Features

Overview of benefits

Description

Runtime Subsystem and Supervisory Control

Real-time DataBase

Alarm Subsystem

Historian Subsystem

Runtime Configurator

System Security

Graphic Display Builder

Graphical Trending Package

Input/Output Interface Modules and Toolkit

Redundant System Architectures

Hierarchical ScadaBase System Architectures

Unique Input/Output Processing Architectures

External System Access and Integration

ScadaBase Capacities and Performance

Technical support

Features

• Delivers event-driven supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) software tools to Intel®-based platforms
• Configurable to support monolithic or distributed control system architectures
• Supports hot standby systems with auto-failover and bumpless transfer
• Software modularity permits system expansion and scalability to meet long term growth and requirements for high ROI
• Allows logging of all events including log in/log out, set point changes, alarm limit changes, etc.
• Includes an SVGA-based Human Machine Interface (HMI) drawing package featuring pull-downs, pop-ups, industry-standard symbols, icons, etc.
• Historian Subsystem with integral plotting/trending of real-time or historical data
• Includes robust networking support for TCP/IP and asynchronous communication protocols
• Compatible with industry-standard PLCs, RTUs, and supports application specific instrumentation and controls
• Rapid Application Development Environment supported through integral System Configurator, System Profiler, I/O Simulator and Real-time Database (RTDB) Validation
• Multi-level system security administration strategies
• Comprehensive on-line documentation
• Source level code support by single vendor

Overview of benefits
ScadaBase(TM), offered by MODCOMP, collects, delivers and presents real-time supervisory control and data acquisition information accurately and quickly. Graphical displays assist plant operators with control operations to optimize processes in industrial and utility plants. Process information for engineers and managers is easily accessible.

ScadaBase is designed with portable UNIX®-based multi-user, multi-processing, and scalable capabilities. ScadaBase features exception-based processing for efficient low network traffic. The modular design allows for efficiency with easy update and add-on features, as well as a flexible user interface. Standard socket calls using interprocess communications (IPC) allow software modules to be hosted on the same system or be distributed across TCP/IP local area networks (LAN). ScadaBase can simultaneously support a large number of HMI operator consoles. Drivers are available for a variety of PLCs, FEPs, DCSs, RTUs, and other intelligent electronic devices (IEDs). An interface is available for SQL Relational Databases used for configuration and data storage.

ScadaBase allows the user to import bitmapped images from a variety of sources for use as backgrounds, objects, or as fill styles. AutoCad® DXF files can also be imported, preserving the image's vectors, blocks, attributes. Real-time graphical displays can be built using up to 999 layers with user control of layer displays.

ScadaBase is easily configured by use of pull down menus, pick lists, and pop-ups for most environment parameters.

HMI screens can be displayed on X Terminals, PCs running X emulation, with other or REAL/IX PX systems. Alarms and events are recorded in separate log files, event files, log sign-on/sign-off, set point changes, alarm limit changes, or graphical display program error conditions for troubleshooting purposes. C callable subroutine libraries are available for custom applications. ScadaBase has 999 levels of security assignable on a per-point or per-screen basis.

Intuitive software tools that are provided verify the integrity of the RTDB and for import/export.

ScadaBase offers on-line reconfiguration. At startup, the configuration files are copied into memory. The user makes changes only to the disk file and then specifies when to rebuild memory resident tables. A backup copy of the configuration files can be kept and the old configuration can be retrieved if the user decides not to utilize the new one.

ScadaBase offers peer-to-peer communications allowing several systems to control separate areas of a process, yet share common variables across a network as if they were local.

A report writer, batch recipe handler, and math logic modules are also available.

A time or event driven historian is available with multiple compression algorithms and multiple history files. Historical data can be extracted into flat files or comma delimited files for input into Excel® and other data analysis spreadsheet programs.

The RTDB supports several I/O data types including floating-point, integer, text strings, and discrete single or double-bit process variables. Multiple data quality flags are available for process variables.

