Communication Driver: TCP/IP-to-RS232 Bridge Overview

Note: This communication driver requires RMC100 CPU firmware dated 20010522 or later.

This driver adds many of the benefits of Ethernet—it allows routing and addressing multiple modules and provides isolation—to all RMCs because it uses the RMC100 CPU's "RS-232 Monitor" serial port, but does so at the expense of performance. This is possible using a TCP/IP-to-RS232 Bridge device.

The following diagram shows the typical network layout. Additional RMCs could either be added through an additional bridge each to the hub or switch, or they could be plugged into additional serial ports on a multi-port bridge.

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This diagram could also be drawn with any of the TCP/IP routing variants shown in the TCP/IP Direct to RMC-ENET Overview topic. Delta does not sell its own TCP/IP-to-RS232 bridge, but many companies make them. The UDS from Lantronix (www.lantronix.com) was used in testing.

Comparison with Other Communication Drivers

Serial: The serial port is generally several times faster, and eliminates the requirement for an Ethernet adapter in the PC, but it does not provide isolation, has much shorter cable distances, cannot route across intranets and the Internet, and can only address a single RMC per serial port.
TCP/IP Direct to RMC-ENET: The direct method is much faster, and does not require an additional bridge device, but it is limited to RMCs with the RMC-ENET module.