System Basics

AggreGate is made up from a central server, one or more devices, and one or more web-based or GUI clients. The server, devices, and clients are connected to a TCP/IP network.

The central server is actually a JAVA application running on Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, or any other suitable OS. It is the only component of the system that attempts to stay online and connected to the network permanently.

Devices may use a wired or wireless connection to the network, such as WiFi, GPRS, or any other suitable wireless communications media. Some devices may be permanently connected to the network, while some may only connect to the network periodically. For example, devices may be configured to only turn themselves on at predefined time intervals or connect to the network when they detect an event that needs to be reported to the server. Unstable connection of other devices to the network may be caused by inherent unreliability of communications media being used. For example, WiFi and GPRS networks do not guarantee a constant connection to the network.

The client (AggreGate Client) is a JAVA application running on a computer. The clients do not need to be permanently connected to the network for the system to function properly.

The network may be a local-area network, wide-area network, or the Internet. Different segments of the network may use different communications media, such as Ethernet, WiFi, GPRS, or any other suitable media that is available now or will be available in the future.