Configurable deadbands are included for each process variable; only significant changes trigger system events.

ScadaBase offers exception-based communication support for low speed dial-up lines, LANs and WANs allowing remote process viewing and troubleshooting from remote locations.

ScadaBase includes a demonstration database and sample screens that can be reconfigured for specific applications.

Input devices such as mouse, trackball, touch screen, and keyboard are available.

Description
ScadaBase is a graphically enhanced, menu-driven, scalable, user configurable suite of software modules for SCADA applications. ScadaBase collects information from sources external to the computer and reads and processes the acquired information. Its I/O subsystem acquires process data from local process controllers and remote-telemetry systems via simple RS-232 links, radio modems, dedicated coprocessor boards, networks, etc.

External data are scanned on a periodic basis, polled on a demand basis, or received on an exception basis. Scanned data can be acquired at a different scan frequency for each point as defined in the RTDB.

ScadaBase can time-stamp input samples with accuracy up to one millisecond. It can also handle after-the-fact processing of high-speed data acquisitions, as well as data uploaded from RTUs with time stamps.

ScadaBase allows concurrent support of different devices ranging from PLCs, RTUs, loop controllers, or plug-in boards. Interfaces are available for programmable controllers, RTUs, and other instrumentation. Custom written I/O interface modules can be created using the I/O toolkit.

External information acquired by ScadaBase may be validated, filtered, converted, processed, and alarm-checked according to the criteria selected for each data point. Data, which are received from intelligent devices, may require no further processing and is simply stored into the RTDB.

The system can monitor I/O devices, process alarms, generate reports, build and display real-time and historical trend data, and perform math and logic based processing functions. ScadaBase supports application specific programs, which use the RTDB and information processing functions. Multiple users may work in this multitasking environment concurrently and exchange data with external software products such as spreadsheets, relational databases, and statistical quality control programs.

Information is collected and processed according to table definitions with results stored in its RTDB and sent to the appropriate devices or other computer systems. ScadaBase allows quick and easy configuration of the RTDB, graphic displays, reports, math and logic, and access to user defined applications.

ScadaBase is packaged and configured to customer requirements with distributed modular software and network flexibility in a single or multiple CPU operating environment. ScadaBase allows various capacity and configuration functionality for application scalability. ScadaBase capacity can be expanded in stages.

Runtime Subsystem and Supervisory Control
The Runtime Subsystem is the processing core of ScadaBase which includes software modules for process variables such as analog and digital inputs, message inputs/outputs, alarms, control outputs, report-by-exception, clock-timers, and system performance monitor functions. Runtime macros and processing functions can provide custom operations within ScadaBase.

The ScadaBase Runtime Subsystem processes information according to parameters, which are defined in the RTDB. The ScadaBase RTDB is defined by simply filling in parameters on several data entry forms. For example, to define a digital input point, it is necessary to define the tag name of the point, a textual point description and the associated processing parameters for the point. Once defined, the point is automatically processed according to instructions in tables describing the point.

A process variable represents continuous input signals, calculated data, or other information represented as an integer or floating-point number. Process variables are typically used to process and store analog inputs, floating point inputs, pulsed counter-accumulators, calculated data, and control loop parameters. Available variable-processing functions include:

• Preprocessing Operation
• Engineering Units Conversion (Linear, Square Root...)
• Startup Value
• Filter Factor
• Intermediate Operation

Upon availability of input data, a preprocessing operation is initiated as specified in the process variable definition. Preprocessing operations can be calculations, RTD linearization, thermocouple conversions and so forth. Afterwards, an optional conversion to engineering units takes place followed by an optional intermediate operation before alarm limit checking is performed.

A filtered value is also computed as an average. The current and last values are retained for the current and previous processing cycles.

Alarm checks are applied to the current engineering unit's value. There are three high and three lower alarm limits, each of which can trigger operations in response to alarms or returns from alarm.

