Before we get started, let’s figure out what is RTC(real time clock).

1. What is RTC?

An RTC(real time clock) is built in electronic devices including IoT sensor, IoT router, gateways, RTUs, and computers, servers, etc., and powered by coin battery to manage and maintain the accurate time in the devices’ system even when main power of devices is switched off. It can be either embedded in MCU, or built with independent RTC powered by battery, depends on applications’ needs.

2. How to Set Up RTC time in IoT Router?

Let’s get started!

1) Click the “System” of “View” menu, and we can see the “Local Time” is ‘2022-08-18 16:56:16 Thursday’.

2) Go to “Administrate”, then we can choose the Time zone you want to set on the “System”, for this case, we choose Tokyo’s time zone.

3) Click “rtc” button of “Time Setting”, then click “Save & Apply” button.

4) After configuration is completed, we can see the ‘Local Time’ has been automatically changed to Tokyo time. And It’s ‘2022-08-18 17:57:07 Thursday’ now.

Image source: PCB

The post 4 Steps to Set Up RTC Time on Industrial IoT Router TR321 appeared first on Bivocom.

Example: Below are questions from a customer who wants to upgrade its field RTU data to cloud by using a 4G IoT router.

I have a question to ask for solution:

Client has one device on site which connect 4G pulling data from remote site A, client wants to send the data to another site, site B which we will install Bivocom TR321 at the site. At site B, client wants to connect TR321 with their RTU which is connecting with another modem using fiber optic. In order to transmit the level data from site A to TR321 at site B and connect with the main control network which is fiber optic.

Do you have any suggestion of how to do this?

Site B TR321 will connect with RTU via RS232 or RS485 using serial interface. From site A to site B, which protocol would you suggest? And how can we transmit the data to RTU of customer via TR321

Solutions:

There are 2 work mode on 4g IoT router TR321 via RS232/RS485 serial port to RTU

1. RS232/RS485 transparent transmission

2. TR321/RS485 works as a master to collect data from RTU, and publish it to MQTT broker, then A site can subscrib.

For more info, this article will guide you how to acheive your goal.

1. How to get data from serial port of IoT router?

2. How to set up MQTT on IoT router?

The post How to Transfer the Data from RTU to IoT Router? appeared first on Bivocom.

Note: As different hardware version may require different firmware version, so please contact Bivocom support team([email protected]) before you upgrade the firmware yourself, and check the label to identify the hardware version, otherwise, it may cause the device crash.

1. Go to drop-down menu of “Administrate”, and choose “Router Upgrade”, choose the firmware and upload it, click “flash image”, as below.

2. After firmware upload successfully, click “Backup and Restore”, and choose “Perform reset” to restart the router.

3. After that, you’ve upgraded the firmware successfully.

The post 3 Steps to Upgrade Firmware on IoT Router appeared first on Bivocom.

What You Need?

• Bivocom Router TR321
• TCP/UDP Net Assistant(To simulate a TCP server)
• Bivocom config tool of TD210(to simulate a sensor to generate data)

1.     RS232 or RS485 Cable Wiring

All of Bivocom routes’ serial port are designed with industrial terminal block interface, you can finish the cable wiring as below.

RS232 cable wiring:  Blue—TX, Brown—RX, Black–GND

RS485 cable wiring:  Red–A, Black—B

2.     Configuration on Web GUI page

2.1 Disable online detection

If Bivocom router is dialed up via wired cable, but without SIM card, please disable the online detection before the testing. See as the detail following operation. You can go to next step if you’re using 4G/LTE.

1. Click “Setup”–”Online Detection”, and then select “Disable”
2. Click “Save & Apply” for configuration to take effect.

2.2 Serial communication configuration

RS232 communication configuration

1. Click “Advanced”–”Serial Communication”, select “Enable” of “Enable Serial 232”
2. Type in the relative parameters of baud rate, data bit, stop bit, parity according to your sensors or devices’ parameters.
3. Select the relative protocol from “PURE UDP”, “PURE TCP”, “Self Defined TCP”, “FTCP”, “HTCP”, “HUDP”, “TCP Sever”, “Modbus TCP”, “Modbus RTU”, “HTTP Client”, “MQTT”.
4. Type in other additional parameters on the page once you select some protocols.
5. Click “Save & Apply” for configuration to take effect.

