Feedback Module

The Feedback Module allows you to create circular linkages within an ION module framework.

Module icon

Overview

The module outputs a pulse each time it receives a pulse.

NOTE: The registers and settings available in this module depend on the device or node you are configuring, as well as its firmware and template versions. Not all registers or settings are available on all devices or the Virtual Processor, and labels may vary.

Inputs

Source

This input is linked to the register that you want to Feedback. It can be a pulse register from any other module.

Enable

When this input is on, the module is enabled; when it is set to off, the module is disabled and pulses received at the Source input are ignored. This input is optional; if you leave it unlinked, the module will be enabled by default.

Setup registers

Feedback Modules have no setup registers.

Output registers

Pulse Out

The Pulse Out register echoes the Source input. Pulses received at the Source input are relayed to the Pulse Out register immediately.

Event

All events produced by a Feedback Module are written into this register.

Possible events and their associated priority numbers are shown in the following table:

Event priority group	Priority	Description
Setup Change	10	Input links or labels have changed.

The Event output register stores the following information for each ION event: time stamp, event priority, event's cause, event's effect, and any values or conditions associated with the cause and effect.

Responses to special conditions

The following table summarizes how the Feedback Module behaves under different conditions.

Condition	Response of output registers
When the module is first created	The Pulse Out output will not pulse until the inputs are evaluated.
If the Enable input is off	The Pulse Out output will not pulse.
After the module is re-linked	The Pulse Out output will not pulse until the inputs are evaluated.

Detailed module operation

The Feedback Module generates one pulse on its output if one or more pulses occurred on its Source input since the module last operated. Note that this module operates once per second for ION devices.

The Feedback Module is used to create closed-loop, or circular, paths in ION frameworks. This allows you to pulse a module that initiated a process by returning its output pulse to one of its inputs.

Some frameworks can be simplified or enhanced with the Feedback Module. For example, feedback can be used to automatically reset a Maximum module immediately after a maximum value has been recorded. Without feedback, resets must be performed on preset schedules, or by control actions initiated by system operators. The following diagram shows how a feedback loop can be used to automatically reset a Maximum Module after a maximum has been logged. A similar technique can be used to automatically reset Minimum, Counter and Integrator modules.

Record and Reset Framework