• Three High and Three Low Alarm Limits
• Delta, Rate-of-change Alarm
• Alarm Deadband
• Alarm and Return Operations
• Alarm Inhibits

A delta alarm limit detects variances that exceed a specified change rate. An alarm deadband provides alarm filtering to reduce false alarm triggering. An alarm may be optionally inhibited to stop alarm processing and prevent nuisance alarms.

• Setpoint Operation
• Post-processing Operation

Upon completion of alarm processing, a setpoint operation may be activated before control calculations. Finally, a postprocessing operation is available for final processing.

The flexible design of ScadaBase data processing, by combining process variables with miscellaneous variables and digital variables, allows ScadaBase configurations for virtually any type of measured and/or calculated data processing scheme.

Supervisory control strategies are manual or automatic. Digital outputs are commanded by selecting control points on graphic displays or automatically via processing functions. Operator selection, control loop equation output values, or time-scheduled events, initiate analog outputs, floating-point outputs, and pulse outputs. Output control options such as output range clamps and data conversion is supported.

The system administrator can require security access permission and password entry in order for operators to activate supervisory control strategies. Control events can be optionally logged for audit trail with date/time, user name, point tag, point description and parameters detailing the processing function taken.

Real-time Database
The RTDB is the central data repository for the ScadaBase Runtime Subsystem and is configured with the number of I/O points that the database may contain. I/O points are referred to as tags, which include process variables, output blocks, message inputs, message outputs, digital inputs and digital outputs.

ScadaBase database points are defined using simple, fill-in-the-blank forms. The RTDB can be sent to a printer or disk file for reference and archival purposes. Since processing is event-driven according to parameters supplied during system configuration, most ScadaBase SCADA solutions can be implemented without significant programming.

The RTDB forms the heart of the event-driven ScadaBase system and directs the acquisition and processing of all information. The RTDB determines how often data points are to be acquired and processed, how to convert raw analog values into engineering units, as well as how alarm limits and other processing tasks are handled.

ScadaBase is an "event-driven", database-oriented system. The processing functions of ScadaBase are defined by the user or engineer on-line via tunable parameters which may be altered or updated while the system is in operation. This table-driven approach means that the addition of new data points and changes to operating and processing parameters do not require reprogramming. Only simple fill-in-the-blank operations are required to configure the RTDB. In addition, the RTDB may be exported in part or in full to external programs such as spreadsheets and relational databases to aid in the configuration and management of the ScadaBase RTDB.

I/O Variables Data Types

• Digital Input (DI) - 1 byte (8 bit) unsigned character:
  * Single Bit Digital Input (DI) - 1 bit
  * Dual Bit Digital Input (DI2) - 2 bit
• Digital Output (DO) - 1 byte (8 bit) unsigned character
  * Single Bit Digital Output (DO) - 1 bit
• Message Input (MI) - 64+1 characters
  * String Input (SI) - up to 64 character alphanumeric text
• Message Output (MO) - 64+1 characters
  * String Output (SO) - up to 64 character alphanumeric text
• Output Block (OB) - 4 byte (32 bit) IEEE float:
  * Analog Output (AO) - 2 byte (16 bit) signed integer
  * Floating Point Output (FO) - 4 byte (32 bit) IEEE float
  * Pulse Output (PO) - 4 byte (32 bit) signed integer
  * Byte Output (BO) - 1 byte (8 bit) unsigned Integer
  * Variable Output (VO) - up to 4 byte (32 bit) integer
• Process Variable (PV) - 4 byte (32 bit) IEEE float:
  * Analog Input (AI) - 2 byte (16 bit) signed integer
  * Floating Point Input (FI) - 4 byte (32 bit) IEEE float
  * Pulse Input (PI) - 4 byte (32 bit) signed integer
  * Byte Input (BI) - 1 byte (8 bit) unsigned integer
  *Variable Input (VI) - up to 4 byte (32 bit) integer