RS485 communication configuration

1. Click “Advanced”–”Serial Communication”, select “Enable” of “Enable Serial 485”
2. Type in the relative parameters of baud rate, data bit, stop bit, parity according to your sensors or devices’ parameters.
3. Select the relative protocol from “PURE UDP”, “PURE TCP”, “Self Defined TCP”, “FTCP”, “HTCP”, “HUDP”, “TCP Sever”, “Modbus TCP”, “Modbus RTU”, “HTTP Client”, “MQTT”.
4. Type in other additional parameters on the page once you select some protocols.
5. Click “Save & Apply” for configuration to take effect.

2.3 Traffic rules configuration

Click “Secure”–”Traffic Rules”, and then go to “Open ports on router”, and type in the relative “Name”, “Protocol”, and “External port”. Then click “Add”, and “Save & Apply” for configuration to take effect.

3.     Debug Testing via Data Software.

Hereby take the debug testing via “TCP/UDP Net Assistant” (can be valued as data server software) as an example.

3.1 TCP server configuration

1) Running ” TCP/UDP Net Assistant”, select “TCP Server” from “Protocol”, type “Local host addr” with 192.168.1.100, type “Local host port” with 10000.

2) Click “Open” to enable a virtual local TCP server.

3.2 Serial communication configuration on Web GUI page

Go to Bivocom local Web GUI page, and enable serial port. Hereby take RS485 as an example.

1. Click “Advanced”–”Serial Communication”, select “Enable” of “Enable Serial 485”.
2. Set Baudrate as “9600”, Databit as “8”, Stopbit as “1”, Parity as “None”, Frame interval as “200ms”
3. Select “PURE TCP” protocol.
4. Set “Server Address” as “192.168.1.100”, “Serial Port” as “10000”.
5. Click “Save & Apply” for configuration to take effect.
6. Then you will find the “Connection Status” will be “CONNECTED”. That means the connection between Bivocom router and virtual local TCP server has been established successfully.

3.3 Verification serial communication

We would like to introduce “Serial Port Debug Tool” here to finish this simulation testing, which will play for a role of kinds of PLC/sensors.

1. Running a local “Serial Port Debug Tool” on your PC, and do following configuration.
2. Select “COM1” or the other one of “Port”. Please ensure “COM1” or any one serial port has been open on your PC side!
3. Set “Baud Rate” as “9600”, Databit as “8”, Stopbit as “1”, Parity as “None”.

• Click “Open Port”

Data communication verify

1. Type” 111” at the “Sending String” area on “Serial Port Debug Tool”.
2. Check if the “Data Receive” area of “TCP/UDP Net Assistant” get “111” string too.
3. Type ” 222” at the “Sending” area on “TCP/UDP Net Assistant”, and click “Sending”.
4. Check if the “Receiving Area” of “Serial Port Debug Tool” get “222” string too.

The post How to Get Serial Data from IoT Router? appeared first on Bivocom.

Most customers remotely configure their 4G IoT router via DMP(device management platform), a WEB portal service platform that allows users to remotely monitor the status of routers, and remotely configure the devices too. While for such service, normally the vendor will charge you license fee for DMP. Frankly speaking, the DMP is really a helpful tool when you have hundreds of routers deployed and want to remote configure or check some parameters of router, but what if you only have 10, or 50pcs routers onsite, but you only need to reboot the routers, or check signal strength of the routers, and upgrade the firmware only, while using SMS to configure and set up your router remotely is also a great idea.

Let’s get started!

