Redline Telecommunications SA (Pty)Ltd have used the Etherpad Scripter to provide a web based remote
monitoring service for 6 of their Free Space Optic (FSO) Communication Devices for one of their customers in Gaborone, Botswana. FSO's are
transceivers that use laser technology in the infra-red band to create a transparent optical "pipe in the sky", for data transmission.
They can be seen as an alternative to fibre optic cable, typically used between buildings for bandwidths between 1Mbps to 155Mbps. Data types are
typically GSM data, telephone exchange data, or the extension of office networks.
An FSO system comprises 2 units. The "Outdoor Unit" is installed inside the FSO transceiver, usually on top of a building's roof. This
sends out serial information via a fibre optic cable to the "Indoor Unit". The serial information includes FS Optical receive level,
temperature, laser output, power supply voltages, fibre optic power levels, fan status, current consumption and power interruptions. The "Indoor
Unit", fitted with an Etherpad accepts the serial information and delivers it to the Etherpad. This serial data is decoded and displayed via
LEDs on the front face of the Indoor Unit.
The Etherpad is equipped with the optional scripting and data logging features, and using scripting and embedded HTML, the Etherpad allows users
to view all remote parameters via a web browser. There are five web pages, allowing the user to see a view of the FSO transceiver's rear panel,
the front fascia of the Indoor Unit, the Index page, where email and text details are entered, and a debugging view. A GUI page allows normal
and alarm conditions to be indicated via graphical LED's switching on or off. Custom LED's that light up red or green or switch off, were created
- without the use of graphics. The LED status was dependent on the data contained in the incoming serial data. The LED's mimicked the actual LED's
on the equipment.
This application of the EtherPAD scripter allowed Redline to offer their customer an enhanced product, with a better preventative maintenance and
remote diagnostics system. The use of Web based technology allows the customer to do diagnostics over their WAN without installing any additional
software. In addition, the e-mail feature of scripting language is used to send Alarm Messages to a central help desk. This potentially reduces
man hours for service personnel, and changes the perception of the FSO equipment of being "a dumb black box".
The script was written by Redline's own hardware development team, and took approximately three weeks to complete. They had no previous experience
with the SANScript language, but were a able to complete the script with only little technical assistance from SAN People. The intention is to
enhance the script to SNMP enable the FSO.
http://www.redlinesa.com
