[Imported] Trio J Series License-Free Radio Gateways and Serial Device Servers

[sbeadle]

>>Message imported from previous forum - Category:Trio Data Radios<<
User: joelw, originally posted: 2018-10-16 22:05:33 Id:45
This is a re-posting from the obsoleted (October 2018) "Schneider Electric Telemetry & SCADA" forum.

----------------------------

**_jweder:_**

----------------------------

The Trio J Series unlicensed Ethernet/serial radios are capable of converting common Ethernet based protocols to serial protocols, and converting from serial to Ethernet. This can significantly reduce the cost of system design when conversion is required, as no external device such as a Digi, Lantronix or Moxa gateway is needed. This not only reduces cost, but also power requirements, cabinet space and configuration time.

The J Series product line includes both a 900 MHz version and a 2.4 GHz version. Both versions are configured in the same way. Each radio may be configured as an Access Point (keeps all radios in sync), a Bridge repeater, or a Remote type.

The J Series over-the-air traffic is inherently IP based. Thus any serial traffic carried on the system must be encapsulated within an Ethernet message. Therefore any conversion to serial is always done at the destination radio.

With the protocol conversion capabilities of J Series, various types of hardware design may be accommodated. Devices at both ends may be Ethernet, or one may be Ethernet and the other serial, or both devices may be serial. All of these may be configured at the same time on any one J Series radio network.

To view the configuration items discussed below open a web browser, connect to a J Series radio by entering its IP address, then go to the Setup dialog. Alternately you may connect via Telnet, or on serial port A (by default) with a terminal program such as Hyperterminal.

Two serial ports are available to perform conversions in any J Series radio. Port A, on the standard pins 2, 3 and 5 of the DE9 connector, is by default configured as a text programming interface. If it is desired to keep this programming interface you may way to use Port B instead. Port B is available using pins 4, 5 and 6 of the DE9.

On each serial port you may select either a Serial Device Server or a Modbus Gateway. The Serial Device Server is chosen if converting between a protocol such as Modbus RTU in TCP or UDP and serial Modbus RTU. This is a simple conversion as it only needs to remove or add an IP wrapper for a message that is already formatted as a serial packet. The Modbus Gateway is chosen if converting between Modbus/TCP or UDP and serial Modbus RTU.

TCP Server is likely the most commonly desired option. Simply specify a Local IP port number for the serial port. Once this is done an Ethernet Host or other polling device will be configured to address the destination radio's IP address and, to get the data to the correct port for conversion, will also be configured for that port's IP port number. An Ethernet Host may communicate with many remote devices one after another in this manner, each poll creating a high reliability TCP connection to a remote radio's serial port.

UDP connections are commonly used to provide a point to multipoint or even multipoint to multipoint (everyone hears everyone else) serial link between devices. It may be desired to create a link in which the Access Point can communicate with all Remote devices serially (a point to multipoint configuration) or it may be desired to create a connection in which all radios can talk to each other to allow peer to peer communication.

Alternately, any two radios in a system may be configured to create a point to point serial link. This may be done by configuring one radio's serial port as a TCP Server and the other as a TCP Client, for a highest-reliability TCP link. Or it may be done with UDP, which has less network overhead though relies more on the radio system and user protocol for reliability.

Trio J Series radios include smart Ethernet filtering capabilities. This allows a radio to act as a switch with three ports. One port is the radio, while the others are the two LAN ports. Traffic may exist between the two LAN ports without ever being sent over the air. Or if it is detected that the destination is somewhere out on the radio system then the message will be transmitted over the air. For an Access Point or Bridge this means each of these radios can automatically choose to repeat a message or not. No additional configuration is required.

**Note 1:** The J Series requires firmware R3.4.0 or newer to provide access to both the serial device server and the Modbus/TCP gateway.

**Note 2:** For more detailed technical configuration information, please refer to the User Manual. Alternately, contact Tech Support by phone at 1-888-226-6876 or by email at SupportTRSS[at]schneider-electric.com