Manage device groups

Device groups are labels used by client applications when accessing the Communication Driver.

The Device Group Update Interval determines how often the Communication Driver polls the device and sends data to the client application. If you configure multiple device groups with different update intervals, the client application can receive data at various intervals.

Small update intervals mean fast turnaround for data changes and a high overhead because a large amount of data is moving. Large update intervals mean slow turn around for data changes and a low overhead because not as much data is being passed to the client application.

For DDE/SuiteLink clients, the device group is the same as the DDE/SuiteLink topic. DDE/SuiteLink clients require that at least one device group be created for each device.

For OPC clients, the device group equals the OPC access path. The Communication Driver has a default device group for each device, and this device group cannot be deleted. If you are using OPC client applications, creating a device group is optional.