WiFi Relay

WiFi Relay Control

The NexGen WiFi is NCD's second generation WiFi communications module that modernizes connectivity by combining WiFi, Bluetooth, USB, and MQTT Communications into a single module.  The NexGen WiFi module includes firmware that focuses on the most needed features while retaining the flexibility to adapt to just about any application.  Using the integrated web page in Soft AP mode, users have the ability to configure the NexGen WiFi module by enabling and disabling features as needed.

Three Interface Options, ONE Module!

WiFi Communications

The NexGen WiFi module supports TCP communications, essentially converting TCP data to serial data for device control.  Configure network setting such as DHCP or a Static IP address.  Configure the network Port number and serial baud rates for connectivity to the NCD device using the integrated web page while in Soft AP mode.  The Soft AP mode is compatible with web browsers on mobile devices such as Android or IOs devices, as well as laptops and desktop computers with integrated WiFi communications.  Once configuration data is complete, exit the Soft AP mode and use the optional integrated web page to control basic relay control functions via the integrated web page (non-secure) or send data to the WiFi module using some of the optional protocols supported below.

Bluetooth Communications

The NexGen WiFi module also supports Bluetooth connectivity via the Bluetooth Classic protocol.  By implementing the Bluetooth Serial Port Profile, NCD products will appear to your computer as a standard COM port, making it easy to communicate wireless data via Bluetooth between the PC and the device.  Users have the ability to set the Bluetooth discovery name and PIN number via the integrated Web Page using Soft AP mode.

USB Communications

We also built the NexGen WiFi module to include a USB port, which may be used for direct USB communications to the device.  Simply configure the USB Virtual COM Port parameters using the Soft AP mode and the integrated web page.  The NexGen WiFi module will mount as a COM port on your computer, allowing access to the device through serial communications.

WiFi Communication Protocols

MQTT

The NexGen module supports very basic MQTT usage.  It can be configured to connect to an MQTT broker using no auth or basic auth (username/password).  Testing of this functionality was done using beebotte.com.  The NexGen WiFi module implements one subscribe topic and one publish topic.  It listens for control commands over the subscribe topic and sends command responses to the publish topic, which may be user defined using the integrated web page in Soft AP mode.

HTTP

Using WiFi communications, it's also possible to send commands to NCD devices using the HTTP API.  For example, to activate a relay on a NCD device, Simply send the HTTP command to the IP address 192.168.1.10 in any web browser using the following command structure: 192.168.1.10/sendCommand?data:[254,108,1]

Web Socket

Use a Web Socket to send commands to a NCD device.  Users can establish a web socket to the board via ws://{controller IP}/ws.  This web socket expects command bytes to be sent in the form of a JSON array, for example “[254,108,1]” (activate the first relay on a NCD relay board).  Note this array should be sent in TEXT/String format as shown with quotes.  Any data received from the host board will be sent to the web socket in the same format (JSON Array).

Discovery and Diagnostics

UDP Broadcast

The NexGen module broadcasts a UDP packet on ports 55555 and 13000 for network discovery purposes.  This allows discovery of the the NexGen WiFi module in Base Station and may be used for network discovery in your own software applications.

RGB Status LED

The integrated RGB LED displays communications and status information.  Diagnose connectivity status or communication problems with different flashing color patterns to indicate module bootup, wifi connectivity, and configuration modes.

Taralist NTP Time Sync

This option enables Network Time Protocol time syncing of the Taralist Real Time clock.  When enabled, once per day the NexGen module will sync it’s time with time.google.com, then it will update the on board Taralist Real Time clock.  Note that this feature is only valid on Taralist series relay controllers and will only work if WiFi is enabled and internet connectivity is present on the connected WiFi Network.

Compatibility

For use with 2.4GHz WiFi Networks ONLY. This module does NOT support 5GHz WiFi.

PLEASE CONSULT WITH NCD STAFF PRIOR TO RETROFITTING OLDER DEVICES WITH THIS MODULE!

