Home Services Products PI Future Data Interface GPMS to PI Interface c13 Training Case studies Contact us	PI Future Data Interface Business Requirements Many industries, and the power industry in particular, have a requirement for weather forecast information. This information is used to make commercial judgements, which may affect the profitability of the plant and company. The Future Data Interface (PI-FDB) has been designed to accept forecast weather data and make this data visible seamlessly in the PI System Product Overview The PI-FDB Interface is a data file interface which extracts time-series data from text files and writes it to the PI Data Archive. However, in addition to normal PI Interface functionality, the PI-FDB Interface will accept and identify any data currently time-stamped in the future, such as that sent by a weather forecasting service and store it in an auxiliary relational database known as the Future Database rather than attempting to write it directly to the PI Data Archive. The interface monitors the Future Database for any data it contains which has become current (that is - no longer in the future) and automatically transfers it to the PI Data Archive, simultaneously removing it from the Future Database. As new forecasts come in, future data is allowed to change, the data being flagged as substituted. Optionally the interface can also retain a copy of the future data a configurable number of intervals ahead of the present. This Retained Future data is written to additional PI tags to enable comparison against what ultimately occurred. The forecast of weather data for the days ahead will change as those days approach the present. The PI-FDB interface automatically updates the forecast values as they change, ultimately moving the current values into PI. The interface can also use the Retained Future data feature to make a copy of forecast data a specified period ahead in additional PI tags, so that, for example, the 1-day ahead forecast data can be compared with what actually occurred – all of this data being retained within the PI Data Archive. The Future Database can be created using any Microsoft ADO compatible database, e.g. Access, SQL Server and ORACLE. The database DATETIME data type is the only limitation imposed on how far into the future data can be stored in the database. The PI-FDB data can be displayed alongside PI Archive data in PI-ProcessBook trends for example, by the definition of a ProcessBook Dataset or made available to the PI System by creating virtual tags through a COM connector. The PI-FDB interface monitors specified file directories for the appearance of data files containing time-series data destined for the PI Data Archive. The location, format and interpretation of the data in the files are defined using interface configuration parameters. Optional parameters can also define the Retained Future data intervals, when required. A copy of the current PI Snapshot value for each maintained PI tag is retained within the Future Database The PI-FDB interface enables forecast or predictive data to be stored and ultimately written to the PI Data Archive in a timely manner without manual intervention. The FDB can be considered as a moving window on the future with the data it contains, seamlessly integrated with the PI Data Archive. Product Benefits Historical comparison of forecast or predictive weather forecast data data with actual observed values is made possible, allowing the customer to assess the performance of the weather data provider, and make corrections for local micro-climate. Note that the PI-FDB interface can also be used for any other forecast information such as power pricing.
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