1. Socket usage

TOPOFLIGHT functions as a TCP client that establishes a connection to a TCP server. On the sensor side, the server software implemented by the sensor manufacturer (e.g. scanner, camera) defines a specific address and port which can be configured in SensorHandler. TOPOFLIGHT and the server on the sensor side communicate with each other using the exchange format defined as “TOPOFLIGHT universal protocol”.

The TOPOFLIGHT universal protocol TCP client supports long-lived communication over a socket, operating in a simplex communication mode. The server waits for incoming requests from the TOPOFLIGHT client and always needs to respond to each request with a reply.

A new message from TOPOFLIGHT on the same socket will be processed by the server only after the previous one has been fully handled.

The implementation on the server side needs to be thread safe. Due to internal synchronization mechanisms this might cause minor delays in response times.