The Virtual Serial Server mode is used to provide a TCP interface to a serial device. The serial device will then appear as an IP server to an IP client.
The Virtual Serial Server mode does not require the end points to use a request/response protocol. However, there is one exception. When COM2 is used in the RS-485 two-wire mode then a write to the COM2 port must be followed by a read. The COM2 serial port, in that mode, is therefore the recipient of a request from the IP100 and returns a response to the IP100.
The configuration parameters are:
IP Port | IP port number. It is best to use 1024 and above since lower numbers are well-known ports. |
COM Port | Serial port number in the range 0 to 4. |
In this example one modbus slave is connected to the Internet using an IP100 configured as a virtual serial server. Even though modbus is used in this example the Virtual Serial Server mode can use any protocol.
In this example the gui is connected indirectly to ip100 #2.
ip100 #1 has the 'serial via ip' checkbox selected and a virtual serial server connection is configured. The gui uses the ip address and port of ip100 #1 in the ethernet connect dialog box. The gui to ip100 #2 transactions are routed through ip100 #1.