Wonderware offers simplified Chinese version

Irvine, Calif. – Wonderware Corp. , a unit of the Invensys Software Systems division of British-based Invensys plc, December 10 introduced InTouch 7.11 Simplified Chinese version of its FactorySuite human-machine interface (HMI) software.

InTouch 7.11 Simplified Chinese provides Chinese language users with a tool for developing localized views into their manufacturing processes. In addition, it builds upon InTouch 7.1 to provide enhancements for alarm and alarm-logging systems, according to Renee Robinson, InTouch product manager. It incorporates a Distributed Alarm Subsystem that enhances the configuration and handling of alarms while replacing older network communications technology with new TCP/IP functionality.

‘Using the industry standard TCP/IP protocol reduces CPU and network traffic while improving alarm update rates – which should make process visualization applications run faster,’ she added.

The new subsystem includes three modes of alarm acknowledgement:

• Condition-oriented alarms (the new designation for ‘traditional’ alarm handling);

• Event-oriented alarms, which support compatibility with the automation industry’s OPC alarm model; and

• Expanded summary alarms, which support acknowledgement of individual transitions into and out of an alarmed state.

‘With this new release, InTouch introduces the concept of alarm ‘providers’ and alarm ‘consumers,” Ms. Robinson explained. ‘Providers handle determination of alarm conditions and the publishing of alarms to the distributed alarm system, which then pass the alarm status to all devices that need to know. Consumers are client entities that subscribe to and receive the alarm information from the distributed alarm system, and then respond accordingly.

‘A new Alarm Toolkit will also soon be available as an option to InTouch 7.11 Simplified Chinese that will enable custom enhancement of InTouch systems by tailoring alarm providers and consumers to particular applications,’ she said. ‘It will be far easier to interface new hardware devices within automation applications by using a publish-and-subscribe methodology, and alarms will receive up-to-the-millisecond time-stamping using Wonderware’s SuiteLink protocol so that archival data is easier to track and trend.’

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