|
THE
RS 232 OPTION FOR NOVA GALAXY-SERIES UPS SYSTEM
COMMUNICATION OPTIONS: UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE, ALL NOVA GALAXY-SERIES UPS SYSTEMS ARE EQUIPPED WITH RELAY CLOSURES AS STANDARD EQUIPMENT. CONNECTION TO THE STANDARD RELAY CLOSURES IS VIA A 9-PIN "D" CONNECTOR, USUALLY LOCATED ON THE REAR PANEL OF THE UPS ENCLOSURE. THESE CLOSURES CAN BE MODIFIED TO WORK WITH OUR OPTIONAL UPS MONITORING SOFTWARE. THIS CONFIGURATION ALLOWS FOR UNI-DIRECTIONAL (UPS TO COMPUTER) COMMUNICATION (THE UPS WILL INFORM THE COMPUTER ONLY WHEN A CHANGE IN STATUS OCCURS). BY COMPARISON, TRUE "INTELLIGENT RS-232" CONFIGURATION (ALSO AVAILABLE OPTIONALLY) ALLOWS FOR BI-DIRECTIONAL (UPS TO COMPUTER AND COMPUTER TO UPS) COMMUNICATION (THE COMPUTER OPERATOR CAN ASK THE UPS CURRENT STATUS AT ANY TIME, EVEN IF THERE HAS BEEN NO CHANGE).
BE ADVISED THAT ON CERTAIN UPS MODELS, THIS "INTELLIGENT RS-232" CONFIGURATION MAY REQUIRE AN ADDITIONAL EXTERNAL DRAWER TO ENCLOSE THE ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS REQUIRED – PLEASE CONSULT THE FACTORY FOR DETAILS.
BASIC INSTRUCTIONS: THE RS 232 OPTION SUPPLIED WITH NOVA GALAXY MODEL UPS SYSTEMS INCORPORATES ALL OF THE PROGRAM FUNCTIONS WITHIN THE RS 232 CONTROLLER CARD SUPPLIED AS PART OF THE POWER SUPPLY.
THE USER MUST ONLY SUPPLY A COMPUTER CAPABLE OF USING ANY SERIAL COMMUNICATION PROGRAM THAT ALLOWS THE COMPUTER TO OPERATE AS A REMOTE TERMINAL. A “HYPERTERMINAL” PROGRAM WILL ALSO DISPLAY THE BINARY OR TEXT OUTPUT STATUS. FEATURES OF THE GALAXY ALARM BOARD UTILIZED INCLUDE:
- Isolated RS-232 Interface
- RS-485 Interface
- Temperature Monitoring
- Event Logging with Date/Time Stamp
- Interface to VFD Display
- Audible Alarm with Silence Button
- Programmable Alarm Thresholds
- Utility Off, UPS Off, Low Battery, Logic Fault, UPS Overload, Over-Temperature Alarms
- 7 LED Alarm Indicators
- Red/Green Status LED
- Battle Short
- Monitor Battery Voltage, Load Current, Utility Voltage, Frequency
- Interface to RUPS Software
- Automatically Report Status Change over RS-232
- Major and Minor Fault Relay Outputs
- Optional IEEE-488 Interface
- Optional Ethernet Interface
Comprehensive Alarm Notification and Status Acquisition via RS232 Protocol
ASCII Protocol
There are several options available for communicating with the UPS over an RS232 bus. The first option allows the user to communicate with the UPS using a computer terminal or a computer running terminal emulation software such as HyperTerminal or ProComm. The Terminal will display text output from the UPS and allow the user to type commands on a keyboard. The user can query the UPS for status and see the response on the screen. The Message Protocol is described in a separate document called ‘ASCII Message Protocol’.
Dedicated UPS Software
UPSilon 2000 is a smart UPS monitoring and controlling software, which continuously monitors the status of the utility AC power, and the UPS battery condition via the RS232 serial port in the UPS. UPSilon will display the status of the UPS (e.g. input & output voltage, line frequency, load, temperature and battery capacity) using a graphical display, which can help the users monitor the quality of power supply. Simultaneously, the users can remotely monitor the UPS via a network and manage the power more effectively. On AC failure or UPS battery low, UPSilon 2000 can send warning messages by auto dialing or by E-mail.
Binary Command Protocol
The next method uses a binary protocol. Commands are sent in Binary Packets. The Command Packets are comprised of 8-bit binary data. Commands and data are sent using a simple packet structure containing a 4-byte message header, optional data bytes and a checksum. The header contains the command id, total length of the message and a header checksum. The data portion contains data and a data checksum.
Binary commands are sent between a computer and the UPS. Binary responses are sent back from the UPS to the computer. Binary messages are very efficient and less prone to errors because of the checksums that are sent as part of the message.
