Omnicomm connection basics

All telemetry systems follow a similar pattern of connections when using Omnicomm.

• Remotes can be reached via many connections. There is no limit to the number that may be configured.

• Circuits group physical connections together. Two physical connections are in the same circuit if they either directly or associatively conflict with each other. Circuits are used to prevent Omnicomm from sending multiple messages over different connections where these messages would collide or interfere with each other Omnicomm will never attempt to perform more than one operation at a time over a single circuit, regardless of the number of connections in that circuit.

• Each physical connection used by each remote is assigned a Cost Factor. Cost Factors are configured in the Remote Connection Join (remconnjoin) Row Edit dialog box. For further information, refer to Remconnjoin table.

• Omnicomm uses this factor to determine which connection to use when the current one fails.The Cost Factor is an integer that indicates how expensive a connection is. Higher numbered values indicate increasingly higher Cost Factors.

  Note: A Cost Factor is a mechanism to indicate the relative priority for connections. It is not necessarily associated with monetary cost.

• Omnicomm never fails back. If a remote has multiple connections, Omnicomm will continuously use the connection with the lowest Cost Factor until it breaks. Omnicomm will then fail over to an alternate connection with a higher Cost Factor. If the connection with the lower Cost Factor becomes available again, Omnicomm will never switch back (fail back) to using it. However, once the connection Controller has sent test polls down the repaired connection, it can determine whether or not it is appropriate for Omnicomm to switch back to the connection with the lower Cost Factor.

• External scripts (or Controller commands) are used by the connection Controller to force Omnicomm to fall back to previously used connections. Omnicomm does not automatically test connections. Instead, Administrator-written scripts or manual commands may be used to test any connection-remote combination. This way, you may implement any desired control or timing logic.

• All connections that are used for a single remote must use the same communication mode (for example, Host Poll).