Configuring Serial Tunneling

Serial tunneling enables running a controller in transparent communication (TCI) mode where the controller supports direct routing of traffic between Ethernet ports and serial ports, providing a terminal server interface to elements attached to the serial ports. Transparent communication mode is only available when the controller is not executing an application. While in grandparents communication mode, TCP/IP port address indicates the serial port to which is routed the Ethernet connection. Each serial port must have a unique TCP/IP port address. The TCP/IP port addresses for the serial ports are the following:
  • 10001 for S1-1
  • 10002 for S1-2
  • 10003 for S2-1
  • 10004 for S2-2
  • 10005 for S3-1
  • 10006 for S3-2
Each available serial port supports a single TCP/IP connection. A TCI TCP/IP connection cannot be established to an unavailable serial port. For example, where the corresponding processor module is not present or is inactive. Serial ports retain their configured settings for TCI mode.
Establish TCI links between any serial port and any Ethernet port (for example, the Ethernet and serial ports may be for different processor modules).
When a TCI link is established, any incoming data from the TCP/IP connection is transmitted to the serial port and any incoming data from the serial port is transmitted to the TCP/IP connection. Incoming data from the TCP/IP connection is immediately transmitted to the serial port. Incoming data from the serial port is transmitted to the TCP/IP connection when one of the following conditions occurs:
  • The elapsed time between received characters exceeds the specified Idle Time value
  • The total number of characters received reaches 256
Connections only transmit valid characters; Connections ignore characters with errors like parity or framing.
When configuring serial tunneling, individual serial ports are assigned to a TCP port. For each port, specify these properties:
  • Inactivity Time
     - The period of time where no data flows through the TCP connection (in either direction) before the TCI function closes down the connection, in seconds. Closing the connection prevents a dormant connection being kept open. In any case, if the controller is re-enabled any TCI connections will be closed. Possible values are 1 to 65535; the default value is 600.
  • Idle Time
     - The period of time waiting for incoming characters from a serial device, in milliseconds. When a complete packet is received, the
    AADvance-Trusted SIS Workstation software®
     forwards the data through the Ethernet interface. If idle time is 0, individual characters are forwarded in their own TCP segment, wasting much bandwidth and processing time. Possible values are 1 to 1000; the default value is 3.
For online changes, while the system is operational, enable or disable transparent communications operations and modify the Inactivity Time and Idle Time properties.
To configure serial tunneling
  1. In the
    Communication View
    , expand the required controller, and then double-click
    Serial Tunneling
    .
    The
    Serial Tunneling
    property page displays.
  2. In the
    Serial Tunneling
     property page, select
    Enable Serial Tunneling
    .
  3. For each port, define the
    Inactivity Time
     and
    Idle Time
     properties.
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