FipLabs

FipWatcher Binding

FipWatcher device is a small box suitable for a particular FIP speed. It is available for speeds: 31.25 Kbps, 1 Mbps and 2.5 Mbps.

It is composed of a FIP connector and an USB port. You can install it directly on your computer if you have a direct access to the FIP network to be analyzed.

Otherwise you can install it on a remote machine close to the FIP network and to access to the scanned FIP data via a TCP/IP connection and the FipLabs software.

Local Connection

• Plug the FipWatcher device via USB on your local machine

• If necessary, install dedicated driver from the Device Manager

  NOTE: The drivers are provided in the WorldFipTools 6 package after its installation in the directory:

  C:\Program Files (x86)\Exoligent\WorldFipTools\6.x\drivers\FipWatcher

• In the FipLabs app, please go to the FipWatcher tab → Parameters, and select the FipWatcher Local radio button.

  

• It is now possible to run a scan if the FipWatcher device is connected to an active FIP network. To do this, please go to FipWatcher tab and click the Capture -> Start Capture button.

Remote Connection

• Plug the FipWatcher device via USB on a remote machine

• If necessary, install dedicated driver from the Device Manager (on the remote machine)

  NOTE: The drivers are provided in the WorldFipTools 6 package after its installation in the directory:

  C:\Program Files (x86)\Exoligent\WorldFipTools\6.x\drivers\FipWatcher

• Register the FipWatcher with a correct FipLabs product key. (see FipWatcher Installation)

• Launch the FipWatcher Server utility on the remote machine

  

  • If the FipWatcher device is correctly installed, you could start the scan server by clicking on Start Server button.

  • If the FipWatcher device is connected to an active FIP network, click the Start Fip Scan button to launch the scan.

• In the FipLabs application (installed on your local machine), please go to the FipWatcher → Parameters, and select the FipWatcher Remote radio button. Then fill in the IP address and port number corresponding to those set in the FipWatcher Server utility.

  

• It is now possible to run a scan if the remote FipWatcher device is connected to an active FIP network. To do this, please go to FipWatcher tab and click the Capture -> Start Capture button.

  NOTE: On establishing the remote connection, the FipWatcher Server utility will notify you a new client connection by adding a line in its table.

  

FIP Statistics

Overview

This page contains all the statistical indicators of the FIP network analysis.

Network information, frame counters, error counters and FIP times are displayed in this area.

A donut chart allows you to see easily the FIP macrocycle.

FIP transactions

Note: To Show/Hide a column, right-click on the FIP Transactions table header and select your favorite columns.

• Transaction

  Type of FIP/WorldFIP transaction detected. This column categorizes transactions by type and ID number

• Request

  Request counter for the transaction concerned

• Reply

  Reply counter for the transaction concerned

• No-Reply

  Unanswered request counter for the transaction concerned

• No-Ack

  Unacknowledged request counter for the transaction concerned (significant only for message transaction with the acknowledgment activated)

• Glitches / 2s

  This counter gives the number of corrected glitches in the current frame during the last 2 seconds.

• Max Jitter

  This value indicates the maximum jitter encountered in the current frame. It is based on 1/50th bit for 31.25 Kbps, 1 Mbps, 2.5 Mbps and 5 Mbps bit rates, but 1/10th bit for the 25 Mbps bit rate.

• Transaction Duration

  Transaction Duration in us.
  For request with reply: Time = Request time + turnaround time + Reply time
  For request without reply: Time = Request time + silence time

• Refresh State

  Status of the refresh flag for the transaction concerned
  Note: This column is significant only if a "Design Model" (.labpro file) is loaded in FipDesigner tab.

• No-Refresh

  Number of transaction with the refresh flag lost
  Note: This column is significant only if a "Design Model" (.labpro file) is loaded in FipDesigner tab.

• Last No-Refresh

  Last absolute date with the refresh flag lost
  Note: This column is significant only if a "Design Model" (.labpro file) is loaded in FipDesigner tab.

• Data Changes

  Number of changes in frame value since the start of the acquisition

• Data Length

  Length of useful data for the transaction concerned

• Data Value

  Value of useful data for the transaction concerned

Main Informations

Network Information

• Frame Type

  FIP, WorldFIP

• Speed

  31.25 Kbps, 1 Mbps, 2.5 Mbps

Capturing Time

This part includes the time associated with the analysis:

• Start Time

  Analysis Start Date.

• End Time

  Analysis Stop Date.

• Duration

  Time Capture.

FIP Time

This part includes the FIP network time:

• Microcycle Time

  Total time of the elementary FIP cycle (subpattern of the macrocycle).

• Macrocycle Time

  Total time of the main FIP cycle.

• Silence Time

  Average of all the inter-frame counters of the padding ID.

• Turn Around Time

  Average of all the inter-frame counters of the RP_DAT received.

