Integrated Device Manager

IDM v6.00 / OpSys™ v8.00

Load Defaults

The abilitiy to define Default values for variables in script subroutines has been reserected from being deleted in previous versions in favor of using the Product Configuration Table (PCT). Any script subroutine may be attached to a "Load Defaults" system interrupt that is fired during the OpSys™ v8.00 power up initialization. The Load Defaults interrupt is only fired during power up when the "Load Defaults" selection in the BIOS menu is set to "YES".  Note that any user changes made to variables assigned a default value will be replaced with the default value when istructed to do so in the BIOS setup menu during power up.

In addition, the "Load Defaults" eliminates the need to program the PCT into each vTagNet™ device, reducing an important and often overlooked aspect of device setup.

Analog Functions

Analog-to-Digital (ADC) and Digital-to-Analog (DAC) initialization and scaling functions have been simplified to eliminate the need to specifiy the hardware's voltage reference range. All analog components in vTagNet™ devices have the same 0-5Vdc reference for input and/or output range. Analog setup funtion now oly include MIN, MAX and SCL for input/output scaling.

Programmer Utility

The need to have the complete Integrated Device Manager (IDM) application installed on a PC or laptop computer to program any vTagNet™ device has been replaced with a simple Program utility. The IDM compiler now generates two files in native microprocessor code (Mororola S19) format. The two files include the application program and LCD display menus. Thus, only two native S19 code files need be sent to customers to program their vTagNet™ devices instead of a complete suite of IDM project files. The Program utlity also alows updates to the OpSys™ operating system since it is also supplied in native microprocessor code format.

vTagNet™

vTagNet™ is the term that refers to how products connect through a wireless network and share information. Previously, the amount of shared information was limited to 127 eTags (Coils) and 16 nTags (Holding Registers) in a fixed, specified format referred to as a vTagNet™ packet. The OpSys™ v8.00 operating system eliminates the constraints of the vTagNet™ packet by including script Read/Write functions that programatically define the data content shared between networked devices. Data sharing or "collaborative processing" is now only limited by available RAM variable storage.

Wireless Network

Using wireless protocol Bluetooth 802.15.4 with sleeping nodes presents a basic limitation on just how many sleeping nodes (End Devices) may be serviced by a single network master (Coordinator) within a relatively short update interval. OpSys™ v8.00 modified the wireless network control scheme to allow up to 255 End Devices to interact with a single Coordinator at network update intervals a fast as 1 second.

Log Records

Previously log records were comprised of a date and time stamped vTagNet™ packet caputured and stored at a user specified Log Update Interval (LUD) sample rate or upon the occurrence of programmable events.  Log record content is now arbitrarily defined by organizing  RAM variables in a sequence and format to match whatever is needed by a specific application. Using a new Log Configuration control in the IDM application, the user simply specifies how many memory bytes starting at Register 0 is saved as a log record.