The first IDX Gateway was successfully commissioned at Bluescope Steel, Wollongong Australia, at the end of February, marking a new milestone for the adoption of the IDX Gateway as a proven legacy StarNET HDLC interface solution.
This particular gateway is configured as a StarNET HDLC device to PROFIBUS device and acts as a single StarNET device which in turn appears as a single PROFIBUS device to exchange data with the Toshiba PROFIBUS controller.
A key customer requirement of a sub-65ms data loop-back turnaround time of 60 16-bit integer values through the gateway was validated through an extensive testing process that began in October 2013. Of course, reliable and predictable operation was also a requirement.
The IDX Gateway is now available in a new DIN-rail mountable embedded platform, shown above, to be able to accommodate standard-length PCI/PCIe industrial data communication interface cards for a variety of protocols.
