Configuring Network Connections

RCP8 can be configured to listen on a network port over the socket interface using the AntExport program. AntExport can also run some commands on RCP8.

RCP8 comes with some built-in Vaisala supplied utilities such as Setup, Antenna, and Bitex. See IRIS and RDA Utilities Guide (M211316EN).

AntExport

AntExport is a daemon program that can be configured to run all the time.

When it receives a socket connection request, it establishes a bi-direction connection to RCP8.

The remote client is normally another computer running the Vaisala antenna library. This remote library contains internal state storing current information about the antenna. This state is slaved to RCP8 state.

To check if it is running on your RCP8, type: $ ps -aef | grep AntExport
During development, start it manually from the shell prompt by typing AntExport
For detailed logging, start it with the -v option .
AntExport defaults to port 30745. If you wish to use another port, start it with an option such as -port:12345.
For a list of options, type: -help

AntExport and Antenna Library Source Examples

The source code for AntExport and the antenna library is on the RCP8 release DVD. You can install the code using the upgrade procedure described in IRIS and RDA Software Installation Guide (M211315EN).

AntExport and Antenna Library Source Examples
File	Description
${IRIS_ROOT}utils/antenna	`AntExport` location.
${IRIS_ROOT}libs/antenna	Antenna library, including example code which talks to `AntExport` in file ant_iosubs.c, ant_rcv.c and iant_pwrp.c. Search for the string `SOCKET`.

Socket protocol

The socket interface transmits to the remote system the commands that change state on the local system. These are all in the form of a sync character, followed by a single byte count, followed by an ASCII command.