User manual

EKI-1321/1322 User Manual 50
5.8.2 Setting Virtual COM Operating Mode Parameters
The Advantech serial device servers extend traditional COM ports of a PC to Ether-
net access. Through Ethernet networking, users can control and monitor remote
serial devices and equipment over LAN or WAN. Advantech serial device servers
come with a COM port redirector (Virtual COM driver) that transmits all serial signals
intact. This means that your existing COM-based software can be preserved, without
modifying to fulfill the needs. The Virtual COM mode allows user to continue using
RS-232/422/485 serial communications software that was written for pure serial com-
munication applications.
EKI-1321/1322 comes with COM port redirector (virtual COM driver) that works with
Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 systems. The driver establishes a transparent connection
between host and serial device by mapping the IP of Advantech serial device server
serial port to a local COM port on the host computer.
Host Idle Timeout (10~255 seconds): The "Host Idle Timeout" setting monitors the
connection between the host and the device. If the "Host Idle Timeout" set- ting time
is reached, the device server will release the resources allocated to the port map-
ping. This prevents a stalled host from affecting the connected device.
Note! The default value of "Host Idle Timeout" is 60 seconds.