Introduction
Chapter 1 3
Direct IP Mode
Direct IP
connections allow applications using TCP/IP or UDP/IP
socket programs to communicate with the asynchronous serial ports on
the
XTRALINK IP
. In this type of application the
XTRALINK IP
is
configured as a TCP or UDP server. The socket program running on the
PC establishes a communication connection with the
XTRALINK IP
.
The data is sent directly to and from the serial port on the server. When
using UDP protocol the server can be configured to broadcast data to
and receive data from multiple IP addresses.
Virtual COM Mode
Install Virtual COM
Mode
allows the user to add a driver, to provide a
virtual COM port on the computer. The new COM port shows up in the
Device Manager. Windows programs using standard Windows API
calls are able to interface to virtual COM ports. When a program on the
PC opens the new COM port, it communicates with the remote serial
device connected to one of the ports on the
XTRALINK IP
.
After connection, the LAN is transparent to the program and serial
device. Applications are able to work just as if the serial device is
connected directly to a physical COM port on the computer. The virtual
COM port software converts the application’s data into IP packets,
sends it across the network to the
XTRALINK IP
, which converts the IP
packet back to serial data and sends the data out a serial port located on
the
XTRALINK IP
.
To use this mode, the
XTRALINK IP
must be set to either TCP/server or
UDP/server with a designated communication port number. The virtual
COM driver is the TCP or UDP client.
Paired Mode
Paired Mode
is also called
serial tunneling
. In this mode any two serial
devices that can communicate with a serial link will be able to
communicate using two
XTRALINK IP’s
and the LAN.
Two
XTRALINK IP’s
are connected to a network, one configured as a
TCP or UDP client and the other as a TCP/UDP server. When setting
up the server the remote IP address section must contain the address of
the client. This will allow the client’s IP address to pass the IP address-
filtering feature of the server. Conversely, the Remote IP address of the
client must contain the server’s IP address. Both communication port
numbers must be the same.
Introduction
4 Chapter 1
Heart Beat
The
Heart Beat
protocol connection provides a reliable
communications connection in
Virtual COM Port Mode
or with
Paired
Connection Mode
. This feature restores the connection if
communications are temporarily lost at either end due to loss of power
or Ethernet connection.
Without this feature a device that loses a connection and stops
communicating would not be able to reconnect without human
intervention. A TCP data connection can be lost when there is a power
failure or temporary loss of an Ethernet connection on either the client
or server. If a loss occurs the Heart Beat feature will try to reconnect
the TCP data connection every five seconds until communications is
established again. The Heart Beat feature is available for use in
Virtual
COM Port
Mode
and
Paired Connection
Mode
. This is not available
when using a UDP application.
