Lab.gruppen PLM 20K44 - Manual (Page 199)

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Lake Controller Operation Manual Rev 1.5.4
Communication and Synchronization
16. Communication and Synchronization
The Lake Controller and Lake devices communicate via an Ethernet network. All updates made using the
Controller are transmitted in real time to the network of devices. Both the Controller and the devices store
all required information, which results in two copies of the data for each Module:
▸ A copy stored in the Lake Controller software
▸ A copy stored in the Lake device hardware (aka Processor)
This data redundancy ensures an extremely high level of confidence in communicating over an Ethernet
network that can be subjected to other network traffic, as well as interference or lost data packets due to a
noisy transport such as wireless Ethernet configurations.
If there is ever a discrepancy found between these two data records, the Controller immediately notifies the
user that the two data records are out of sync, and provides a choice to either continue using the settings
on the device (aka Processor) or to use the settings in the Controller software. Discrepancies are typically
caused by making adjustments via the device front-panel interface while the Controller is offline.
This chapter provides useful terminology definitions and reference information for dealing with communica-
tion and synchronization issues.
16.1 Offline Modules
A Module that cannot be found on the network is referred to as OFFLINE. This can occur for the following
reasons:
▸ The device is turned off.
▸ The device is not connected to the network.
▸ The wireless transmitter is out of range or turned off.
▸ Network cabling or hardware is faulty.
Virtual Frames always show offline because they have not been assigned to a device, and therefore exist
only in the computer’s data record.
16.2 Communication/Network Errors
The Lake Controller displays communication or network problems highlighted in red at the bottom right of
the screen: