New OSIsoft .NET Historian Database Runs on Windows CE Devices -- and High End Servers; Real-Time Historian Introduces Data Archiving to Mobile and Embedded Devices.

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. -- The new release of the ECHO database, OSIsoft's embedded component historian object, (ECHO), enables developers to create an embedded data historian supporting Microsoft Windows CE.NET 4.2 -- in addition to the high-end server machines already supported. Ideal applications for an ECHO historian include stand-alone digital chart recorders, handheld data collection devices, and networked data collection from large assets such as paper making machines.

ECHO-CE in V2.0 of the ECHO Embedded Component Historian Object provides developers an advanced tool for placing high-performance, high-volume data collection capabilities in remote or mobile devices. It is especially useful for applications that use data locally, or when intermittent connections to the enterprise network conflict with the need for continuous data collection. For example, a mobile device used to collect information about the stability or performance of a remote asset, such as a wind turbine, could continue to support operation in real-time even if the connection to an enterprise network was disrupted due to a weather condition, equipment malfunction or tampering.

OEM developers already use ECHO to archive large volumes of data collected automatically in the course of operations. ECHO creates efficient temporal archives with features valued by developers:

--Supported by a wide range of Windows programming tools

--Optimized for storing time stamped data

--Compact and scalable footprint

--Built-in audit trail for 21CFR part 11 compliance

Early Adopters of ECHO-CE

ECHO-CE has already been adopted by a number of OEMs under an early release program for strategic partners, and OSIsoft is demonstrating a number of these early releases. For example, an industrial controller from OLDI TECLA that can be run either with a monitor or headless collects data at extremely high speed and archives it locally for use in process analysis and optimization. A card-based device from Applied Data Systems with an LCD display is available for OEMs wanting to build and test prototype CE.NET products with historian capabilities. Additional applications are being announced as they come to market.

ECHO includes an interface to the PI System, OSIsoft's enterprise-wide Real-time Performance Management (RtPM) platform in use at 10,000 sites around the world, delivering a potentially vast market to OEMs selecting ECHO.

ECHO-CE Features

The new ECHO-CE product included in v2.0 supports all standard CE.NET processor types, with binaries provided for x86, XScale and ARMV4; OSIsoft also plans to make support for other platforms available upon request from OEMs. Future plans include simultaneous release of the PC and CE versions of ECHO, both versions use the same source base. This ensures that when a feature is introduced for one version it will be simultaneously available in the other version.

A new object added in ECHO 2.0 -- the Client & Server Platform Information Object -- enables ECHO to collect information about both the client and server involved in a data transfer, so that it can determine what type of machine it is talking to and react accordingly. This is especially useful when information is being published from a Windows CE device to a PC or vice versa.

Programmatic hooks for licensing replace the previous paper-based licensing; this is especially convenient for OEMs who intend to embed ECHO historians in large quantities of devices.

ECHO-CE Components

The ECHO-CE product includes a generous selection of code and documentation, including all the relevant components that come with the PC version. For example, the ECHO SDK for PC is included to allow development of applications for both native CE client implementation and for the clients running remotely on a PC and talking to an ECHO server running on a CE machine. Documentation for both ECHO SDK and runtime versions is included. ECHO-CE.NET binaries are provided so that they can be burned into the operating systems and delivered separately as individual binaries. Sample clients provided with ECHO-CE come with the source code. These include a PC configurator, an analyzer tool, backup and restore, XML configuration, an event log viewer and a shutdown utility.

About OSIsoft

OSIsoft delivers performance management software to the world's leading process manufacturing, life sciences, and utility companies -- anywhere real-time operational metrics fuel performance. With more than 10,000 installations worldwide, OSIsoft's real-time data platform crosses IT and process boundaries to incorporate and display operational information. Providing comprehensive visibility into operations, the OSIsoft platform unlocks the potential for timely analysis and the ability to make critical, informed and profitable decisions.

Founded in 1980, OSIsoft, Inc. is headquartered in San Leandro, Calif., with operations worldwide and is privately-held.

For more information about the ECHO and OEM sales, visit www.echohistorian.com or contact Matt Miller at 734-944-2484 and [e-mail].