1. Reboot your IoT router

• SMS Command: reboot, admin
• Description:

Reboot: the command the reboot your router.

admin: verification password of your router. (you can change this password from router WEB UI)

Note: there is a comma between reboot and admin, when you send the SMS command out, you’ll get a response SMS: Start to reboot

2. Check signal strength of IoT router

• SMS Command: signal
• Response SMS: signal is 26(26 is an example signal strength, it will be related to your region’s cellular network coverage)

3. Setting up L2TP/PPTP VPN

• SMS Command: <vpn_type>, <server_addr>, <username>,<account_password>, <mppe_enabled>, <password>
• Description:

vpn_type: it could be PPTP, or L2TP

server_addr: the VPN server address, it could an IP address or domain name.

username: VPN username

account_password: account password

mppe_enabled: Whether to enable MPPE encryption

password: verify password, default is admin

• Example：”pptp, isodev.picp.net, test, test, 1, admin”

If the configuration is successful, there will return a confirmation message.

4. Upgrade Firmware

• SMS Command:

upgrade, <server_addr>, <port>, <device_id>, <image_name>, <password>

• Description:

upgrade：message header

server_addr：server address where firmware stored, it could be an IP address or domain name

port: port of server address

device_id：device ID of router，8 digit(configured from router WEB UI)

image_name：firmware name

password：verify password, default is admin

• Example:

”upgrade, isodev.picp.net, 30001, 33334444, tr341-1.0.0.18.img, admin”

If the configuration is successful, there will return a confirmation message.

The post How to use SMS to remotely set up your 4G IoT Router? appeared first on Bivocom.

1. What is Port Forward?

Port forward is also called port mapping, virtual server, and NAT. Different brands of IoT routers have different names, but the operation is similar.

For example, there is a server (IP: 192.168.1.100) in the intranet connected to a router with a fixed public network IP to access the Internet, and there are two computers in different places in the external network to access the web platform of the server (let’s say port 80) and other application programs (let’s say port 10000), the topology diagram is as below:

When we configure port forwarding rules, please note the following details:

• The external port does not have to be the same as the internal port, the PC only needs to access the external network IP and external port of the mapped device, and the router can forward the data to the internal port corresponding to the internal network server.

• When the external network is a fixed public network IP, try to avoid using ports 80 and 443 for external ports, because these ports need to be filed before they can be accessed directly.

• Port forward generally requires a relatively fixed public network IP on the side to be mapped, so it is generally suitable for wired networks, local area networks, VPN networks, and private SIM cards with fixed public network IP. If the SIM card doesn’t have a public network IP and cannot penetrate the operator network, there is no direct port mapping.

• Intranet IP device shall config router’s LAN IP as it’s gateway IP address, and the firewall should open its server port.

2. How to Enable Port Forward?

Name: You can name it, or leave it blank, which will be automatically generated.

Protocol: mapping type, which can be TCP, UDP, or both TCP/UDP.

External area: generally based on wan port mapping, if it needs to be based on backup wan, select swan, while if it is based on VPN interface, select VPN.

External port: The external port is the port provided for external network access, and does not have to be the same as the port provided internally. External port can be a ranged from “10000-12000”

Intranet IP: the host IP that provides the service.

Internal Port: The internal port on which the service is provided. internal port can be a ranged from “10000-12000”

3. Examples

Example 1: Map port 80 of 192.168.1.100 to port 8000 of the public network, the configuration is as follows:

Example 2: Map port 10000 of 192.168.1.100 to port 10000 of the public network, the configuration is as follows:

Image source: panumas nikhomkhai

The post How to Enable Port Forward on IoT Router? appeared first on Bivocom.

This blog will tell you how IoT helps to transform the on-grid Solar Power system for residential users. Before this, we need to figure out what is Solar Power system? What are the key components of the system? How solar power system works?

1. What Is Solar Power System?

Solar power system, also called solar PV(photovoltaic) power system, which captures sunlight energy using solar panel to generate DC electricity and convert it into AC electricity by inverter, to power up home appliances, such as fan, TV, lights, electric cars, HVAC or manufacturing facilities, and it has been widely used by individual, or commercial and industrial users.

