Limelight XE™ Overview
Overview
Limelight XE™ provides a solution for integrating protocol diverse hardware and data sources by providing a common messaging scheme that unites all the protocols and physical layers into common objects and properties. This architecture allows information flow between different equipment and sources even if they are made by different manufacturers. The server side software runs as a service on Windows 10 (or higher) and Server 2012 (or higher) platforms. Limelight XE™ utilizes both thick clients and an embedded high performance HTTP server to control and communicate with the service. This isolation allows the server to be located close to hardware where bandwidth is highest and consolidate information such as alarms and push that information to centralized stations for management and control. Limelight XE™ also provides scalability through additional plug-in drivers so as new equipment or data sources are added, the server can be expanded to handle the new protocols or physical layers.
Applications
A company may have various metering equipment for recording water, electric and gas consumption in a facility and quite often these meters use both varying protocols and physical layers. Limelight can integrate all these meters into a single "meter" source and connect the results to a SQL database. The "meter" source is now provided by Limelight XE and can be used and integrated into web or application based clients.
Other sample applications may include integrating card access with other subsystems such as IP cameras and door operators or combining data sources provided by other servers. All of these can exist in a single Limelight server as objects. The objects have properties that can be read and updated via web services if the client application is authorized. By providing a common object interface to dissimilar equipment, users can create unique customized solutions without the complexity and cost of a complete custom application.
Features
- Client / Server architecture
- Objects and properties accessible from any client
- Integrated ECMA 6 compliant scripting engine
- Alarm management system that can span multiple operators from multiple locations
- Full procedure system with connectivity to schedules and alarms
- Database support for MySQL and MSSQL (more to come)
- Inter-server communication for large networks
- RESTful web services that support SSL end-to-end encryption for custom interfaces
- Integrated object tracking - things, people, vehicles, aircraft, ships and more...
- Expand functionality through plug-ins and drivers
- and more...
Expanding Functionality
Limelight XE provides mechanisms to expand the engine functionality through plug-ins and drivers. Many of these drivers are provided with all products and there are more on the way. It is also possible to create custom drivers for specific industries, so if you have a need to integrate equipment please contact us. The list below are the standard drivers that ship with all products.
General Drivers
- Access Control Driver - is the master controller of all access control devices for authorization, logging and anti-passback functions.
- Display Manager - coordinates all remote user interfaces and display wall information.
- Signal Generator - provides test patterns for simulation or command center testing.
- Video Driver - provides recording and analytics for virtually any video source including IP cameras, video feeds, local cameras, etc.
Protocol Specific Drivers
- ADSB Receiver Plug-in - supports both Beast Binary (RTL1090) or Expanded GDL90 receiver protocols to track aircraft.
- AIS Receiver Plug-in - supports NMEA-0183 protocol via UDP or TCP and parses all 27 message types.
- FTDI Universal Driver - support for Future Technology Devices International GPIO based hardware.
- HID Global VertX / EDGE plug-in - supports all legacy VertX and EDGE access control products.
- Modbus TCP plug-in - supports Modbus TCP client protocol for industrial automation and control.
- OSMAND Protocol Driver - supports incoming OSM Automated Navigation Directions protocol used by various mobile phone clients.
- SNMP Driver - provides Simple Network Management Protocol access and traps for network management.
- Syslog Driver - an additional driver for monitoring network hardware that uses Syslog protocol.
- Xirgo® Tracker Driver - direct support for XT2400, XT2500, XT4500 and XT4700 vehicle and container trackers.
- X-keys Driver - supports all P.I. Engineering X-keys computer input devices for server-side control.
Interface Builder Tool
Limelight Interface Architect is a drag and drop tool which comes with all levels of Limelight XE™ that can be used to rapidly design and deploy user interfaces and display walls. The tool provides a palette of controls that can be linked with real world sources provided by a Limelight XE server. The basic controls can be expanded by building custom controls from the basic elements and storing them in the palette for future use. Once the design is complete it can be deployed to a central Limelight XE server which then is accessed by remote display clients that drive the actual user interfaces and display walls. System designers and administrators can maintain user interfaces and display walls even while the system is in operation by updating the master display files. Once a display file is updated a notification is sent to all clients to reload their interfaces so the changes are immediate.
All graphical presentations utilize hardware acceleration to provide the smoothest images that emulate real-world controls. For example, the dial gauge control has optional animation mechanisms to smooth the changes between value updates - exactly like it's real-world analog equivalent. These features allow much cleaner and scalable controls (unlike bitmap based controls).
Features
- Modern "What you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG) drag and drop interface with command ribbon
- Instantly test your interface while in the architect tool by linking them to server property values
- Create custom controls from elemental components or modify and save an existing control
- Save directly to a central command server for deployment
- Over 20 standard controls - many with over 80+ properties to customize the look and feel of the control
- All graphical controls utilize hardware accelerated vector drawing to provide update rates similar to full motion video
- Linking controls to global variables allows computational values to be displayed (via the server's scripting engine)