ONLY NEWLY PURCHASED CONTROLLERS ARE COMPATIBLE WITH THIS MODULE!

In general, this WiFi module works with Fusion series controllers regardless of version.  However, this module is NOT COMPATIBLE with older relay boards that you may want to retrofit with WiFi communications.  This module requires more power than older devices are capable of supplying.  This device is fully compatible with any “G2” board revision, such as boards marked with Rev G2A, G2B, G2C, etc.  G2 boards are typically black in color with the exception of Taralist controllers, which are also black in color but NOT equipped with G2 revision markings (and not compatible).  If G2 is not marked on the board revision and you are not using a Fusion series controller, this module is NOT compatible.  Newly purchased controllers will include a power supply upgrade, allowing compatibility.  A service charge to upgrade the power supply on older devices may apply when retrofitting this module.

WiFi Bluetooth USB 3 in 1 Module with MQTT Support

Control NCD devices using standard WiFi TCP/IP communications or use the integrated Bluetooth for simple wireless computer to device interface using a wireless virtual COM port.  Use the USB port for control over a virtual COM port for easy connectivity.  Integrated web server allows control of select NCD relay controllers using a built-in non-secure web page.  This is a low-cost solution that lets you try different solutions with easy setup using a integrated Web Page User Interface for all Configuration settings.  Connect to a MQTT Server over WiFi for remote operation over the internet.

Base Station Software

Base Station Software is used to configure and upload the time schedules to the Time Activared Board.

Integrated Real Time Clock

The Taralist series have an integrated battery backed Real Time Clock with memory that allows users to control relays based on a time schedule.  Use your computer to setup the time schedule and store your schedule into the board.  Once stored, the Taralist does not require a computer, and will control the relay according to a schedule that can be as simple or as complex as your application requires.

Time Schedule Events

Events are scheduled times when a relay or group of relays are turned on or off.  They are defined by the user first by time: Year, Month, Day of Month, Day of week, Hour, Minute, and Second. You have the ability of switching relays on or off at very specific times!  Activate relays only when the day is Monday, activate relays when the day is Monday and the Year is 2020, activate relays when the day is Monday, the year is 2020 at 9:44:21 AM.  They are also defined by how they control the relays, whether they turn a relay or group of relays on or off. You can add up to 1000 Events to the list.

Program Multiple Schedules

Override functions are also supported.  So if the normal schedule activates a light during weekdays, but you don't want the light to come on during holidays, simply program your holiday schedule to prevent the light from activating according to your normal schedule.

Daylight Savings Time is also supported, and is FULLY CUSTOMIZEABLE.  As we all know, DST laws change periodically, but the Taralist series allow you to change the year and date of all DST events (we have programmed the US dates until 2030).

Save You Schedules

Taralist controllers allow you to build and save your time schedule as a file on your computer.  Different schedules can be configured for different times of the year, for instance one for Summer School and one for the full school year.  Upload the schedule you need for that part of the year.  For users with multiple boards saved schedules can also be used to store the time schedule into each controller easily without re configuring.

Defining Time

Using Base Station you can set the time manually or you can sync the time with your PC.  The user can do this by simply clicking the Sync Time with PC Time button or by filling in the Year, Month, Day, Week Day, Hour, Minute, Second parameters and then clicking the Set Time Manually button.

Clock Accuracy - Adjustable Time Compensation

Like most clocks, time drift is a reality and the Taralist controller will drift over time.  The Taralist clock has some special features to help keep the time accurate.  Time compensation functions are included that allow you to automatically adjust the clock forward or back (by up to 15 seconds) each day of the week.  For instance, you may find the Taralist keeps better time if it automatically advances the clock 1 second each day of the week.  Or you may find that you need to subtract 5 seconds from the clock 1 day per week.  Adjustable time compensation will help keep your clock accurate (though it is always a good idea to check on the clock periodically).

