Re: W98 serial server -> Linux

<chris-usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxx> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:a1jv83-4oi.ln1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

>> The servers sharing their serial interface in my setting are the remote
>> W98
>> machines. The linuxbox must be listening on port 1000 and act on the
>> incoming data.
>
> Ah. You want network traffic to be punted to the serial port?

Nope, i simply need to tunnelize small chunks of serial data coming from an
instrument, through an intranet. The instruments are connected on serial
lines to local PCs, which in turn are tapped into the intranet. The overall
schema is as follows:

Instrument -> Pc RS232 -> Pc TCP/IP ---> ethernet ---- > Linux TCP/IP ->
Linux RS232 -> linux app.

While the data flow unidirectionally, we have two symmetrical and specular
circumstances:

On the instrument side (platform: windows) the flow is from serial to
network. This is no problem, there are plenty of software "serial servers"
for the windows platform.

On the host side (platform: linux) the flow is from network "to the
application". I understand the typical way to do this, is not to read
directly the network flow, but to implement "virtual serial ports" instead.
Thus the linux application reads a serial interface which is actually a
virtual serial port, not a physical one.

> I thought you had said you wanted data from the serial port to be made
> available over the network, so those are the solutions I offered.

Yes, this is what i need on the remote side, the data generated by the
instrument enter the serial port of the remote PC and then walk over the
network. This is an issue i have solutions for. Notice we are speaking of
windows based solutions here.

> Now you've really confused me. You said you had unidirectional data. Do
> you want it *from* the serial port to the network, or from the network
> *to* a serial port?

See the above diagram, hope this explain. On the linux side, where i am
having problems, the flow is from network to app, or preferably from network
to a virtual serial device.

The advantages of having a virtual serial port is that an application would
read the rs232 data from the instrument, irrespective if the instrument is
local or remote. You can develop the app locally, and then remotize the
instrument. Or plainly redirect the serial port to a logfile, and then parse
the logfile and populate a database, etc.

I have a coarse understanding of what i need, on a block basis. I don't have
a fine insight in the innerworkings. I understand that the [serial 2
network] and [network 2 serial] conversions must be symmetrical, and
eventually supplied by the same vendor. Now many vendors have all-Windows
solutions (from serial to network and vice-versa), few have cross-platform
solutions (serial 2 network on windows, network 2 serial on linux).

A possible workaround would be to install a windows based concentrator
side-by-side the linux host, which could accumulate the serial data flowing
in from the net and then pass them to the linux host. I have set up a
prototype this way, but i dont' like it, i'd rather go to the linux host
directly.

thank you for you kind cooperation, ciao!

VA








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