N3uron Links

Introduction to Links

Each N3uron node can connect to other nodes and exchange data using N3uron Links. These connections between N3uron nodes provide the following advantages:

• Real-time: Data flows continuously between nodes, displaying the current value of tags in both the source and destination node. Data is time-stamped at the origin, maintaining time consistency across the entire fleet.
• Secure: All data sent is encrypted using the TLS 1.2 cryptographic protocol to prevent data tampering. N3uron nodes exchange Digital Certificates for instant authentication.
• Reliable: All connections between N3uron nodes include automatic Store&Forward mechanism, meaning that any data which is not delivered due to a communication outage between nodes is saved locally and automatically sent once connection is restored.
• Firewall friendly: No open ports are required at remote facilities.
• Bi-directional: Once the connection is established, it is fully bi-directional, so each node can both send and receive data. This makes links very convenient for sending commands to remote nodes.
• Easy configuration: Tags are only configured in the source node. Destination nodes display the same information as source nodes, without requiring any extra configuration.
• Low bandwidth requirement: All data sent is highly compressed so that links will work correctly on slow and high latency TCP connections, such as 2G and Satellite.

Link configuration

Each link requires two different nodes; the node initiating the connection and the node receiving the connection. Once the connection is established, it is fully bi-directional and data is exchanged between both nodes, independently of which node initiated the connection.

Connections initiated by a node are configured as Outbound connections. A node can initiate connections to many other nodes.

Connections received by a node are configured as Inbound connections. A node can receive connections from many other nodes.

Configuring a Link between two nodes requires three steps:

• Step 1: Provide a unique name among all N3uron nodes to each of the nodes connected.
• Step 2: Configure the Inbound connection for the node receiving the connections. Once Inbound connection is enabled, it will listen to the configured port for incoming connections from other N3uron nodes. The default port for incoming connections is 3001.
• Step 3: Configure the Outbound connection for the node initiating the connection. The name of the Outbound connection must be the same as the name of the node receiving the connection.

See the example of Link configuration chapter for more information on configuring links for node connections.