If your application requires your relay control to match a computer's time exactly we recommend using a computer controlled Relay and Relay Timer Software.  The software can be installed on a computer or server and match the time exactly.  We recommend this for school bells and shift change applications where matching a time clock is vital.  Select a Wired or Wireless Relay under Relay Control from the top menu to select a board then add the Relay Timer Software at checkout.

Computer Control

The Time Relay series controllers have some amazing abilities when it comes to making decisions on their own based on the events you configure into them, but you can take control of the relays at any time from a computer as long as communications are established between your computer and the Time Relay device.

The interface elements shown at right allow a computer to take over control of any relay and force the relays to a On or Off state.  You may also turn all relays on or off using the all relays on and all relays off buttons.  You can also read the status of relays by clicking the Read Relay 1-8 Status.  The Status of the relay will be shown to the right of the button.  The slider at the top of the screen allows you to select with bank of relays these commands are directed to.  You may attach up to 32 banks or 256 Relays.

Power Loss Backup Buffer

The Midnight Backup Buffer is a special feature developed to help keep track of which relays should be activated in the event power is lost.  Every night at midnight, the current status of all relays is stored in non-volatile memory.  If power is lost, the Taralist will load the status of the relays from memory.  Next, the Taralist will calculate all events from midnight to the current time to determine if any relays need to be activated or deactivated.  Finally, the Taralist will refresh all relays and will be ready for normal operation.

NexGen Module Setup

The NexGen module implements all the same functionality from our previously supplied WiFi, Bluetooth and USB modules but adds additional functionality including a simple web interface for configuration, Bluetooth interface, USB interface, we built in web interface for rudimentary control of select relay products, and MQTT compatibility.  We will now cover the configuration of the module.

Configuring the NexGen module

To configure a new NexGen module make sure it is installed in a Host board(Relay controller or other product) and it’s LED is flashing Blue.  A Blue flashing LED indicates it is in configuration mode.  In this mode the module will appear as a WiFi Access point and should show up as an available WiFi network on your computer called NCD_WiFi.  Connect to the NCD_WiFi network and enter NCDBeast as the password.

Your computer may now automatically pop up a browser window where you can configure the module. If not simply open your web browser and enter 172.217.28.1

You should now see the Configuration Web Interface. We will now cover those options.

WiFi

Here we will cover the WiFi options section of configuration.  These are configuration options for associating the WiFi module with your WiFi network.  Note that the NexGen module will scan for networks on initial power up and these will be displayed.  If you have a hidden network(does not broadcast an SSID) please contact support.

Enabled

This setting configures whether or not the module should attempt to associate with a WiFi Network.

Network

This Setting indicates the SSID of the network the module should associate with on power up.

Password

This Setting indicates the password which should be used to associate with the network configured through the Network setting.

DHCP Enabled

This setting indicates whether the NexGen module should obtain an IP address from a DHCP managed router or if it should use following static IP address settings.  Checked indicates to utilize DHCP(Recommended for most applications).

Default Gateway

This setting indicates the default gateway the module should communicate through(IP of router).  This setting is only applicable if DHCP is not checked.

Subnet Mask:

This setting indicates the subnet mask which should be utilized on the network.  This setting is only applicable if DHCP is not checked.

DNS Primary

This setting indicates the default DNS server to utilize for internet connection to host URLs.  This setting is only applicable if DHCP is not checked.  If DHCP is checked the default DNS server of the network router will be used.

DNS Secondary

This setting indicates the backup DNS server to utilize for internet connection to host URLs.  This setting is only applicable if DHCP is not checked.  If DHCP is checked the backup DNS server of the network router will be used.

Static IP

This setting indicates the Static IP address the NexGen module should utilize once connected to the host network.  This setting is only applicable if DHCP is not checked.

Soft AP

In configuration mode the NexGen module is broadcasts and SSID which devices can connect to.  This Soft AP is configurable.  It is possible to change the broadcast SSID network name, the password for authenticating, and the default web interface which should be displayed to the user upon initial connection.  We will cover those settings here.

