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i4connected Knowledgebase 5.6

The Signal Inactivity feature

Abstract

Check out this article and learn more details about the Signal inactivity feature and how to maintain the health of your Signals.

Within the i4connected system, the Signal Inactivity step checks if a signal does not register any new values over a defined period of time and triggers an alarm if this happens. The purpose of this feature is to detect broken devices or various connectivity issues.

The Inactivity feature is defined in the Add/Edit signal panel, in the context of the Advanced settings area.

Insert_inactivity_interval.jpg

The Insert inactivity interval settings

By inserting a Signal inactivity interval, the user defines the minimum interval of time to wait before triggering an alarm, if new values are not registered for that Signal.

Warning

If the Signal's parent Device has its alarms suppressed, no alarms will be triggered when the signal is inactive.

Note

By default, alarms of type "Signal inactivity" have no priority associated. However, if the source Device has a priority set as Overwrite event priority, that priority will be used for all the alarms triggered in the context of that Device, including the 'Signal inactivity" alarms.

The "Signal inactivity" alarm, having the parent device as a source, will be automatically closed if a new value is written for that Signal.

Tip

For a better understanding, let's discuss the following example:

We have set the signal inactivity timer, for a Signal that receives new values every 5 minutes. As long as there are no connectivity issues, the device will continue to push new values. In this case, no alarm will be triggered.

Alarm_not_triggered.jpg

If the connectivity suddenly suffers a timeout, the device will not write a new value. As soon as the signal inactivity timer picks up the information that a null value was received, an alarm will be triggered.

Alarm_triggered.jpg

The alarm will be automatically closed if the connectivity issue is solved and the Signal receives new values.

The "Signal inactivity" alarms can be picked up by the i4messenger component, to enable the delivery of notifications to a list of users belonging to a Response Team, considering custom escalation policies.

Tip

For more details about the i4messenger addon, please visit the dedicated articles here.