Internet-based distributed measurement and control applications

Abstract

The NIST DMC (distributed measurement-and-control) demonstration project that has been described spans all levels of the DMC system. This multilevel data communication capability is a viable one as a result of standardized networks, protocols, and transducer interfaces. Common Internet-based software technology was used to provide the ease of data migration between the various communication pathways. Standard and de facto software languages such as C and Java were used with off-the-shelf development tools to implement the embedded network node applications and the web-based application, respectively. Internet-based TCP/IP protocols and Ethernet technology were used to design the networking infrastructure. The distributed measurement and control concept with networking sensors and actuators should work quite well with advanced system design, particularly where sensor-based monitoring and control applications are important. Taking this approach in system design can reduce the total life-cycle cost of the system by use of modular sensor system design and commercially available smart transducers with standardized interfaces, and easy maintenance and upgrade via simple plug-and-play sensor and actuator components. In addition, using standardized components and interfaces will certainly reduce interoperability problems.