# Setup PFC Integration

## Overview

This feature is responsible for handling the connection setup between our Automation Driver and the PFC Equipment.

### Protocol Overview

The Product Flow Controller (PFC+) protocol is a TCP/IP-based communication protocol used to control and validate the movement of products (PCBs) in an automated production line.

| Property           | Value                                         |
| ------------------ | --------------------------------------------- |
| Transport Layer    | TCP/IP                                        |
| Default Port       | 1024                                          |
| Connection Model   | Single host connection (one client at a time) |
| Communication Type | Request/response + event-driven messages      |
| Message Encoding   | Text-based (ASCII)                            |
| Message Terminator | CR+LF (`\r\n`)                                |

The protocol supports board tracking and validation, control of product flow between machines, handshake between PFC and host to authorize or reject transfers, device configuration and monitoring, and keep-alive supervision via Ping/Pong.

## How To Configure

To configure the connection between our Automation Driver and the PFC Equipment a set of keys must be configured in the IoTMetadataDefinition Smart Table.

### Relevant Artifacts

The table below describes the properties for this entity type:

| Name                  | Type       | Is Mandatory | Data Type | Description                                      |
| :-------------------- | :--------- | :----------: | :-------- | :----------------------------------------------- |
| IoTMetadataDefinition | SmartTable |     Yes      |           | Metadata configuration for equipment integration |

### IoTMetadataDefinition Resource Level Configuration

At the **Resource** level, there are several configuration we can make to set our connection with the PFC Equipment.

| Resource           | Resource Type | Area | Name                    | Value          | Description                                                                                               |
| ------------------ | ------------- | ---- | ----------------------- | -------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| *MES PFC Resource* |               |      | **PFC_Address**         | IP Address     | IP address of the PFC Equipment. Default: `0.0.0.0`.                                                      |
| *MES PFC Resource* |               |      | **PFC_Port**            | Port Number    | Port number used to communicate with the PFC Equipment. Default: `1024`.                                  |
| *MES PFC Resource* |               |      | **PFC_Heartbeat_Timer** | Interval in ms | Interval in milliseconds between PING messages sent to the equipment. Default: `30s`                      |
| *MES PFC Resource* |               |      | **PFC_LocalAddress**    | IP Address     | Local IP address used by the Automation Driver to communicate with the PFC Equipment. Default: `0.0.0.0`. |

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## How To Use

On Automation startup we will retrieve the information on `IoTMetadataDefinition` related to the linked Resource and set the retrieved configuration parameters as connection values.

!!! Warning "Every time you change these values you **must restart** the Automation Controller."

## Implementation Details

During **Equipment Setup** we will resolve `IoTMetadataDefinition` and configure the TCP/IP connection parameters to communicate with the PFC Equipment. All resolved keys are saved in persistency for use during processing.

!!! Warning "The equipment must be in *STATUS = SCAN* to begin the communication process. If not, the command *MSGBEEP* will be sent to the equipment with message `STATUS NOT SCAN`."

### Driver Configuration

The Automation Controller acts as a **Active (Client)** TCP/IP endpoint. On start up Connect IoT will connect to PFC Equipment as a client.

| Parameter                              | Value    | Description                                                                                      |
| -------------------------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Mode                                   | Active   | Controller acts as a TCP Client connecting to the PFC device.                                  |
| Keep Alive Time                        | 10000 ms | Keeps the socket alive between messages.                                                         |
| Parser Type                            | Readline | Emits a complete message only when the `\r\n` delimiter is received, handling TCP fragmentation. |
| Delimiter                              | `\r\n`   | Matches the CR+LF message terminator used by the PFC protocol.                                   |
| Encoding                               | ASCII    | Protocol uses ASCII text encoding.                                                               |
| Convert Non-Printable ASCII on Send    | True     | Allows token names such as `\r\n` to be used in configuration fields instead of raw bytes.       |
| Convert Non-Printable ASCII on Receive | True     | Correctly handles non-printable characters in incoming messages.                                 |
| Default Command Message Start          | `#!`     | Automatically prepended to all outgoing command messages.                                        |
| Default Command Message End            | `\r\n`   | Automatically appended to all outgoing command messages.                                         |

### PING/PONG Heartbeat

The controller maintains the connection with the PFC Equipment through a PING/PONG handshake mechanism.

- After the equipment sends a **STATUS** message, the controller initiates the heartbeat by sending a **PING** message.
- The equipment is expected to reply with a **PONG** message.
- Subsequent **PING** messages are sent at the interval defined by `PFC_Heartbeat_Timer`.

!!! info "The `PFC_Heartbeat_Timer` value defines the interval in milliseconds between consecutive PING messages. A 30000ms default value is set."