Soft AP SSID

The SSID the NexGen Module should broadcast while in configuration mode.

Soft AP Password

The authentication password required for associating with the NexGen Module’s network.

Default HTML Page

Some devices support captive gateways.  This setting determines the web interface to display to the user through the captive portal upon initial connection.

UDP Broadcast

The NexGen module broadcasts a UDP packet on ports 55555 and 13000 for network discovery purposes.  These settings enable this broadcast, forward the broadcast to link.signalswitch.com and alter the name in the discovery packet.

UDP Broadcast

This setting indicates whether or not the WiFi module should send out a network discovery UDP packet on interval.

Link.SignalSwitch Broadcast

This setting indicates whether or not the WiFi module should send a discovery packet to link.signalswitch.com on interval or not.

UDP Discovery Name

This setting configures the Name field to be send in UDP broadcast packets. This can be used to differentiate multiple devices on the same network.

Serial

The WiFi module technically has two serial interfaces.  One which communicates through the USB port on the module and a second that communicates to the host board.  These settings apply to those ports.  Keep in mind most Host boards manufactured by NCD have a default baud rate of 115200.

Board Baud Rate

Baud rate of the NexGen module’s serial interface connected to the Host board.  Most NCD boards have a default baud rate of 115200.  This setting must match the baud rate of the host board.

USB Baud Rate

The baud rate for WiFi module’s USB connection. Software connected to the board via USB must match this baud rate.

Bluetooth

The NexGen module supports Bluetooth connectivity via the Bluetooth Classic protocol.  It implements the functionality of a Bluetooth Serial Port Profile device(SPP).  It does not implement Bluetooth 4.0 or LE functionality and thus is not compatible with all devices such as iOS.

Bluetooth Enabled

This setting indicates whether or not the NexGen Module should implement bluetooth connectivity.

Bluetooth Discovery Name

This is the name which will appear in Bluetooth device scans.

Bluetooth Pairing Code

Pairing code required for Bluetooth pairing with the device.

TCP

The NexGen module implements the functionality of a TCP server.  In this implementation the module opens a socket which clients(software) can connect too.  These settings configure this TCP Server functionality.

TCP Server Enabled

Whether or not to allow TCP clients to connect.

TCP Listen Port

The port on which to listen and allow for TCP Client connections.

HTTP Control

The NexGen module supports a rudimentary web interface for manually turning relays on and off.  This interface only supports ProXR, ProXR Lite, Fusion, and Taralist relay controllers with 8 or fewer relays.  This interface is available at {device IP address}/Control.

HTTP Control Enabled

Whether or not to display the HTTP control interface.  Select this option if you want to activated the built-in web page to control the relay.  Below select how many relays you have on the board, compatible on boards with up to 8 relays installed.

Number of Relays

This setting determines the number of relay control sets to display on the control interface.  Match this to the number of relays on the board.  This ferature is only compatible with boards with 8 relays or less.

MQTT

The NexGen module supports very basic MQTT usage.  It can be configured to connect to an MQTT broker using no auth or basic auth(username/password).  Testing of this functionality was done using beebotte.com

The module only implements one subscribe topic and one publish topic.  It listens for control commands over the subscribe topic and sends command responses to the publish topic.  Commands should be published to the subscribe topic in a JSON packet.  The JSON packet must contain one key value pair with a key of sendCommand and the value for that pair must be a JSON array of command bytes.  Example: {“sendCommand”:[254,108,1]}.  The WiFi module will publish data received from the host board to the Publish topic.  This Publish payload will contain a JSON packet.  The format of the packet is a single key value pair with the key of data and the value will be an array of bytes.  Example: {“data”:[170,1,85,1]}

MQTT Enabled

Whether or not to implement MQTT functionality and establish connection to an MQTT broker on boot.

HOST

The Host URL for The MQTT broker.

