During the AX-3.4 development cycle, a GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) cellular modem option card became available for newer JACE controllers. For the “M2M JACE” (202/602-XPR) platform, an onboard GPRS cellular modem option is also available. NiagaraAX development for GPRS support has continued during AX-3.5 and AX-3.6 to provide additional functionality. This document provides software configuration details related to the use of this JACE option.
Starting in AX-3.6 and build 3.5.31 and later, a station’s GprsPlatformService now provides the full configuration interface to the GPRS modem, via its default Gprs Platform Service Plugin view. This view is identical to the “GPRS Modem Configuration” platform view. Thus, you can now configure the GPRS modem
in a JACE controller using either a station connection or a platform connection.
Covered in this document is the necessary JACE platform configuration, as well as information about the SMS (Short Message Service) application and details on the GprsPlatformService. A reference section on the GPRS Modem Configuration view is also included.
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For details about other platform views of a JACE, see the NiagaraAX Platform Guide.
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For GPRS modem option card and antenna mounting instructions, see the GPRS Modem Option Installation Sheets document, which ships with the option card. For details about the operation of the two LEDs on the GPRS modem option card, see GPRS modem LEDs.
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For details on M2M JACE mounting and wiring, including its GPRS modem option and antenna, refer to the Mounting and Wiring document that ships with that JACE. For operation details on its single “GPRS” Status LED, see GPRS modem LEDs.
An appendix provides details specific to using the GPRS modem option with the Wyless Group (Wyless) as the wireless Service Provider. Topics include connectivity options, connecting as a VPN client, and an example IPSec VPN gateway configuration.
Once the GPRS modem option is installed and connects to the service provider, in some scenarios you may no longer be able
to communicate to the JACE via the hardwired Ethernet LAN connection, unless your PC is on the same logical subnet as the
JACE. This is a “dual NIC consequence” that may occur when the “always on PPP” mode of the GPRS modem is enabled. The actual
outcome is dependent on a combination of several factors, and include both the IP configuration of the local network as well
as the IP configuration of the connected service provider’s mobile network (in the case of Wyless, a VPN network). In general,
avoid any “IP address range overlap” between the JACE’s local network
and the service provider’s network.
The following main sections are in this document: