appendix – rc4500 gui graphical user interface for rc4500 ... · 2.0 interface . 2.1 physical...

RC4500 Antenna Controller Graphic User Interface

11 November 2014 GUI-1

APPENDIX – RC4500 GUI Graphical User Interface for

RC4500 Antenna Control Unit 1.0 INTRODUCTION This appendix describes the functionality provided by the graphical user interface (GUI) for the RC4500 Antenna Control Unit (ACU). 1.1 Theory of Operation The GUI allows control of the RC4500 ACU via a web browser. An integrated HTTP server internally communicates with the RC4500 boardset. The server allows monitoring and control of the ACU operation using a graphical web-based user interface. The integrated IP also allows the RC4000 remote control protocol to be used by encapsulating regular serial messages within UDP datagrams. NOTE: The RC4500 ACU is derived from the RC4000 mobile ACU. Many parts of the GUI are shared with the RC4000 therefore web pages may display “RC4000” vs. “RC4500”. 1.2 Appendix Organization Section 1 of this appendix supplies an overview of the GUI operation. Section 2 describes the interface and configuration required to implement the GUI. Section 3 provides the detailed operation of the GUI. 2.0 INTERFACE 2.1 Physical Interface The user’s PC or other web-enabled device connects to the ACU via an Ethernet ( example: RJ-45) Receptacle. Refer to your Enclosure Specific Appendix for definition of this connector. 2.2 Network Settings In order to communicate properly, a web-enabled device and the ACU must be properly configured to exist in the same subnet. What IP addresses exist within a given subnet and how to configure a particular ACU is an installation specific detail determined by the network’s administrator. The RC4500 ACU is factory configured to a default IP address of 192.168.1.1 and a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0. Restoring this default configuration will be addressed in your Enclosure Specific Appendix. Modifying of the ACU’s IP addressing is described in the TCP/IP Settings (section 3.1.3) of this appendix.



3.0 DETAILED OPERATION Description of the GUI’s operation is divided into two sections. Section 3.1 (Configuration Pages) describes the web pages available for doing maintenance tasks such as changing the ACU’s IP address and updating firmware. Section 3.2 (Remote Front Panel Pages) describes a web page interface that provides control by mimicking a “virtual” front panel of the ACU. Section 3.3 (Remote Control Command Encapsulation) describes how RC4500 remote commands may be encapsulated within UDP datagrams. 3.1 Configuration Pages

The configuration interface can be reached by adding “/config” to the end of the IP address of the ACU. For example, with the default IP address the configuration interface can be loaded by entering “192.168.1.1/config” into the address bar of a browser.

This section describes the various screens available through the web-based configuration interface. The main configuration interface panel has several navigation tabs. Clicking on these tabs will switch between the available pages. Any changes made to the current page must be saved by clicking the Save button before switching to a different page. The Save button will become enabled anytime a change has been detected. Pages may have several expandable panels. These panels can be expanded and collapsed to show or hide various items. There is no need to save when switching between panels.



3.1.1 System Summary The ACU Firmware version and the User Interface Firmware version is displayed in the following screen.



3.1.2 Satellite Database A listing of the full satellite database is displayed on the Satellite Database panel. Each satellite entry can be expanded individually. The following screen shows an example satellite database list.



The available entries define the attributes that allow the antenna controller to properly locate and/or track the satellite. Detailed descriptions of these entries can be found in the base RC4500 User Manual.



3.1.3 System Settings The default IP Address, Subnet Mask, Gateway and Applet Port are shown in the following screen.

The interface must be reset if a change is made to any of these settings. After the reset is complete, the web browser will reload the page at the new settings. The Applet Port is the port on which the antenna controller will use to communicate with the JAVA Applet performing the remote front panel interface. This port must be open and not in use on the target web-enabled device. NOTE: The remote front panel pages are mechanized as a Java Applet. If Java is not available on the web-enabled device in use, an error will be displayed when attempting to access these pages.



