Nov 16, 2016 
OPC stands for «Open Platform Communications» that is a set of specifications and standards for industrial telecommunication. OPC defines the transfer of real-time plant data between control devices from various manufacturers. The aim of OPC was to support a common bridge for Windows-based software applications and process control hardware. OPC was designed to minimize the quantity of duplicated effort made by hardware companies and their software partners.
Tibbo OPC Server supports the most typical OPC spec - OPC Data Access (OPC DA), which is used for reading and writing real-time data. Any device that supports the Tibbo AggreGate protocol can be a data source. AggreGate is a white-label IoT integration platform utilizing modern network technologies to configure, control, monitor and support electronic devices, as well as shared networks of such electronic devices. It also assists you with aggregating device data in the cloud, where you can "slice and dice" it according to your requirements. Moreover, the platform allows other enterprise applications transparently access this data through the AggreGate server.
Tibbo OPC server has built-in AggreGate network protocol. It can either communicate with any Tibbo devices by AggreGate agent protocol or connect to AggreGate server. The AggreGate agent protocol open-source implementation is made public for Java, C#, and C++ programming languages, so your connection scheme is not confined to Tibbo devices or AggreGate server only.
Examples
- A simple example: TPS reads Tibbit #29 (Ambient temperature meter) and forwards data to OPC server via AggreGate agent protocol. ( OPC Server Simple Example )
- A more complex example: we have a Windows-based PC controlling a wood processing machine by means of AggreGate server through the Modbus protocol. If Tibbo OPC server is linked with AggreGate server, the data from the machine is sent to Tibbo OPC server, and therefore, we can operate and monitor the machine via any OPC client. ( OPC Server Complex Example)
Technical Specification
-
Compatibility with Windows XP/2003 or later (Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 redistributable is required - installed automatically)
-
Support of DA Asynchronous I/O 2.0 and Synchronous I/O with COM/DCOM technology
Tibbo OPC Server transmits the information on the Value, Quality and Timestamp of an item (tag) to the OPC Client applications. These fields are read from the AggreGate variables.
The process values are set to Bad [Configuration Error] quality if OPC Server loses communication with its data source (AggreGate Agent or AggreGate Server). The quality is set to Uncertain [Non-Specific] if the AggreGate variable value is empty.
To learn more about Tibbo OPC server, go to the official Tibbo website: http://tibbo.com/solutions/opc-server.html
