Product specifications

Real COM Mode

NPort IA5150/5250 comes equipped with COM drivers that work with Window 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP

systems, and also TTY drivers for Linux systems. The driver establishes a transparent connection between

host and serial device by mapping the IP:Port of the NPort IA5150/5250’s serial port to a local COM/TTY

port on the host computer. Real COM Mode also supports up to 4 simultaneous connections, so that

multiple hosts can collect data from the same serial device at the same time.

One of the major conveniences of using Real COM Mode is that Real COM Mode allows users to continue

using RS-232/422/485 serial communications software that was written for pure serial communications

applications. The driver intercepts data sent to the host’s COM port, packs it into a TCP/IP packet, and then

redirects it through the host’s Ethernet card. At the other end of the connection, the NPort IA5150/5250

accepts the Ethernet frame, unpacks the TCP/IP packet, and then transparently sends it to the appropriate

serial device attached to one of the NPort IA5150/5250’s serial ports.

TCP Server Mode

In TCP Server mode, NPort IA5150/5250 is configured with a unique IP:Port address on a TCP/IP network.

NPort IA5150/5250 waits passively to be contacted by the host computer, allowing the host computer to

establish a connection with and get data from the serial device. This operation mode also supports up to 4

simultaneous connections, so that multiple hosts can collect data from the same serial device—at the same

time.

As illustrated in the figure, data transmission proceeds as follows:

1. The host requests a connection from the NPort IA5150/5250 configured for TCP Server Mode.

2. Once the connection is established, data can be transmitted in both directions—from the host to

the NPort IA5150/5250, and from the NPort IA5150/5250 to the host.