3.1.4 Advanced The Advanced panel provides options for uploading and downloading firmware and configuration data to the RC4500. 3.1.4.1 Download Configuration Data Clicking on the Start Download button will begin a download of the ACU configuration to a text file.



The configuration data text file will look like the following diagram. The configuration data that can be changed in the text file for upload back into the RC4500 is the value immediately following the “=”. A description of the entry is to the right of the configuration data. For example, on the line that shows: 3.10.0 = 240 ‘ANT_SIZE_ITEM The configuration data is “240”, which describes the Antenna Size as 240cm in diameter.



3.1.4.2 Upload Configuration Data Configuration data that has previously been saved or modified in a text file can be uploaded into the RC4500.



Press the Choose File button, select the appropriate file to be uploaded (.txt file type). The screen should now look like the following diagram. Verify that the text file you have chosen is the same as is shown to the right of the Choose File button.



Press the Start Upload button. The panel will change to show the status of the upload process. Once the upload is complete, press the Done button. You will see that you are directed back to the System Summary panel.



3.1.4.3 ACU Firmware An ACU Firmware hex file can be uploaded.



Press the Choose File button, select the appropriate file to be uploaded (.hex file type). The screen should now look like the following diagram. Verify that the hex file you have chosen is the same as is shown to the right of the Choose File button.




3.1.4.4 User Interface Firmware An User Interface Firmware file can be uploaded.



Press the Choose File button, select the appropriate file to be uploaded (.rfi file type). The screen should now look like the following diagram. Verify that the hex file you have chosen is the same as is shown to the right of the Choose File button.




3.2 Remote Front Panel

The Remote Front Panel pages can be reached by adding “/rcfp” to the end of the IP address of the ACU. For example, with the default IP address the remote front panel interface can be loaded by entering “192.168.1.1/rcfp” into the address bar of a browser.

The Remote Front Panel pages present a virtual front panel of an ACU with a 4x40 character display and a 16-button keypad. Pressing keys on the panel performs the same action as if keys were actually pressed on the ACU’s front panel. The current content of the RC4000 display is periodically reflected. These pages provide access to configuration items and maintenance screens normally not needed for daily operations. The scope of this document does not cover the descriptions of the dozens of ACU modes available via a front panel. Refer to the “RC4500 Users Manual” for detailed descriptions of all ACU modes.

Clicking on the “Configuration” button will send the display to the configuration pages described in section 3.1.



3.3 Remote Control Command Encapsulation This section describes how the RC4000 antenna controller can be controlled remotely over an ethernet connection using the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). UDP is a simple connectionless protocol where datagrams are sent from a host IP and port to a target IP and port. No acknowledgement, retransmission, or timeout is built in. The SA-Bus protocol used by the RC4000 remote system fills these roles, making UDP the natural choice for monitor and control over an ethernet connection. The RC4000 maintains an open IP connection for UDP datagrams on the user-defined Applet Port. By default, this port number is 6767. The packet data of an incoming datagram is relayed directly to the RC4000 internal serial port. The RC4000 response is returned to the host in a similar fashion. The packet structure of a UDP datagram is beyond the scope of this document. For the following examples, a datagram will consist of a packet header and packet data as illustrated below:

UDP Packet Header UDP Packet Data

To send a command to the RC4000, make the packet data equal to the full SA-Bus compliant command including the STX, ETX, and trailing checksum as shown below:

UDP Packet

Header

STX Address Command Code Message Body ETX Checksum

The reply from the RC4000 will be in a similar fashion as shown below:

UDP Packet Header

ACK/NAK Address Command Code Message Body ETX Checksum

If no response is received from the RC4000, the reply datagram will be the ASCII string “TO”, indicating a timeout occurred while waiting for a reply:

UDP Packet Header TO

Research Concepts, Inc. has prepared a demo program written in C#, to assist individuals interested in developing monitor and control software for an antenna controller with the integrated IP option.

appendix – rc4500 gui graphical user interface for rc4500 ... · 2.0 interface . 2.1 physical...

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