2. What Are the Key Components of Solar Power System?

• Photovoltaic solar panels: to capture sunlight and generate the electricity
• Inverters: to convert the DC electricity generated by solar panel to AC electricity, before distributed to home appliances.
• Charge controller: also called solar regulator, it’s used to monitor the battery health and avoid overcharged, normally used by off-grid solar system
• Battery: to store the electricity generated by solar panel, which is normally used in off-grid solar system.
• Electric box: normally also called Fusebox, for electricity transfer safety and networked to home appliances which receive power from the solar power system and utility grid.
• Meter: there are one direction PV meter to measure electricity generated, and utility meter to measure electricity consumption. Besides, for bi-directional meter, it can be used for monitoring the electricity generated from solar panel and power consumption either from solar panel or from utility grid.

Image source: VectorStock

3. How Solar Power System Work?

As we can learn from the above diagram, the solar panel captures the sunlight energy to generate DC electricity, which will be converted to AC electricity by inverter to power up our home appliances, and energy meters to measure the electricity generated and consumption.  Whether you need battery for your system, it will depend on your budget and application needs.

There are three types of solar power system, on-grid, off-grid and hybrid solar power system. What are the differences?

On-grid solar power system, also called grid-tied or grid-feed solar power system, which the excess electricity generated by solar panel will be transferred to utility grid, and it can be used as credit when solar power is low or there is bad weather.

Off-grid solar power system, also called stand-alone power system, which requires additional battery to store the electricity to ensure electricity supply even when there is bad weather, as there is not additional electricity supplied by utility grid.

While for hybrid solar power system, it is the combination of on-grid and off-grid solar power system, a grid-connected solar system with battery storage, which will have battery to store the excess electricity generated by solar panel, meanwhile, the excess electricity will be transferred to utility grid as a credit. In addition, when solar power is low, you can get electricity from either battery or utility grid.

4. How IoT Helps to Transform the Solar Power System?

Nowadays, solar power system has been widely by residential, commercial and industrial users for a plethora of reasons. For individual users, not only can they have an independent power supply system, but also can they sell the excess electricity to energy company. While for commercial and industrial users, it will help them to reduce the production cost, besides, they can get tax rebate and incentives from government. However, with the fast deployment and expansion of solar power system, energy companies have faced challenges of managing and measuring the electricity generated by solar panel and consumed by users, and edge devices maintenance, as well as improving their service to users.

Thanks to the IoT and 5G/4G technology, which has helped the energy companies to make the solar generation and service visible, measurable and cost-effective. As they can install IoT edge gateway onsite to bring the edge devices data to cloud via serial port, ethernet ports or WIFI, where they can monitor the electricity generated and consumed, health of edge devices, and this has improved the customer satisfaction of service, operation efficiency, reduce maintenance cost.

Bivocom TR321 in Solar Power System

Today, more and more countries are announcing pledges to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, so we can predict that solar power will play an more important role in global energy then, while with the implement of 5G, the IoT  will continue to transform the solar industry.

Related links:

4G and IoT Technology Empowers Smart EV Charging Stations

Bivocom Partners with Envison to Deliver a Smart Energy Monitor Solution to Singapore

The post How IoT Helps to Transform the Solar Power System? appeared first on Bivocom.

Bivocom TR321 is a compact design IoT Router, supports global 4G LTE, or LTE-M/NB-IoT, and it comes with 1-RS232, 1-RS485 and 2-RJ45 Ethernet ports(10/100MB), that allows IoT developers to connect the serial port and ethernet ports sensors, controllers, PLC to router. In addition, it has rich industrial protocols, such as Modbus RTU/TCP, MQTT, JSON, TCP/UDP, easily help to convert the data format and transfer to remote cloud IoT platform. Besides, it has option of 2.4G WIFI supports captive portal for WIFI advertisement and radius WIFI field router maintenance. What’s more, it supports multiple VPN protocols, includes, PPTP, L2TP, IPsec, GRE, OpenVPN, providing secure VPN tunnel for data transmission.

While as the standard housing of TR321 is IP30 only, that has limited its usage for IoT applications that require waterproof housing, so the aluminum designed IP65 housing will definitely help to withstand dirt, dust, debris and low-pressure water jets.

