After rigorous in-house & field testing, our WiPak™ Wireless DNC Solution has emerged as a clear winner due to some fundamental, compelling & exclusive advantages...

When Drip-Feeding large programs consideration must be given to the following serious limitation of ALL other Wireless Devices. ALL other devices are what is known as 'Pass-Through' devices. This means that the CNC Program is fed line-by-line across the Wireless Network & into the CNC Control at the speed that the CNC Control can Machine the part being made. Depending on the size of the CNC Program this could take hours or even days! also producing heavy network traffic. This is a very risky proposition as it demands 100% reliability from your Wireless Network during the entire process. The slightest glitch could scrap the part being made or even damage your expensive CNC Machine causing costly repairs & downtime. WiPak™ completely eliminates this danger by transferring the entire CNC Program across the Wireless Network & into the WiPak™ unit at the Maximum Speed of the Network. Large CNC Programs are transferred in seconds. Once the CNC Program is safely transferred into the WiPak™ unit it no longer depends on the Wireless Network. The Drip-feed process can now begin & runs autonomously in complete safety. WiPak™ only uses the Wireless Network to transfer progress & status information back to Multi-DNC™.
In short WiPak™ minimizes the transfer time of CNC Programs across the Wireless Network & removes all dependency on the Wireless Network during the critical metal cutting stage thus providing 100% protection against Wireless Network interference or drop-outs.

WiPak™ has a very large memory storage (standard 30GB, expandable to 100GB) & can be used in place of purchasing expensive CNC Machine Control memory expansion modules. This is a great advantage for any industry that requires very large CNC Programs such as the Aerospace & Mold making industry.

Because WiPak™ is designed to be mounted inside the CNC Control a very short serial cable is used which allows much higher transfer speed of CNC Programs. Most newer controls allow speeds of 38400 kbps. This advantage is best appreciated when drip-feeding the CNC Program into the CNC Machine as it eliminates the possibility of data starvation.

WiPak™ can be connected wirelessly or by wired Ethernet. This allows the CNC Machine to be a workstation on the network that can be managed and secured by the IT dept. Also most PC based controls with Ethernet connections can easily be infected by viruses, However since WiPak™ is connected by a short serial cable to the CNC Control this creates a 'firewall' between the network and the CNC Machine tool control that completely prevents virus or spyware infections.

WiPak™ runs Microsoft XP Embedded SP2, which provides industry standard TOTAL RELIABILITY!  other Wireless Devices use 'Firmware' that can never be as reliable.

WiPak™ supports ANY PCMCIA Wireless Network Adapter! Almost ALL Wireless Network Adapters include Drivers for Windows XP whereas other devices do not have this flexibility & are locked into a single Adapter.  This means that ONLY WiPak™ can easily use any Wireless Network Adapter as the need arises for specific protocols or security requirements. An example of this is the LEAP, EAP-FAST Protocols which are NOT supported by other devices.

WiPak™ is supplied with an SMC High Power EliteConnect™ Wireless Network Card (200mW). The Higher Power Rating of this Adapter provides 4 times the signal strength over other devices which gives WiPak™ the 2 fold advantage of increased Range & Reliability.

WiPak™ also has connectors for a Flat Panel Monitor, Mouse & Keyboard OR Touch screen which allows ANY Windows compatible application to run right at the CNC Machine! CNC Operators can use internal email to request assistance for machine problems, Run Time-In-Attendance package so that CNC Operators can login/logout, Run our Paperless Manufacturing System (Job-BASE™) so that the CNC Operator can view CAD drawings or Setup sheets etc. See WiPak™ (Specification Sheet) for more details.

WiPak™ is supplied with an easy to read, backlit LCD Display which provides the following Operator advantages.

1).	The Progress of the Wireless Ethernet Transfer is displayed as a percentage bar which gives a visual confirmation of when the CNC Program has been transferred over the Wireless network & into the WiPak™ unit. This means that the WiPak™ device is now ready to start the Serial transfer to the CNC Controller.
2).	An LED lights up which shows the CNC Operator when the CNC Program is queued & ready to 'Read' into the CNC Control along with a 'Ready' message displayed on the LCD.
3).	The Progress of the Serial Transfer is displayed as a percentage bar. The Advantage of this is that during a Drip-Feed operation of a large CNC Program, it is extremely useful for the CNC Operator to know at a glance, the exact percentage of the CNC Program that has already been transferred to the CNC Machine along with the current Block Number in case a Remote Restart™ is required. (for example due to a broken Tool etc).
4).	All of the Multi-DNC™ Feedback messages which are normally sent to the CNC Control will be displayed on the LCD Display for the Operators convenience. (for example 'File Received OK', 'Reset', 'File NOT Found' etc).

WiPak™ has built in Machine Event Monitoring capability & is fully integrated with the Multi-DNC™ Machine Event Monitoring System. Data is captured by the WiPak™ unit & directed back to Multi-DNC™ via the Wireless Network, it is then stored into a SQL Server Database for Reporting Purposes.

WiPak™ makes use of a direct TCP connection via Industry Standard Microsoft Networking. An IP Address is assigned to each WiPak™ unit either Automatically by DHCP or by Manual entry. This means that NO Device Drivers are needed for WiPak™. Most other devices use Virtual COM Port device drivers which are notoriously unreliable & create undesirable excessive network traffic.

The Microsoft XP Embedded SP2 operating system running on WiPak™ supports Microsoft Remote Desktop which allows for easy Remote Management of all WiPak™ Device(s) from any PC on the network. (Currently NO other Wireless devices support Microsoft Remote Desktop).

Downtime caused by PC Failure is minimized by Multi-DNC™ & WiPak™. Once Multi-DNC™ is re-installed on a new PC it will scan the network & automatically acquire all the WiPak™ Device(s). This means you are up & running in no-time at all. This process is also made faster by the fact that WiPak™ does not use any device drivers which eliminates the need for constant driver updates.

There is no limit to the number of WiPak™ units that can be present on the Network.

The WiPak™ enclosure is extremely rugged & is designed to tolerate the harsh environment often found in a Machine Shop. WiPak™ also has connectors for Fire Wire, USB, VGA, Mouse, Keyboard, Wired Ethernet, PCMCIA, Compact-Flash & video/audio output. By connecting to the On/Off signal from the CNC Control WiPak™'s custom power supply is designed to Start up & Shutdown in synchronization with your CNC Control. See WiPak™ (Specification Sheet) for more details.

Configuration & Management of WiPak™ Devices from within Multi-DNC™

Below is a screenshot of Multi-DNC's™ WiPak™ Device Manager interface. You'll notice that each WiPak™ can be given a user-defined name for easy Recognition & Management purposes. The Device Manager displays many properties of each WiPak™.

By Double-Clicking on a WiPak™ Device the Device Properties interface will be displayed. (see example below)

The Multi-DNC™ Setup Connection dialog allows any 'Acquired' WiPak™ Device to be assigned to any Multi-DNC™ Machine Connection & FULL access to all the Communication properties. With Ease-of-use in mind, Multi-DNC™ shows all 'Acquired' WiPak™ Devices in its COM Port list for easy selection.

Multi-DNC™ can also display a list of CNC Program(s) that are currently stored on the WiPak™ Device. The CNC Program(s) can easily be managed from this interface.