A computer program must be written to use this Protocol. This method is usually used if you want to write your own program to monitor the UPS. The UPS can be queried for status at any time. In addition, the UPS can be programmed to send status when any change occurs. This is done by programming a Status Mask to indicate which change will trigger an auto response. The Message Protocol is described in a separate document called ‘Serial Message Protocol’. Custom programs can be written by Nova Electric to accommodate such unique applications for which no off the shelf programs are available.
Communications Options
Ethernet Protocol
With the explosion of the internet, the Ethernet protocol is fast becoming the method of choice for data communications. This method of communication allows monitoring of the UPS over a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN) such as the Internet.
No special software is needed. The UPS has a built in Web Server. The user simply uses a computer with a Web browser such as Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. The UPS’s ip address is entered into the Web Browser’s address field, and the interactive pages will be loaded into the browser. From here the user can moniter all of the critical UPS parameters such as Battery Voltage and Load Current.
IEEE 488
The IEEE-488 bus was developed to connect and control programmable instruments, and to provide a standard interface for communication between instruments from different sources. Hewlett-Packard originally developed the interfacing technique, and called it HP-IB. The interface quickly gained popularity in the computer industry. Because the interface was so versatile, the IEEE committee renamed it GPIB (General Purpose interface Bus).
The IEEE-488 standard allows up to 15 devices to be interconnected on one bus. Each device is assigned a unique primary address, ranging from 0-30, by setting the address switches on the device. A secondary address may also be specified,ranging from 0-30.
Serial Message Protocol
This document describes the serial message protocol between the NOVA ELECTRIC Power Supply and a computer.
Serial Protocol
The serial interface operates at 9600 baud,8 data bits, 1 stop bit, and no parity.
Message Format
Each message is comprised of a command or response header and optional data. The header has a command or response ID, message length and header checksum. Some messages may have data as well. If data is present, data is appended after the header checksum and its length is dependent on the specific command.
Header format:
[Command ID] [Message length LSB] [Message length MSB] [Command checksum] [Data…Data…Data…] [Data Checksum]
Where:
Command ID – 8 bit unsigned integer
Message Length – 16 bit unsigned integer
Command Checksum – 8 bit unsigned integer
Data – Variable length data
Data Checksum – 8 bit unsigned integer calculated by taking the exclusive-or of each byte
The following table illustrates the byte ordering of the serial message protocol. If a particular command does not have any associating data, then the message length is 4
bytes.
Message Section |
Byte |
Description |
Command Header |
0 |
Command ID |
1 |
Low-byte of message length |
2 |
High byte of message length |
3 |
Checksum of byte 0,1, and 2 |
Data |
4 |
Data Byte 0 |
5 |
Data Byte 1 |
. |
|
. |
|
. |
|
n |
Data Byte n |
n+1 |
Checksum of byte 4 to n |
Commands
Request Status – 20h
Message: 20 04 00 24
Data: None
Message Length: 4 bytes
Data Length: 0 bytes
Remarks: This command requests the status from the UPS.
Response
Message: 20 09 00 29 aa bb cc dd <cs>
Data: aa bb cc dd
Response Length: 9 bytes
Data Length: 4 bytes
Remarks: This is a response to a Request Status command.
Byte 1 (aa)
Bit 0 UTILITY OFF
Bit 1 INV OFF
Bit 2 LOW BATTERY
Bit 3 LOGIC FAULT
Bit 4 UPS OVERLOADED
Bit 5 UPS OVER TEMPERATURE
Bit 6 LOAD ON BYPASS
Bit 7 SUMMARY FAULT
Byte 2 (bb)
Bit 0 BATTLESHORT
Bit 1 RESERVED
Bit 2 RESERVED
Bit 3 RESERVED
Bit 4 RESERVED
Bit 5 RESERVED
Bit 6 RESERVED
Bit 7 RESERVED
Byte 3 – Byte 4 (cc dd)
RESERVED
ASCII Protocol
Terminal Program
A terminal program is an application that will enable a PC to communicate directly with the UPS over the RS-232 bus. If you are using Windows 95/ 98 /98 SE, Windows 2000, Windows ME, or NT4, you can use the Windows HyperTerminal program as it is included as part of the operating system.
Connecting To a Remote Computer Using HyperTerminal
Step 1. Check that the device to be tested is correctly installed, connected to the PC.
Step 2. Load HyperTerminal:
- Click Start > Run
- In the box which appears type in: HYPERTRM
- Click OK.
If you see the error message 'Cannot find HYPERTRM' you will need to install HyperTerminal:
- Click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add / Remove Programs.
- In Add / Remove Programs select Properties and then click the Windows Setup tab.
- Double-click Communications
- Check the box for HyperTerminal
- Click OK, and then OK again to install.
- Note: You may be asked for your Windows installation disk for this procedure.
OR
Click on START, then PROGRAMS, then ACCESSORIES, then COMMUNICATIONS, then HYPERTERMINAL, then HyperTerminal.
Step 3. When HyperTerminal starts you will be presented with a 'Connection Description' dialogue box.