System Maintenance Data Types

• State Variable (SV) - General purpose 10-state variables processed on analysis of up to 8 DIs
• Group Specification (GS) - General purpose lists of ScadaBase data types specified by data type and member
• Miscellaneous Variable (MV) - 4 byte (32 bit) IEEE float: General purpose non-processed numeric variables
• Miscellaneous String Variable (MS) - 64+1 Char: General purpose non-processed string variables, 64 characters maximum
• Miscellaneous Digital Variable (MD) - 32 bits unsigned long: General purpose non-processed digital variables
• Communication Channel (CC) - Input/Output Device Driver (IODD) configuration data
• I/O Block (IOB) - Input/Output mapping between the IODD and the ScadaBase Runtime Subsystem

System Administration Data Types

• Historical Specification (HS) - Historical processing instructions for PVs, DIs, MIs, and SVs
• Timed Task (TT) - Scheduling instructions of reports, data logs, calculations, data processing operations, messages and external programs
• Plot Window (PW) - Display instructions for real-time and historical trend plots
• Group Profile (GP) - Security instructions for groups or classes of users
• Account Profile (UP) - Security instructions for individual users

Alarm Subsystem
The ScadaBase alarm subsystem generates alarms when an input point or a state variable is processed and found to be in an alarm condition. Input points are process variables, digital inputs, or message inputs. Fields in the Real-time Database record for each point specify alarm conditions.

Points with enabled message generation flags are processed when found to have an alarm condition. This results in an alarm-event message to be generated and sent to the message subsystem for entry into the message database. The alarm subsystem is also notified for management of the internally managed alarm queue. The alarm queue is a list of all alarms in the system.

A client to the message event server is available to receive all alarm-event messages as they occur, process those messages, filter those messages, and route those messages to a file or device.

The programmer's toolkit allows custom applications that monitor the alarm queue. The ScadaBase console client monitors the contents of the alarm list and presents the user the contents of the alarm queue in the form of alarm windows. Alarm windows present the user with a visual indication of a change in the alarm queue. Many configuration options are provided, including the ability to monitor the alarm queue by alarm zones as specified by associated group specification lists.

Points in alarm may be acknowledged by operator interaction via the console, alarm-acknowledge command pushbuttons on Real-time Graphic (RTG) screens, or by custom processing actions. Alarm acknowledgment is "global" or "system wide" in scope. The ScadaBase calculation client program is capable of determining the number of points in a designated group specification list that are currently in alarm for processing.

ScadaBase provides a comprehensive set of alarm facilities to implement the alarm strategy required by the end user. These facilities come in the form of pre-engineered (but generally configurable) applications, toolkits, and action interfaces. Very briefly, alarms are provided as data and message events, and as data state information. Whenever a data point is processed that results in an alarm condition, an alarm data event and a separate message event are available. The alarm data state is maintained as part of the Real-time Database and in the alarm queue. Message events are simply alarm messages being written to the Message Database, and messages can be viewed or logged using several different mechanisms.

The ScadaBase zone alarm client toolkit allows responding to alarms with other than ScadaBase default alarm handling. It requires C programming, familiarity with the ScadaBase development environment and the alarm client. The result is an executable that connects to the ScadaBase event handler to receive, process, and respond to alarm events.

Historian Subsystem
The Historian Subsystem includes a historian server and a historian database module for logging of real-time data. The historical database is the central data repository for the ScadaBase historical server and is configured for the number of tags that the database may contain.

The historical server modules are the processing core of historian subsystem and includes the historical data processor, the historical recorder processor, the historical data to ASCII processor, and the backup/ restore/verify tools to manage the historical database files. The historian server includes a plot window for graphically displaying trends of selected real-time and historical I/O points.

The historian subsystem includes comprehensive data management tools for collecting, compressing, maintaining and using historical process information. It supports recording and playback of analog and digital signals via its dynamic trending package. Data and statistics for process variables, message inputs, and digital input database points may be recorded. A user-defined number of named and configurable plot displays may be defined to recall trend data graphically. Each display may contain up to eight data plots. All plot scales, colors, time span, grid, and other plot parameters, are selectable.

