B&B Electronics ESP904 - Manual (Page 6)

Introduction
Manual Documentation Number: ESP904-0504 Chapter 1 1
B&B Electronics Mfg Co Inc – 707 Dayton Rd - PO Box 1040 - Ottawa IL 61350 - Ph 815-433-5100 - Fax 815-433-5104 – www.bb-elec.com
B&B Electronics Ltd – Westlink Commercial Park – Oranmore, Galway, Ireland – Ph +353 91-792444 – Fax +353 91-792445 – www.bb-europe.com
C C h h a a p p t t e e r r 1 1 : : I I N N T T R R O O D D U U C C T T I I O O N N
The VLINX Model ESP904 Quad-Port Ethernet Serial Server provides
Ethernet to Serial connections for RS-232, RS-422 or RS-485 devices. The
serial ports can be accessed over a LAN/WAN using
Direct IP Mode , Virtual
COM Port , or Paired Mode connections. The 10/100 Mbps Ethernet
connection auto-selects 10BaseT or 100BaseTX and indicates the type of
connection with a bi-color link light.
Figure 1. The VLINX ESP904 Quad-Port Ethernet Serial Server
Features
• 4 multi-interface serial ports - RS-232, RS-422, RS-485; software
selectable connections
• 10/100 Mbps Ethernet with Auto Selection
• LAN and WAN Communications
• Web Server
• TCP or UDP Client or Server operation - configurable
• Software Support - Windows 98/ME/2000/XP or NT 4.0
• Firmware Upload for Future Revisions/Upgrades
• VLINX ESP Manager Software for Windows - allows easy
configuration of Ethernet and serial port settings. For configuration, the
Introduction
2 Chapter 1 Manual Documentation Number: ESP904-0504
B&B Electronics Mfg Co Inc – 707 Dayton Rd - PO Box 1040 - Ottawa IL 61350 - Ph 815-433-5100 - Fax 815-433-5104 – www.bb-elec.com
B&B Electronics Ltd – Westlink Commercial Park – Oranmore, Galway, Ireland – Ph +353 91-792444 – Fax +353 91-792445 – www.bb-europe.com
ESP904 can be attached to a network or to the Ethernet port of a
computer (using a crossover cable). Non-Windows users can configure it
in the Console Mode using an RS-232 port, VT100 Terminal Emulation
program and an RS-232 crossover cable. Telnet also can be used to
access the setup configuration menu.
• Virtual COM Driver Software for Windows - installs a virtual COM
port, viewable in the Windows Device Manager under Ports (COM &
LPT) . Virtual COM port provides access to any of the ports on the
ESP904, like any other serial port (legacy, PCI, USB or PCMCIA) on
the computer. Any program running on the computer and using
Windows-based COM ports can access the serial devices attached to the
ESP904. The LAN becomes transparent to the serial device and the
software running on the PC.
• Heart Beat Connection - selectable protocol ensures reliable
communications in Virtual COM Port or Paired Connection modes. This
feature restores the connections if communications are temporarily lost
at either end due to loss of power or the Ethernet connection.
Communication Modes
The ESP904 enables communication with serial devices over a LAN or
WAN. Serial devices no longer are limited to a physical connection to the PC
COM port. They can be installed anywhere on the LAN using TCP/IP or
UDP/IP communications. This allows traditional Windows PC software
access to serial devices anywhere on the LAN/WAN network.
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 ESP904.
In this type of application the ESP904 is configured as a TCP or UDP server.
The socket program running on the PC establishes a communication
connection with the ESP904. The data is sent directly to and from the serial
port on the server.
Virtual COM Mode
Use Install Virtual COM 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 ESP904.