OPC UA Server

The OPC Unified Architecture (UA) server I/O interface allows connecting with other OPC UA supporting devices to monitor and control configured data points of different types. Using a standard network interface card, this protocol can be easily and rapidly integrated into any simulation model.

With the proper user configuration, a driver is initialized on the target simulator at the start of the simulation and waits for a connection to begin data transmission.

OPC UA is an independent service-oriented communication protocol platform developed by the OPC Foundation and integrates all the functionalities of the individual OPC Classic specifications into one extensible framework. The protocol is client/server-based and relies on TCP/IP over Ethernet.

To connect with the server, the OPC UA client must know the IP address of the simulation target, and the TCP port on which the OPC UA server has been configured by the user. After the connection, the client automatically retrieves the information on the data points available from the server.

By adding an OPC UA server to the simulation, the user can connect to and communicate with an OPC UA client.

Some considerations:

The OPC UA server runs asynchronously on the target simulator.
No specific hardware is required but if the user needs to connect a very high number of points, it is recommended to use a dedicated network interface.
An OPC UA client software is required to communicate with the driver. The user must use his own OPC UA client to connect with the server running on the simulation target.
The user can download a free UA client from the Unified Automation UaExpert website.
The OPC UA driver also offers the possibility of providing the server with an external timestamp, as opposed to the server receiving its timestamp directly from the system it is running on. For example, the user can connect a GPS synchronized Oregano syn1588 card. This card will timestamp the server according to the epoch time it received through GPS.

Communications protocols can be configured in the I/O Interface Configuration tool that can be opened from HYPERSIM Ribbon Options.

For more information on the general use of the I/O Interface Configuration, see also I/O Interfaces.