The following features are provided:

• Collection of analog and digital data
• Four tunable data compression algorithms:
• Double Delta
• Slope
• Double Delta or Slope
• Double Delta and Slope
• Calculation of statistical data:
• Average
  
• Variance
  
• Minimum
  
• Maximum
  
• Selectable Period and Multiplier
• Online data retrieval for plot of variable versus time
• Plots may be directed to CRT, printer or plotter
• Online data retrieval by user-programs
• Data archiving and retrieval
• Automatic or manual data archive
• Program access using the application access toolkit
• Tracking of downtime for historical accuracy

Runtime Configurator

The Runtime Configurator is a graphically enhanced menu driven software module for system setup, maintenance, and administration. Intuitive in operation, the Runtime Configurator uses popup windows, pull-down menus, buttons, selection lists, and text entry fields. A help pushbutton provides context sensitive information to assist the user with the purpose and function of the current window.

The Runtime Configurator provides system configuration of the RTDB, I/O Subsystem, and the Historical Subsystem. From the Runtime Configurator main menu, the operator can select configuration pulldown menus for:

• Digital Inputs/Outputs
• Message Inputs/Outputs
• Output Blocks
• Process Variables
• State Variables
• Group Specifications
• Miscellaneous Variables
• Communication Channels
• Input/Output Blocks
• Historical Specification
• Timed Tasks
• Plot Windows
• User Groups and Accounts
• Preprocessing, Intermediate, and Post-processing Operations
• Graphical Control Objects
• System Profiler
• Alarm Lists
• Database Utilities

System Security
The ScadaBase system administrator, who defines the security system layout, passwords, user capabilities and restrictions, configures the ScadaBase security system. A default security scheme is automatically installed.

Each user is assigned an account name and is assigned to a particular group such as operator, engineer, manager, and so forth. Every user is assigned an access level from zero to 999 (zero has the highest priority). Each group of users is given permission to perform certain operations. If a user is assigned the capability with restrictions, then a password may be required to perform the operation. Each operation type is assigned an access level within a group. A user must belong to a group with that capability and possess an adequate access level. Each data point is assigned a point access level. A user must possess sufficient access level to perform an operation on a protected point. An optional point password is also available.

The ScadaBase security scheme offers flexibility in the definition of a particular security scheme of a site. Attempts to break the security system, through tampering, result in audit trails to a message file of such activities. Secured functions are logged for audit trails to the daily message file.

Graphic Display Builder

ScadaBase's Graphics Display Builder allows the creation of textual and graphical displays. Graphical displays may contain direct links to dynamic points within the RTDB. In addition to static links to the RTDB, dynamic link pointers may be used to create real-time graphic displays that may display different sets of similar data from the RTDB.

Unlike a paint program, which is simply a sophisticated bitmap editor, the Graphics Display Builder is a graphical object editor. That is, the display is comprised of graphic elements, which can be manipulated individually or as groups. Fields are not graphic objects but rather hooks to run-time programs to modify attributes of the attached graphic object. For example, a graphic object might be a valve symbol. A DI field attached to this valve could change the color of the valve based on its change of state. Similarly, a text label could be attached to a DI and could then display the actual text of the DI state label.

Text fields are used to display ASCII information formatted as integer, float, or textual content. Text fields are also used for input. Users may enter data into fields as text, integer or floating-point values.

Bar graphs can be used to display values graphically. A bar graph is a continuous value "bar" representation ranging from zero to one hundred percent of scale. The engineering units span defines the scale for process variables. Each bar graph is defined to be a particular height and width. At run-time, the bar graph is displayed and dynamically updated using the Process (or Miscellaneous) Variable valve from the RTDB.

