EM1500 User’s Manual
1
1. I
NTRODUCTION
This manual is intended for anyone configuring Rabbit’s EM1500, an industrial grade serial-to-Ethernet
converter and modem.
Many of the terms you will find in this manual are defined in
In the electronic
versions of this manual, the first occurrence of the term will have a link to its meaning in the alphabetized
list in the appendix.
1.1 Overview of the EM1500
The primary function of the EM1500 is as a serial to TCP/IP protocol converter, to convert a full duplex
RS-232 or half-duplex RS-485 serial stream to a TCP/IP stream. The serial stream consists of at least the
transmit and receive data, plus optional "modem control" signals.
The EM1500 has 5 serial ports. It has 4 RS232 serial ports, and a half-duplex RS485 port, all of which
may be connected to different remote TCP/IP hosts. That is to say, each serial port may connect over the
Internet, or a local Ethernet LAN, to a single host at any one time; however, the serial ports can all be con-
nected to different hosts at the same time. The remote host may also be another EM1500.
In addition to the serial streams, which are transferred via TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) sockets,
there is also a control socket which can be used to configure and monitor the EM1500 as a whole. The
control socket uses UDP (User Datagram Protocol) rather than TCP.
After the EM1500 has been configured locally (i.e., on the same LAN as the host PC running the configu-
ration software) the configuration socket allows the EM1500 to be remotely configured over the Internet.
To make remote configuration secure, you can choose to encrypt configuration data. (See
for instructions on how to do this.) This protects the EM1500 from accidental or malicious
tampering. The serial data streams are not protected in the current firmware release.
Success in today’s marketplace demands rapid, low-cost access to information. The EM1500 was designed
to:
•
easily interface legacy RS-232 devices to Ethernet, allowing communication to remotely located
devices or computers.
•
extend the communication distance between two RS-232 devices, i.e., act as a transparent serial
bridge.
•
allow easy setup and monitoring
Summary of Contents for EM1500
Page 14: ...10 www rabbit com Introduction...
Page 22: ...18 www rabbit com Getting Started...
Page 76: ...72 www rabbit com EM1500 Configuration...
Page 90: ...86 www rabbit com EM1500 Specifications...
Page 104: ...100 www rabbit com Serial and TCP Protocols...
Page 118: ...114 www rabbit com EM1500 FAQ...