Remote Instrument Control Through Internet

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Remote Instrument Control Through Internet

• Gu Feng
• July, 1998

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Content

• Introduction
• Development of RICI using CGI
• Development of RICI using Java
• Conclusion
• Future Work

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Introduction

• Possibility of RICI
• Unified user interface
• Ease of usage
• Interactivity
• Benefit

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Introduction

• System Structure

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Development of RICI using CGI

• CGI is an acronym for the Common Gateway
  Interface, which defines the standard way in
  which external programs should communicate with a
  Web server.
• Typical procedure of controlling a remote
  instrument
• Using any internet browser to connect to the web
  site where the instrument is located.
• The web server will provide a web page, which
  enables users to enter desired instrument
  parameters and submit them to the web server.

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Development of RICI using CGI

• The CGI program on the web server will determine
  whether the entered parameters are acceptable or
  not.
• If the entered parameters are acceptable, the CGI
  program will generate commands and transfer the
  commands to the Lab PC to which the instrument is
  connected and controlled.
• The Lab PC will execute the commands and acquire
  output of the instrument.

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Development of RICI using CGI

• The acquired data will be transferred from the
  Lab PC to the CGI program.
• The CGI program will then translate the acquired
  data to HTML format and send them to the remote
  user.

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Development of RICI using CGI
AD/DA Card GPIB Card, etc.
Virtual Instrument
Software

• What is Virtual Instrument?

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Development of RICI using CGI

• Virtual Instrument - Sine wave signal generator

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Development of RICI using CGI

• Demonstration

• Start page

• Result page

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Development of RICI using Java

• Java
• platform independent
• compile once, run anywhere
• java applet can run on client side
• more flexibility, interactivity and immediacy
• continuous connection between client and server
• more friendly and easy-to-use user interface

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Development of RICI using Java

• Typical procedure of controlling a remote
  instrument
• Using any internet browser to connect to the web
  site where the instrument is located.
• The web browser will automatically download a
  java applet and run it.
• The Java applet will establish a TCP connection
  with the server program running on web server.

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Development of RICI using Java

• The user will enter desired parameters and click
  ltrungt button.
• The java applet will send the parameters to the
  server program.
• The server program will determine whether the
  entered parameters are acceptable or not.
• If the entered parameters are acceptable, the
  server program will generate commands and
  transfer the commands to the Lab PC to which the
  instrument is connected and controlled.

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Development of RICI using Java

• The Lab PC will execute the commands and acquire
  output of the instrument.
• The acquired data will be transferred from the
  Lab PC to the server program.
• The server program will then generate a GIF file
  according to the acquired data and inform the
  java applet that the GIF file is ready.

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Development of RICI using Java

• The Java applet will fetch the GIF file and
  display it on the users screen.
• To get a new result, the user just need to change
  the value of parameters and click ltrungt button.

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Development of RICI using Java
Demonstration - Start page
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Development of RICI using Java
Demonstration - Result page
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Conclusion
Difference between CGI method and Java method
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Conclusion
Difference between CGI method and Java method
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Conclusion
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Future Work

• authentication
• encryption of transmission
• integration with Computer Supported Cooperative
  Work
• potential application in industry