Graphic symbols are used to display user-defined graphic objects, or shapes. By using the Graphic Display Builder, the user designs and creates the objects that graphically represent the process. Symbols for motors, pumps, voltage levels, or other graphic elements selected by the system user are modified at program run-time to show motion, such as color or attribute changes to visually indicate a condition. Graphic symbols may be stored in a symbol library as compound objects. This library of shapes allows for the management of different symbols.

The screen designer may create and access multiple symbol files. Symbols retain their field attachments which allows the screen designer to create "user objects" that are complete, including behavior. Symbols may be inserted into a screen in either fixed scale or may be scaled at insertion. The display system recognizes multicolored symbols and symbols per state. Symbols may also include pixmaps.

The Graphic Display Builder includes tools that determine the type of graphic object to draw or a graphic operation to perform. There are tools for drawing circles, ellipses, arcs, splines, closed spleens, lines, polygons, boxes, rounded boxes, and text.

Features are available with the Graphics Display Builder to assist and control the design of screen displays, such as regular and isometric grids, drawing of lines in the horizontal, vertical or diagonal direction, fixed positioning in the X and Y coordinates, and conversion of arcs and ellipses to perfect circles or to force boxes and rounded boxes to be drawn as perfect squares.

Paint options allow the user to restrict the affects of the paint tools on graphic objects within the screen, such as foreground/background colors, fill colors, frame and line styles, and fonts. Graphic objects can further be controlled by an assigned a layer ranging from 0 to 999.

Graphic Display Builder Tools

Graphical Trending Package

The graphical trending package provides trend data collection, retrieval, plotting, and reporting capabilities for plotting real-time or historical data. The graphical trending package readily replaces conventional circular charts. Hardcopies of trend plots are possible to printers and plotters.

Trend data are collected as new Process Variable (PV), Digital Input (DI), and State Variable (SV) information is measured or calculated within ScadaBase. Parameters involved in trending display requests are configurable, such as background and grid color, pen color, line width, line style, marker style; grid on/off, grid color, time span (x-axis), value span (y-axis), etc.

The graphical trending package plots selectable are:

• Strip Chart: plot up to sixteen variables in the vertical direction against time in the horizontal direction.
• XY plot: plot two (2) or more variables against one another.
• Bar Graph: for each X variable data point, the corresponding Y variable per time unit is plotted.
• Histogram: a historical graph of the frequency distribution of a variable, typically used to determine if the shape of the curve is reasonable.
• X Bar and Range: a historical graph showing the average of each sample group plotted against the average of the averages and the range of each sample group plotted against the average of the ranges.
• X Bar and S: a historical graph showing the average of each sample group plotted against the standard deviation with n-1.
• Moving X and Range: a real-time graph showing the individual averages and a range calculated using the difference from the previous point.
• X and Moving Range: a real-time graph showing the individual X values and a range calculated using the difference from the previous point.
• Pareto: a graphical display of an ordered ranking of up to sixteen variables used to determine the variables of most interest.
• c Chart: an attribute chart to plot the number of defects.
• np Chart: an attribute chart to plot number defective parts (0-1.0).
• p Chart: an attribute chart to plot number defective parts (0-1.0).
• u Chart: an attribute chart to plot percentage of defects.

Zoom Operation
The zoom facility allows the operator to do zooms of data and/or time values. Zooms are recursive, and the operator can zoom down to approximately one second. In so doing, the operator establishes a zoom list that can be traversed without reselecting the zoom areas.

Input/Output Interface Modules and Toolkit
I/O interface modules provide the mechanism for connecting ScadaBase to other computer systems and devices such as PLCs, RTUs, IEDs, and other process instrumentation. The I/O programming toolkit allows rapid implementation of I/O device interface modules by providing a template and a suggested functional design to simplify the development of a protocol handler and interface. The toolkit is written in the C programming language, consistent with the standards of the Information Processing Systems - Open Systems Interconnection - Basic Reference Model (ISO 7498) and Transport Layer-Connection oriented transport protocol (ISO 8073). Interface modules that follow this structure can be easily ported to other communication topologies. The ScadaBase I/O subsystem is structured to provide a generic interface to the I/O device dependent code and the data needed to communicate with the outboard physical device. The toolkit's interface program structure is a multi-threaded, serially-scheduled event processor that detects, schedules and processes input/output events.