Bivocom TR321 IoT router has been widely used for IP camera, EV charger, digital signage, automatic meter reading, air compressor remote monitor and control, etc. It’s designed upon OpenWRT Linux OS, providing Python/C/C++ programming for IoT developers and engineers.

TR321 with IP65

The post TR321 IoT Router with IP65 Housing Launched appeared first on Bivocom.

Diagram

Customer connects the field IoT sensors and Modbus power meter via RS485 serial port with Bivocom 4G LTE or LTE CAT M1, NB-IoT Router TR321, capture the Modbus RTU data from power meter, and transfer the data to Envision EnOS^TM cloud IoT platform which supports MQTT protocols. Bivocom TR321 provides secure TLS protocol to facilitate privacy and data security for communications over the Internet. Besides, it supports Modbus RTU to seamless communication with the power meter, and MQTT protocol to fully integrate with Envision EnOS^TM

Industrial IoT Router TR321 Features Hightlights

• Global 4G LTE, LTE-M/NB-IoT compliant
• 1-RS232, 1-RS485, 2-RJ45(10/100M), WIFI(Option)
• OpenWRT based Linux OS, Python/C/C++ programmable
• Wide operating temperature: -35~+75 °C
• Failover between wireless and wired WAN
• Modbus RTU/TCP, MQTT, JSON, TCP/UDP and customized industrial protocols
• Multiple VPN, SNMP, BGP, HTTP, Telnet, SSH, CLI

TR321 for smart power meter

About Bivocom

Bivocom was founded in 2014 by a creative and innovative team has more 10 years IoT experience, aiming to make a better and smarter world. By serving the global partners and customers with industrial cellular modems, routers, gateways, RTUs and IoT platform, Bivocom IoT solutions have been widely used for diverse industries, such as water, gas, oil, power, transportation, smart city, industry 4.0, smart pole, smart grid, digital signage, vending and more.

The post Bivocom Partners with Envison to Deliver a Smart Energy Monitor Solution to Singapore appeared first on Bivocom.

Application and Diagram

Customer is looking for an industrial cellular router or modem to help them collect the data of Schneider power meter EasyLogic PM2230 in Modbus RTU format, and convert it to MQTT, then transfer the data to remote cloud IoT platform, so they remote monitor the power usage and quality. After a long time and harsh environment testing, they finally chose Bivocom TR321 series IoT router.

Bivocom Industrial Cellular Router TR321 Series

TR321 is a compact design entry-level IoT router built for industrial applications, such as vending machines, ATM, Kiosk, IP camera, digital signage, EV charging point, water treatment, solar panel power and more.

TR321 provides high speed 4G LTE or dual mode LTE-M/NB-IoT for applications that require different data throughput. TR321 has 2-RJ45, 1-RS232, 1-RS485, and it is perfect for connecting the ethernet IP and serial port devices to cloud via cellular network. Besides, its auto switchover between wireless and wired WAN, multiple VPN features provide robust and secure connectivity for data transmission.

In addition, TR321 is an OpenWRTbased Linux OS industrial IoT router, which provides C/C++, Python programmable embedded environment for IoT developers and programmers to implement their industrial applications in a flexible and fast way.

Feature Highlights

Global 4G LTE, LTE M/NB IoT compliant
1 RS232, 1 RS485, 2 RJ45(10/100M), WIFI(Option)
OpenWRT based Linux OS, Python/C/C++ programmable
Wide operating temperature: 35~+75 C
Failover between wireless and wired WAN
Modbus RTU/TCP, MQTT, JSON, TCP/UDP and
customized industrial protocols
Multiple VPN, SNMP, BGP, HTTP, Telnet, SSH, CLI

Schneider Power Meter EasyLogic PM2230

EasyLogic PM2230 is power meter that comes with RS485, Modbus RTU protocol, used for power monitoring, power quality analysis.

The post Bivocom TR321 Certified with Schneider EasyLogic PM2230 appeared first on Bivocom.