The first element in the Device structure is the Applications container. It is a non-removable element, which offers a space to create user applications.
The Applications container allows to add multiple Application components for building independent user applications, which are cycle-driven and may work simultaneously.
The user may define the application purpose (heating, lighting, etc.) and a cycle time of algorithms operation (cycles may differ between applications).
Tip
Multithreaded applications allow to differentiate cycles of applications (scan period) in order to adjust them according to a purpose of an application.
For example, a HVAC application may be set to 1000 ms scan period, and a Lights application to 200 ms scan period, as changes to lights operation have to be implemented immediately. Setting such scan periods would mean that the Lights application would be executed 5 times for each HVAC application cycle.
The user may create as many applications as needed—as long as the overall number of Data Points used within user applications does not exceed the device license.
Note: For top performance, it is recommended to use up to three different applications.
Application Structure for Tags
Applying tags in the nano EDGE ENGINE is based on a semantic approach that ensures consistent data structure which is easily usable by the nanoWebUI™ and by third-party systems. Tags are applied at the Equipment and Data Point levels, where Equipment serves as the logical container defining what is being controlled, and Data Points represent the measured or commanded values associated with that equipment. This structured model ensures that tagged data is immediately usable by platforms capable of communicating through standardized tag-based HTTP APIs, e.g., Haystack.
Note: Tags can be only applied to the Equipment components and Data Points. Other component types are not supported.
It is therefore recommended (however, not mandatory) to use the following structure when creating applications:
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Applications container
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Application component
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Equipment component
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Data Point(s)
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other components
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Equipment component
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Data Point(s)
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other components
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Remember - Great Licensing Scheme
The Applications container includes the only elements subject to license in the nano EDGE ENGINE devices. The license for the new generation of iSMA CONTROLLI controllers driven by the nano EDGE ENGINE is constructed against the number of Data Points: each device based on the nano EDGE ENGINE is granted a specified number of license points (Data Points in this case), which can be used within applications. Therefore, the licensing system is only of quantitative, not functional, character–only the real number of Data Points in applications is taken into account, regardless of how many communication protocols are used to expose them, or how many network points are controlled. With the nano EDGE ENGINE-generation devices it is possible to create as big an application (or applications) as the number of licensed Data Points. No elements in the Networks, Services, or System containers are subject to license limitations, other than Data Points in the Applications container. Note: In order to check the number of license points, please refer to the License in the device. |