- Type a name and press ‘OK’
Step 4. Select your COM Port:
- Click on the arrow for the 'Connect Using' drop down box.
- Select 'Direct to ComX' (where X is the COMPort you are using to connect the modem. - e.g. COM1, or COM5, etc).
- Click OK.
Step 5. A blank terminal window will open. You should now be communicating directly between the COMPORT and UPS. To confirm this, press the return key twice. If you are communicating, a prompt symbol (‘>’) should appear on the screen. If so, proceed to Step 6.
If a prompt symbol does not appear, then there is a basic communication issue between the PC and the UPS - most likely the COMPORT selected is incorrect - check this and try again.
If problems persist:
- Check Windows Device Manager (where available):
- Check the COM Port is enabled and has no clashes (indicated by a yellow exclamation mark next to it).
- Check the COMPORT is enabled in the system BIOS setup
Step 6. Once a communication session has been established, the UPS will respond to basic commends entered at the keyboard. For a list of available commands, type ‘Help’ and press return.
The following screen should be returned:
Alarm?
Help
Version?
Mask XXX (0 - 255)
Mask?
Enable XXX (0 - 255)
Enable?
EPO ON/OFF
BATTLESHORT ON/OFF
RM?
UPS Commands
- Alarm? This command requests the status from the UPS.
It will return the current Alarm status of the UPS. If an alarm exists on any monitored item, ‘ALARM’ will be displayed next to the item, otherwise ‘OK’ will be displayed.
- Help. This command displays all available commands.
- Version? This command displays the software version running on the system.
- Mask XXX. This command sets the mask for the auto status response.
The mask determines which status bits generate an auto response
from the UPS. A Alarm status response (see Alarm?) is automatically sent on a status change if the mask bit is set for that parameter. There is a corresponding mask bit for each status bit. The value for XXX is 0 to 255, where 0 turns off all status bits and 255 turns all status bits on.
- Mask? This command requests the status mask from the UPS.
- Enable XXX. This command sets which alarm parameters are monitored. If a corresponding alarm bit is not enabled (‘0’), it will not produce an alarm at the front panel leds. The value for XXX is 0 to 255, where 0 disables all alarms and 255 enables all alarms.
- Enable? This command requests the enable byte from the UPS.
- EPO ON/OFF This command cctivates Emergency Power Off (EPO)
- BATTLESHORT ON/OFF This command activates the battleshort function.
- RM? This command returns the Remaining Minutes on the Battery.
Commands
Battleshort – 21h
Message: 21 06 00 27 aa <cs>
Message Length: 6 bytes
Data: aa (0 or 1)
Data Length: 1 byte
Response Length: 9 bytes
Remarks: This command opens or closes the battleshort relay. If the data byte is equal to 0, the battleshort relay is open. If the data byte is equal to 1, the battleshort relay is closed.
Note - Since the data consists of 1 byte, the data checksum (cs)
is equal to the data byte.
Response: NONE
Set Auto Status Mask – 22h
Message: 22 09 00 2B aa bb cc dd <cs>
Data: aa bb cc dd
Message Length: 9 bytes
Data Length: 4 bytes
Remarks: This command sets the mask for the auto status response. The mask determines which status bits generate an auto response from the UPS. A status response (see Request Status – 20h) is sent on a status change if the mask bit is set for that parameter. There is a corresponding mask bit for each status bit. The mask is stored in non-volatile memory. The last value sent is recalled if power to the UPS is cycled.
Response None.
Request Auto Status Mask – 23h
Message: 23 04 00 27
Data: None
Message Length: 4 bytes
Data Length: 0 bytes
Remarks: This command requests the status mask from the UPS.
Response
Message: 23 09 00 2A aa bb cc dd <cs>
Data: aa bb cc dd
Response Length: 9 bytes
Data Length: 4 bytes
Remarks: This is a response to a Request Auto Status Mask command.
The 4 status mask bytes are returned by the UPS.
EPO – 27h
Message: 27 06 00 21 aa <cs>
Message Length: 6 bytes
Data: aa (0 or 1)
Data Length: 1 byte
Response Length: 9 bytes
Remarks: This command activates Emergency Power Off (EPO). This will turn off all output power from the UPS. If the data byte is equal to 0, EPO is deactivated. If the data byte is equal to 1, EPO is activated.
Note - Since the data consists of 1 byte, the data checksum (cs)
is equal to the data byte.
Response: NONE
Version – F0h
Message: F0 04 00 F4
Data: None
Message Length: 4 bytes
Data Length: 0 bytes
Remarks: This command requests the software version from the UPS.
Response
Message: F0 09 00 29 xx xx xx … 00 <cs>
Data: xx xx xx … 00
Response Length: variable
Data Length: variable
Remarks: This is a response to a Request Version command. xx xx … xx xx 00 represents a 0 terminated ascii string of variable length. |