Error Counters

Scanning Errors

• Acquisition Interruptions

  This counter indicates the acquisition interruptions related to your computer activity. To avoid this problem, do not run CPU-intensive parallel tasks. If the problem persists, contact us !

FIP Errors

• Physical Layer

  This part contains frame detection errors related to the physical layer. These errors represents potentially frames missed by the FipWatcher device. Nevertheless it often indicates a noise on the FIP line.

  • PRE – Frame Preamble (Glitches)

    Frame preamble unknown

  • FSD – Frame Start Delimiter

    Frame start delimiter unknown

• Frame Decoding

  This part contains frame decoding errors.

  • Control

    The first byte of the frame doesn't correspond to a known FIP control byte.

  • Data Size

    The length of the acquired frame doesn't match with the FIP control byte type or with the frame length byte announced.

  • FCS – Frame Check Sequence

    The FCS calculated from the data of acquired frame doesn't match with the read FCS.

Frame Counters

This part displays the frame counters. There is a counter by type of FIP control byte. Let's describe these counters:

• ID_DAT

  Variable transfer request.

• ID_MSG

  Message transfer request.

• ID_RQ1

  Urgent aperiodic list transfer request.

• ID_RQ2

  Normal aperiodic list transfer request.

• RP_DAT

  Variable response.

• RP_DAT_MSG

  Variable response with message request.

• RP_DAT_RQ1

  Variable response with urgent aperiodic request.

• RP_DAT_RQ2

  Variable response with normal aperiodic request.

• RP_DAT_RQ1_MSG

  Variable response with message and urgent aperiodic request.

• RP_DAT_RQ2_MSG

  Variable response with message and normal aperiodic request.

• RP_MSG_ACK even

  Message response with acknowledgment request (reported even).

• RP_MSG_ACK odd

  Message response with acknowledgment request (reported odd).

• RP_MSG_NOACK

  Message response without acknowledgment request.

• RP_ACK+ even

  Positive message acknowledgment (reported even). Message is stored in memory of the destination FIP device.

• RP_ACK+ odd

  Positive message acknowledgment (reported odd). Message is stored in memory of the destination FIP device.

• RP_ACK- even

  Negative message acknowledgment (reported even). Due to lack of available resources in destination FIP device, the message is not stored in its memory.

• RP_ACK- odd

  Negative message acknowledgment (reported odd). Due to lack of available resources in destination FIP device, the message is not stored in its memory.

• RP_RQ1

  Response containing a list of urgent aperiodic requests.

• RP_RQ2

  Response containing a list of normal aperiodic requests.

• RP_FIN

  End of message transaction.

• PADDING

  Padding frames inserted by the bus arbiter. This frame ID may change depending on the network being analyzed. To set its value, go to FipWatcher -> Parameters - Padding.

Transaction Counters

Variable Transactions

• OK (Request + Reply)

  This counter indicates the number of full variable transactions

• With Reply Lost

  This counter indicates the number of instable transactions. It's a hybrid counter; it indicates the number of transactions without response (ID_DAT only) for a transaction that has already been answered (ID_DAT + RP_DAT) during the analysis.

• Without Reply

  This counter indicates the number of transactions that never received a reply during the analysis.

Message Transactions

• OK

  This counter indicates the number of full message transactions.

• Incomplete

  This counter indicates the number of incomplete message transactions.

Network Ratio

Network Flow Gauges

• Macrocycle Load

  Useful frames percent (versus padding frames).

• Variable Rate

  Variable frames rate inside useful traffic. Frames concerned are:

  • ID_DAT
  • RP_DAT
  • RP_DAT_MSG
  • RP_DAT_RQ1
  • RP_DAT_RQ2
  • RP_DAT_RQ1_MSG
  • RP_DAT_RQ2_MSG

• Message Rate

  Message frames rate inside useful traffic. Frames concerned are:

  • ID_MSG
  • RP_MSG_ACK even
  • RP_MSG_ACK odd
  • RP_MSG_NOACK
  • RP_ACK+ even
  • RP_ACK+ odd
  • RP_ACK- even
  • RP_ACK- odd
  • RP_FIN

• Aperiodic List Rate

  Aperiodic lists frames rate inside useful traffic. Frames concerned are:

  • ID_RQ1
  • ID_RQ2
  • RP_RQ1
  • RP_RQ2

• Error Rate

  Erroneous frames percent.

FIP Trace

This page contains all the FIP frames captured by the FipWatcher device. Each FIP frame is dated and presented in a table row.

Here we will define the different values of the table:

• Anchor

  This field is composed of a check-box. The user can check the box only when the FIP capturing is stopped. Moreover all the anchors check-boxes are auto-exclusive (ie one box can be checked at a time). The box checked becomes the reference time to calculate the Relative Date column.

