---

Students control real TIMS hardware from their PC and obtain immediate PC-scope display of the real signals Remote control of hardware via GUI Flexible experiment patching Fault insertion capability for student debugging

24/7 access to real TIMS hardware experiments via browser/client Real-time logging of student experiment progress and access Flexible, fast experiment authoring using TutorTIMS simulation package

Carlo Manfredini, Alfred Breznik, and Senator Helen Coonan

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, officially recognised Australia's most innovative ICT companies at the Awards Ceremony on 13 March 2007 for the fifth Secrets of Australian ICT Innovation Competition. Pictured adjacent are two of the developers of net*TIMS, Carlo Manfredini & Alfred Breznik, receiving their award from the Minister.

EMONA net*TIMS

net*TIMS allows professors to set-up real TIMS telecommunications experiments in their own laboratory, which students can then access and control from within the lab and at a distance, to carry out the experiments.

net*TIMS-enabled modules have switches and potentiometers which are remotely controlled via Ethernet. The net*TIMSenabled modules are plugged into a standard Emona TIMS-301 System Unit and are patched to the net*TIMS Server, which is connected to the LAN/Internet via an Ethernet port.

The GUI at the user PC mimics the experiment front panels and displays acquired real signals, using a digital 2 channel oscilloscope from 8 different points in the experiment for each channel. 4 trigger points are also available.

All waveforms can be viewed in both the time and frequency domain.

SIMPLE BROWSER LOG-ON

A user logs on to the net*TIMS Server using their web browser. They receive a JAVA-based client screen, as shown to the right, corresponding to the particular experiment set up on the net*TIMS System.

The student can simultaneously access other course material provided by the professor and also transfer actual experimental results between the net*TIMS screen and other applications to create Lab reports.

The user can switch, insert or by-pass hardware modules in the experiment, as set-up by the professor, for multi-stage experiments.

MULTI-USER

The net*TIMS Server manages a multiuser environment, allowing several students, each at a different location, to be logged onto the same net*TIMS Server and independently carrying out their own session of the same experiment.

COURSE MANAGEMENT

The net*TIMS Server provides gatekeeping access and a log of all student activities. The professor can manage the net*TIMS Server from a password protected administration page via their browser.