Semaphore announces processor with integrated SHDSL for RTU product line

LAKE MARY, USA: Semaphore has added a 32-bit CPU SCADA software module to the T-BOX line of SCADA system RTU products. The new MS-CPU32X is compatible with the T-BOX MS Modular System and integrates two SHDSL high-speed modems.

Based on a 505 MIPS PowerPC processor, the MS-CPU32X uses a Linux core, includes two Ethernet ports, two SHDSL modems, one RS232, and one RS485 port. Integration of Ethernet and SHDSL communications provides for significant cost savings compared to other RTU systems that require as many as three modules to provide similar functionality. The new processor further supports up to 20 serial ports in a T-BOX MS installation.

The significantly higher performance of the MS-CPU32X brings advantages to a broad range of automation applications. In a test run by a U.S.-based systems integrator, the same processor executed a filter backwash application program on a loop time of 8 milliseconds vs. a one-second loop time using the 16-bit CPU, representing an improvement of more than 100 times.

The MS-CPU32X also supports sequence-of-events (SOE) recording with a resolution of one millisecond. Information stored with millisecond resolution can be displayed in tabular and trend chart reports as well as in SCADA screens generated by Semaphore WebForm Studio software. Millisecond resolution is also supported in alarm reports, which a T-BOX MS can send to multiple recipients via e-mail.

T-BOX employs an innovative, decentralized architecture that enables the complete integration of programmable automation, alarm management, data logging, and IP telemetry in a single, rugged package. Simple yet powerful platforms leverage web technologies and push messaging via e-mail, SMS text, and FTP. T-BOX systems are easy to configure and offer dramatically reduced costs versus traditional PLC and SCADA architectures.