• No.

  This field is the number of the frame since the start of acquisition.

• Relative Date

  The relative date field is calculated using the anchor reference.

• Absolute Date

  The absolute date field is the date of appearance of the frame from the beginning of the acquisition.

• Inter-Frame Delay

  This field is the time (expressed in microseconds) between the end of the previous frame and the beginning of the current frame.

• Frame Delay

  This field is the time (expressed in microseconds) between the start and end of the current frame.

• Control

  This field is the decoding of the FIP control byte.

• Identifier

  This field is the decoding of the FIP identifier word (16-bits).

• PDU

  This field is the decoding of the FIP PDU byte.

• Data Length

  Length of the useful FIP data detected.

• Mnemonic

  Mnemonic Name.

• Data

  Useful FIP data bytes detected.

• Description

  Mnemonic description.

• Type

  Mnemonic data format.

• Bit Range

  Bit range of the mnemonic in the FIP frame.

• Production Status

  This field is a true/false flag that informs whether the frame carries a production status byte. This information must be mentioned by the user via the network model (FipDesigner tab).

  NOTE: The Production Status byte of a variable informs the consumer on the validity of the produced data. It comprised the Meaning Status and the Refresh Status.

• Meaning Status

  If the Production Status has to be interpreted (ie Production Station flag is true), the last useful FIP data byte of the frame will be treated as a production status byte. The Meaning Status set to true means that the variable was written at least once in the user database of the FIP device.

• Refresh Status

  If the Production Status has to be interpreted (ie Production Station flag is true), the last useful FIP data byte of the frame will be treated as a production status byte. The Refresh Status set to true means that the variable was produced in a period called production period. This flag is significant only if Meaning Status is set to true.

• FCS

  This field is the decoding of the frame check sequence word (16-bits).

  NOTE: The Production Status, Meaning Status and Refresh Status fields are significant only if a user network model (FipDesigner tab) is open and matches with the FIP network analyzed.

Macro - Microcycles

During the polling, the FIP macrocycle is automatically calculated and displayed. The order of elements detected is clockwise. Only periodic elements are represented (ie ID_DAT, ID_MSG).

The detection of an ID_DAT with its RP_DAT answer is represented with a blue colored element.

If there is only an ID_DAT detection, the macrocycle element is grayed.

The Cycle Detection widget textually displays the complete macrocycle and its substructures (microcycles).

Station Presence

This page contains all the responses to the FIP presence identifier [ie ID(0x14xx) where 'xx' is the address of the FIP station].

Mnemonics

Mnemonics Statistics

Note: To Show/Hide a column, right-click on the Mnemonics States table header and select your favorite columns.

In the same way as for transactions statistics, you can follow the live mnemonic data here.

• Mnemonic

  Tag name

• ID

  FIP variable identifier attached

• Endianness

  Byte order in the FIP frame

• Description

  Description or unit of the mnemonic value

• Start Bit

  Start bit position of the mnemonic value in the FIP frame

• Stop Bit

  Stop bit position of the mnemonic value in the FIP frame

• Byte Size

  Number of bytes for the value

• Data Type

  Type of data (Ascii, Bool, Float, Hexa, Int8, Int16, Int32, Int64, UInt8, UInt16, UInt32, UInt64)

• Data Changes

  Number of changes in value since the start of the acquisition

• Data Value

  Mnemonic value

Mnemonics Line Charts

This section allows to visualize and to export the evolution of the mnemonic values to different formats: CSV, TSV, JSON.

Parameters

FipWatcher - Location

Local

When you have the option of directly accessing your FIP network from your local PC (ie your FipWatcher box is connected to your machine via the USB cable), select the radio button named "Local".

Remote

When your computer is away from your FIP network, it is possible to set up a remote connection using the "Remote" radio button. For more information, see section FipWatcher - Remote Connection.

FipWatcher - Oscilloscope Trigger

If your FipWatcher is equipped with an oscilloscope outlet, it's possible to generate a trigger signal from the FipLabs application. This signal thus makes it possible to trigger a FIP frame on the type of control and / or identifier that you want. The pulse width after detection can be set using the "Delay" option (in microseconds).

Control

• All Controls

  The filter on the control type is disabled.

• ID_DAT

  Variable transfer request.

• ID_MSG

  Message transfer request.

• ID_RQ1

  Urgent aperiodic list transfer request.

• ID_RQ2

  Normal aperiodic list transfer request.

• RP_DAT

  Variable response.

• RP_DAT_MSG

  Variable response with message request.

• RP_DAT_RQ1

  Variable response with urgent aperiodic request.

• RP_DAT_RQ2

  Variable response with normal aperiodic request.

• RP_DAT_RQ1_MSG

  Variable response with message and urgent aperiodic request.

