Industrial Networking - Sixnet Solutions

The Broadcast Routing function duplicates the data from the originating device (in this example: serial) to several other devices at the same time. The duplicated data can be selectively routed to specific addresses or ports using the same or different protocols. In this example, a Gateway 1000 sends the data to several servers using TCP/IP, FTP and UDP.

Broadcast routing is designed for uni-directional systems (for example: stock market trade data). The data can be received from any port and directed to anywhere else using the routing functions available through the Gateway. This flexibility can simplify the design of backup systems by allowing the data to be converted to other protocols and topologies.

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The Data Multiplexing Routing allows the Gateway to consolidate several input data streams into one output data stream. This facility is normally used when combining serial data into one TCP/IP or Frame connection. In this example, a Gateway 1000 is bidirectionally combining three inputs (TCP/IP, SNA/SDLC and bisync) into one Frame Relay connection.

Data Multiplexing Routing is useful when the custom headers are implemented. The Gateway can consolidate several address or data streams into a single output for further processing. The Gateway can convert all of the inbound addresses to a common protocol and emulation to eliminate any required host changes.

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Fall-Back Routing defines how the Gateway (in this example, Gateway 500) will send data to another path when the primary route is unavailable. The criteria used to determine which alternate path is selected are defined through the menus. In this example:

Fallback Options

The Gateway normally uses the heartbeat (IMCP ping) facility of TCP/IP to determine if the other device is available. If the connections were all serial, the Gateway uses the normal protocol level polling responses to determine availability.

When the original connection resumes, the Gateway will reestablish the primary route. Fall-Back routing is often combined with Connection Routing to seamlessly integrate load balancing and integrity for the data.

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Connection Routing sequentially sends the data from one device (in this case, serial) to several other devices. In this example:

The process continues with the Gateway's connection routing providing load balancing by automatically directing the messages to the individual servers (open connections) sequentially. As connection (server) availability changes, this method of routing will automatically adapt by altering the routing table to support only the available connections. When a server becomes available, it is automatically added to the routing list.

In this example, the Gateway is using several different protocols for the connections. Depending on the Gateway, the connections could be through individual ports or addresses on any of the supported protocol or network topologies. This capability provides significant flexibility when integrating the Gateway into a network.

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This example illustrates the use of several different routing functions. In this example, the Gateway will accept three bisync data feeds from a stock exchange and perform the following: