User`s guide

Key Terms in This Chapter
Chapter 4 Configure Industrial Automation (IA) 55
This chapter discusses using Digi products with Industrial Automation (IA)
applications, including configurations that work for your for IA applications,
and the configuration tasks required to use your Digi product in an IA
environment.
Key Terms in This Chapter
Industrial Automation involves several key terms:
Com Port Redirection
A method of redirecting the serial data generated by a PC-based master
to a slave connected to a port on a network-based device server. In this
scheme, the master “thinks” that it is communicating with a device
connected to a serial port on the PC system when, in fact, the data is
encapsulated in network packets and transported across the network to
a device connected to a serial port on the Digi device server. Many
applications, written to support serial communication only, require this
service in order to communicate over the Ethernet.
IA
Abbreviation for industrial automation
master (or protocol master)
The host or IA device that initiates all communication with a protocol
slave
multi-master
Any configuration in which more than one master simultaneously
communicates with a slave
protocol request
A message generated by the master and sent to the slave that requests
information or issues a command
protocol response
A message generated by the slave in response to a protocol request from
the master
slave (or protocol slave)
The device that responds to requests from the master
TCP socket (or TCP socket service)
A type of network service that uses TCP to ensure reliability. When this
manual discusses TCP sockets, it means that IA protocol messages are
encapsulated in network packets and transported across the network
using a standard network service. Many applications support
connections to devices using TCP socket.
TCP tunnel
A TCP socket connection in which a master is connected to the serial port
of one device server and a slave to the serial port of another Digi device.
Chapter 4
Configure Industrial Automation (IA)