• RP_DAT_RQ2_MSG

  Variable response with message and normal aperiodic request.

• RP_MSG_ACKe

  Message response with acknowledgment request (reported even).

• RP_MSG_ACKo

  Message response with acknowledgment request (reported odd).

• RP_MSG_NOACK

  Message response without acknowledgment request.

• RP_ACKpe

  Positive message acknowledgment (reported even).

• RP_ACKpo

  Positive message acknowledgment (reported odd).

• RP_ACKme

  Negative message acknowledgment (reported even).

• RP_ACKmo

  Negative message acknowledgment (reported odd).

• RP_RQ1

  Response containing a list of urgent aperiodic requests.

• RP_RQ2

  Response containing a list of normal aperiodic requests.

• RP_FIN

  End of message transaction.

Identifier

Targeted FIP identifier (16-bit).

Delay

Duration of pulse after detection.

• 0

  A FIP bit time.

• 1 to 65 535

  Duration of trigger pulse (in us).

Raw Frames Color

These colors allow you to quickly identify frames according to their FIP control byte type. These colors are used in the FIP Trace section.

Padding / Stuffing

Type

The padding can be set using two options :

• Fixed ID

  The bus arbiter produces a fixed padding frame. In this case, set its value into Identifier field.

• Presence IDs (0x14xx)

  The bus arbiter produces a padding frame dynamically in the FIP identifier range [0x1400; 0x14FF].

Note : It is important to correctly define the stuffing frame for the reconstruction of the macrocycle.

Identifier

FIP identifier (ID_DAT - 16-bit) that is used as the padding frame for the macrocycle.

Auto detect

If the fixed padding set by the user is not detected during the analysis, an algorithm tries to determine the padding frame by itself.

Visible

This option makes it possible to make visible or not the padding frame in the FIP Trace section.

Macrocycle

The Macrocycle frame is an option to detect and display the macrocycle into the Macro - Microcycles section.

Note : In case of macrocycle detection problems, it is recommended to disable this option to avoid GUI slowdowns.

Max Donut Slices

Maximum slices (slices = FIP Identifiers) displayable into the donut chart (Macro - Microcycles section).

Note : If the maximum slices number has been reached, but microcycles have been detected within the macrocycle, the display will be in a degraded mode (then slices = Microcycles). If the number of microcycles is still too large for the display, then the donut chart is hidden.

Sampling Period

This time in milliseconds is a sampling period of the FIP traffic used for macrocycle reconstruction. An algorithm determines the repeated patterns within this sample to extract the microcycles and the general macrocycle.

Trace Backup

The Trace Backup frame is an option that allows you to save the FIP trace catched by the FipWatcher.

File Type

Two types of files are available for backup :

• Visual FIP Tace (*.vtrc)

  This file format is human readable and exportable in a spreadsheet like Excel. This format is directly related to the choice you made in the Visual FIP Trace Depth option frame. Indeed, depending on the depth of analysis chosen, your file will be bigger or smaller and the behavior of the FIP network will not be fully saved.

• Raw FIP Packets (*.praw)

  If you don't want to lose a crumb of your FIP scan, you can use this type of backup. However this format is not directly exportable. In order to make it readable later, you will need to use the File Conversion section to reformat it to * .vtrc format with the depth of analysis of your choice.

Repository

Trace backup folder.

Size Limit

This option is useful if you want to limit the size of your backup file. Once this limit is reached, the analysis will stop.

Time Limit

Similarly, if you want to control the scan time, you can use this option. Once this limit is reached, the analysis will stop.

Time Stamped

This option prefixes the name of the backup file with the date and the time of the start of the scan. This is useful to avoid overwriting old backups !

Visual FIP Trace Depth

No Data Mode

This mode doesn't display data. Only the statistical method of analysis is available. This is the most economical mode for the memory (disk usage + RAM). In this mode FIP Trace section will be empty as well as the possible vtrc backup file.

Raw Frames (All)

This mode displays all frames from the network. This is the most intensive mode for the memory (disk usage + RAM). Be careful though, this mode produces a very large vtrc file on the hard disk in a short time.

Raw Frames (Only on change)

This mode only displays the transactions when its useful data are changing. This mode is quite economical and efficient because it only displays data when an element changes over the FIP network without taking into account the continuous repetition of the FIP cycles.

Labels (Only on change)

This mode displays only the labels (mnemonics) value that changes. Using this mode, you can focus only on the data you are interested in and whose values ​​are converted to be easily readable.

File Conversion - Praw To Vtrc

The File Conversion allows to convert a praw file to a vtrc file. This post-processing tool is useful for exploiting the raw file. It allows to regenerate the vtrc file you want. Be careful though, file conversion can take a long time.

Source File

Raw file source path.

Destination File

Vtrc file destination path.

Depth

Analysis depth selected for conversion.