Standard Control & Monitoring Protocols

Mimomax radios support a number of SCADA protocols such as DNP3, Modbus/TCP and generic Byte-oriented serial SCADA protocols. 

Our radios support SNMP standard and Mimomax-specific MIBs for monitoring and asset control plus LLDP (IEEE 802.1AB) for asset mapping. 

Asset geolocation also enables our radios to automatically acquire their location via the support of serial GPS using protocol NMEA-0183.

DNP3 

Key use: Enable SCADA DNP3 equipment to connect over IP

A highly robust inter-operable communications protocol, DNP3 (Distributed Network Protocol version 3.0) can be used by Mimomax radios for network Control & Monitoring (C&M) purposes.

For customers who prefer to run the Control & Monitoring (C&M) of their entire network solely using the DNP3 protocol, Mimomax enables DNP3 C&M support of the radio itself – ideally suited for radios acting as DNP slaves.  Various DNP3 points can be easily added or removed using Mimomx’s Configuration Control & Monitoring software (CCMS) depending on the user’s needs. 

Additionally, DNP3 supports the generation of system critical unsolicited events (traps).

Generic Serial SCADA Protocols

Key use:  Support of legacy serial devices.

Many legacy systems have supported scenarios where the Master and Slave were serial devices, most commonly connected by a multi drop (hub) connection for polling.  Mimomax radios enable the replacement of the multi drop connection while still maintaining the serial equipment.  In this instance, the communications will be run over IP as opposed to serial.

Modbus/TCP

Key Use:  Support legacy Modbus devices to connect over IP

For customers who want to run an IP capable Modbus SCADA master but who have a large number of serial Modbus legacy devices, Mimomax offers an alternative.  The connection of each legacy serial RTU is enabled via a Mimomax radio running a Modbus gateway application.  This gateway will convert the Modbus protocol between serial and IP.

SNMP 

Key use:  Network health and events monitoring

Mimomax radios can be accessed via SNMPv2c/3 (Simple Network Management Protocol) for network monitoring purposes.

Our SNMP is bandwidth-centric – by implementing a large database of unsolicited events (traps) our radios support a push notification approach which enables the user to reduce polling to a minimum, thereby saving bandwidth.

The radio features are well-documented in vendor-specific, downloadable Management Information Bases (MIBs).

SNMP also offers options for plain connection or secure authentication with DES/AES. 

LLDP

Key use: Management of network resources, mapping of network assets on geographical map.

LLDP is an analogue of the Cisco CDP protocol widely used in Ethernet-enabled devices for neighbor discovery and neighbor information sharing purposes. Mimomax uses LLDP (IEEE 802.1AB) to facilitate network resource management and draw a radio network topology/graph above a geographical map.

LLDP also allows networking tasks to be simplified in a network consisting of equipment from multiple vendors.   

GPS

Key use: Auto-acquisition and mapping of radio location.

If the serial GPS receiver is attached to one of our radio’s serial ports, the radio can auto-acquire its own location coordinates (a.k.a longitude and latitude).

The coordinates persist on the radio even after the antenna is disconnected or following a radio reboot.  In addition, the coordinates can be learned by a remote monitoring software which can then present the location of radio device on a map.

The GPS application offered by Mimomax also alternatively allows the user to enter the radio coordinates manually.