The current list of I/O interface modules available for ScadaBase include:

• Allen Bradley PI, PLC 2, 3, 5 - serial
• Allen Bradley PLC 2, 3, 5 - KT card
• Allen Bradley SLC500 - TCP/IP and serial
• Modbus® Modicon® 584/984/Daniel - serial and Ethernet(TM)
• Modbus Plus® Modicon 984 Series PLCs
• OPTO 22 Opto Mux - serial
• Digitronics SixNet - 60-IBM/N
• Square D SY/MAX PLC
• General Electric Series/ 6 PLC - serial
• Siemens Simatic® S5 PLC 3964 - serial
• Siemens Simatic PLC H1 - CP1412
• Texas Instruments PLC - TIWAY
• MODACS/X®
• REAL/MAX®

Redundant System Architectures
ScadaBase includes modules to support unique customer required system configurations. Using an Ethernet TCP/IP network, ScadaBase can be configured for peer-to-peer communications or backup system configurations. Redundant ScadaBase SCADA systems are available for the implementation of hot standby, allowing one ScadaBase system to mirror the operation of another ScadaBase system and take control when meeting predefined criteria.

In a redundant (primary/secondary) ScadaBase system configuration, the primary system receives live data from the field, performs RTDB processing, and supports the complete range of user interaction with the system.

The secondary system runs parallel to the primary system. All live data from the primary system are submitted to the secondary system for processing, and the secondary system generates all the same messages, alarms, and historical data as the primary system. The secondary system does not permit user interaction, which could cause its RTDB to diverge from the primary system. The secondary system can be thought of as a "read only" system. Operators can view the system configuration and navigate screens, but cannot queue outputs, perform manual entries, issue demand scan commands, initiate processing, etc. The secondary system monitors the primary system; if the criteria for failover are met, the secondary system takes control.

Hierarchical ScadaBase System Architectures
For larger SCADA system requirements, ScadaBase provides software modules that allow hierarchical system configurations. Input/Output data from one ScadaBase system are accessed by an independent ScadaBase system as if it were a typical field device such as a PLC or RTU. This peer-to-peer capability operates as an I/O device driver between the independent ScadaBase systems. Registered data are exchanged on a "change-of-state" basis providing true unsolicited, report by exception operation.

Unique Input/Output Processing Architectures
For specialized or unique processing requirements, ScadaBase provides software modules to support offloading input/output processing. In ScadaBase system configurations with a large number of drivers running high I/O data acquisition rates, system loading from the I/O modules can be moved to another platform to ease the load on the primary system. All ScadaBase I/O interface modules can be operated either locally or on a remote computer with this load balancing capability.

External System Access and Integration
ScadaBase provides software modules for management of information access by relational databases. This capability provides an on-change gateway between a ScadaBase system and a relational database. These software modules allow popular relational databases to access on-change data from the ScadaBase RTDB. External database applications can also send data to the ScadaBase system.

Other ScadaBase software modules are available to provide a connection to a ScadaBase system from a separate Windows system to any DDE compatible application such as Excel and other popular applications. The DDE application is able to access data on change from the ScadaBase system. The DDE application can also send data to the ScadaBase system.

ScadaBase also provides easy access to information within the system database. Information is accessible in the form of ASCII or binary data, calls to user specified processing functions (Math and Logic functions), and programs written in the C and FORTRAN languages.

ScadaBase Capacities and Performance

Technical support
Technical support is provided by "process aware" engineers, not just programmers. Application support is available for on or off site training, pre-loaded and pre-configured systems, custom drivers development, and real-time graphical screen design. Full support service contracts and upgrade-only contracts are available. Internet support is available for downloading problems, and uploading fixes. Technical support includes 24-hour emergency access.