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• M2M

M2M (machine-to-machine)

The era of machine to machine (M2M) communication has arrived. M2M is ready to cross the tipping point of global customer adoption. Ubiquitous wireless data networks, cheap hardware, and government stimulus investments are creating the foundation for very strong growth. CSWorks can be used as a versatile tool for developing user interfaces for M2M solutions without writing a single line of code on the server side. Just configure CSWorks server components to work with the centralized data source that holds all up-to-date data and create CSWorks-powered client applications that use that data.

Open architecture

Open architecture framework enables users to mix-and-match products from different vendors to develop solutions that are a lot more flexible an efficient than those restricted to a single vendor's product offering. Open standards such as OPC, SQL, WCF (Windows Communication Foundation), SOAP, HTTP protect your automation investment from manufacturers' proprietary technology obsolescence that can come with changes in the technical requirements or finances. Read more about CSWorks architecture in the Architecture Basics section.

The following diagram shows how CSWorks can be integrated with existing M2M infrastructure.

Built to scale

CSWorks is all about scalability. Use web farms and partitioned clusters of CSWorks server components to distribute the load. Install as many telemetry units as possible. Configure as many data sources as you need. Configure as many tags as you want. Run as many clients as you network provider allows.

Powerful development environment

CSWorks integrates with Microsoft Visual Studio design environment. Take advantage of the development tool with a proven track record to create user applications with eye-catching graphics, complex animations and extremely rich functionality. No need to learn yet another scripting language or proprietary object model, just use C# or VB.NET to create CSWorks applications running on Microsoft Silverlight platform. Watch the educational video about creating your first CSWorks application.

Cross-platform and cross-browser thin client

CSWorks-powered client applications run on Windows and Mac platforms using Microsoft Silverlight as runtime engine. Increase ROI, reduce client software maintenance cost by using zero-administration web client. With CSWorks web client, users no longer need to install proprietary software on each operator station. Files and licensing are server-based for trouble-free maintenance and deployment.

Scalable data archiving to secure standard databases

CSWorks saves historical data to industry standard databases, including Microsoft SQL Server, mySQL, Oracle and PostgreSQL. Using such standard corporate databases provides long-term maintenance, reporting and retrieval throughout the retention period.

Live and historical data trends

Data collected from any data source at any remote facility can be quickly and easily visualized in CSWorks Trend panel. Information from different data sources can be merged and viewed on a single chart. Operators can easily export chart data to a spreadsheet file (watch the educational video).

Language support

System integrators and hosted solution providers needing to deploy their products around the world can define multiple languages and engineering unit conversions for their applications. Advanced user components included in the CSWorks setup package like Alarm Summary and Trend Control support various popular languages (see screenshots of our Alarm Summary and Trend Control). Language switching can be implemented in several ways and can be performed during runtime, users just need to refresh their browsers.

General usability

CSWorks provides hassle-free server installation, small memory footprint on the server and on the client side, and transparent server configuration that can be easily replicated for use on different server sites. System administrators use performance counters to track solution performance.

User access management

CSWorks-based solution can be integrated with existing user access management infrastructure. Access to specific screens and features can be restricted on a per-user basis. Server-side security checks prevent unauthenticated users from accessing the system, protecting the solution from sophisticated hacker attacks.