Host Port

The port on which to connect to The MQTT broker.

Client ID

The Client ID to use for The MQTT connection.

Username

The user name to use for basic authentication with The MQTT broker.

Password

The password to use for basic authentication with The MQTT broker.

Subscribe Topic

The Topic to subscribe to for host board control commands

Publish Topic

The Topic which to publish data to when data is received from the Host board.

HTTP API

The NexGen module supports HTTP GET requests for sending commands to the host board.  There are a few different end points for the HTTP Get requests:

/relayCount

- A Get request to this end point will return the number of relays on the board(this is configured under Number of relays setting under HTTP Control. - Example: 192.168.1.10/relayCount

/relayON

- A GET request to this end point will turn the specified relay on. This GET request requires one arg with the key relay and the value of the relay which to control(valid range for relay number is 1-256) - The board should respond to this GET request with an 85. - Example: 192.168.1.10/relayON?relay=1

/relayOFF

- A GET request to this end point will turn the specified relay off. This GET request requires one arg with the key relay and the value of the relay which to control(valid range for relay number is 1-256) - The board should respond to this GET request with an 85. - Example: 192.168.1.10/relayOFF?relay=1

/sendCommand

- A GET request to this end point allows the user to send any command to the board they wish. This GET request requires one arg with the key of data and a value of an array of bytes which to send to the host board. - Once the host board has processed the command this GET request will respond with the data returned from the host board. - Example: 192.168.1.10/sendCommand?data:[254,108,1]

Web Socket

The NexGen module supports web sockets. Users can establish a web socket to the board via ws://{controller IP}/ws

This web socket expects command bytes to be sent in the form of a JSON array, for example “[254,108,1]”. Note this array should be sent in TEXT/String format as shown with quotes.

Any data received from the host board will be sent to the web socket in the same format (JSON Array).

RGB status LED

The NexGen module has an RGB status LED which is used to indicate the current state of the module to the user visually.  Possible statuses are:

Flashing Green

The module is running normally but no connections to it have been established.

Solid Green

The module is running normally and a connection has been established with the board via software.  This will happen when a TCP socket is connected to the board.

Flashing Blue

Module is in configuration mode and should appear as a network in WiFi Scans.

Flashing Yellow<

Module is booting.

Orange Flash

The LED will flash Orange any time data is received over any connection (USB, TCP, Bluetooth, MQTT, etc).

Flashing Red

Indicates the module is unable to connect to the WiFi network.

Taralist

Taralist NTP Sync Enabled

This option enables Network Time Protocol time syncing of the Taralist Real Time clock.  When enabled, once per day the NexGen module will sync it’s time with time.google.com, then it will update the on board Taralist Real Time clock.  Note that this feature is only valid on Taralist series relay controllers and will only work if WiFi is enabled and internet connectivity is present on the connected WiFi Network.

UTC Timezone Offset

This setting determines the timezone for NTP clock syncing.  Set it to your particular timezone’s UTC offset not factoring in DST.  For instance Central Standard Time’s UTC offset is -6, Eastern Standard Time is -5, etc.

Enable Daylight Savings Time

When enabled the controller will offset it’s clock during Daylight savings time.

Viewing the NexGen Module’s NTP time and the on board Taralist Real Time Clock Time.

After Taralist settings have been entered and WiFi settings have been entered and saved to the NexGen module it should connect to your WiFi network and the RGB LED should be flashing green indicating everything is functional.  On a computer on the same network as the controller open a web browser and enter the controller’s IP address followed by /Taralist for example: 192.168.0.2/Taralist.  The returned HTML page will display both the NTP clock time and the on board Taralist real time clock time.  This time is updated nearly once per second.  If everything looks valid go ahead and close the page, Taralist is now fully functional.  Note do not leave this page open as it taxes the processor to update the web page once per second.

Data Sheets & Quick Start Guides

Below are the Data Sheets Quick Start Guides for this board.  These are the guides that will help you communicate and configure this board.