Elo TouchSystems E221 User Manual

Communication adapter

RS232 over the Ethernet

ELO E221

User manual

ELO E221ZKE001

Table Of Content:

1.0 Introduction.............................................................................3

1.1 Application.........................................................................3

2.0 How does it works?.................................................................4

3.0 Installation..............................................................................4

3.1 Ethernet connection............................................................4

3.2 RS-232 connection.............................................................4

3.3 Power supply......................................................................5

3.4 Driver installation..............................................................5

3.5 Virtual COM port installation............................................5

3.6 Virtual Port settings............................................................8

3.7 Uninstalling the adapter drivers.........................................8

3.8 Adapter configuration over the web interface....................8

3.9 Serial Port profiles...........................................................10

4.0 Testing...................................................................................13

5.0 Troubleshooting....................................................................14

6.0 Ordering info.........................................................................14

7.0 Technical info........................................................................15

1

ELO E221ZKE001

1.0 Introduction

Ethernet as a communication medium becomes widely used not
only in commercial domain, but becomes more popular in industry
automation too. A RS232 interface is intended to connect two
devices with maximal cable length 15 meters. An adapter E221
allows to integrate the RS232 devices into the Ethernet network
thereby bridge long distances.

Bellow described adapter allows to connect two RS-232 devices
over the Ethernet network; it also allows to connect more devices to
a single network gateway (i.e. computer).

1.1 Application

This communication device altogether with supplied software
allows setting up following profiles:

1) Real Port profile. Adapter allows to connect a device with
RS232 interface straight to computer via Ethernet protocol
with virtual port application installed on,

2) Serial Bridge profile. Adapter connects two devices with
RS232 interfaces like they were connected by cable; it is
technique so called “serial tunnelling”

3) TCP socket profile. Configured as TCP client or TCP
server, establishes connection among these devices

4) UDP socket profile. Configured as UDP client or UDP
server, establishes connection among these devices.

5) Custom profile. Experienced user can access all settings
both network and serial interfaces.

Furthermore, there is possibility to create GPIO port (general

purpose input/output) with five output and/or input binary channels

2

ELO E221ZKE001

to control or diagnose remote device. This GPIO maintain ±12V
levels. It can be configured to aware (e.g. by an e-mail) based on
states of those binary inputs.

2.0 How does it works?

The adapter converts RS232 signalling to the Ethernet interface. It
transfers all signals of the RS232 except RI. RS232 interface is
presented with DB9M (D-SUB, Canon), whereas Ethernet is lead
out via standard Ethernet RJ-45 socket.

Adapter can operate with full duplex with maximal bitrate
230kbps. The Ethernet layer can communicate with 10 and
100Mbps.

3.0 Installation

This chapter describes the adapter E221 installation process. The
process is divided to sub-process software and hardware
installation.

3.1 Ethernet connection

Adapter meets IEEE 802.3 specification and is to be plugged in to
the network with straight UTP cable. When configured as Serial
Bridge, the cross-over cable should be used instead.

For the first time, the adapter is configured to acquire IP address
from DHCP server, so in the network must be such a service to
dedicate IP address (e.g. AP – access point, router..). It can be later
changed to the fixed IP address.

3.2 RS-232 connection

A DB9M (D-SUB 9 pin Male) connector is wired as DTE, it means
that device with the same connector (DB9M), wired as DTE, must

3

ELO E221ZKE001

be connected to the adapter with cross-over cable (null modem)
with DB9F (Female) connectors terminated. Device terminated with
DB9F can be connected straight to the adapter or over the straight
cable. All signals, TXD, RXD, RTS, CTS, DTR, DSR, DCD are
transmitted. Rx and Tx activity is indicated by LED indicators.

3.3 Power supply

The adapter can be powered with DC voltage source (range 9 to
24V) with DC connector (outer/inner diameter is 5.5/2.1 mm), inner
pin should have positive polarity. The adapter can be powered via
RS-232 connector too – positive is pin No.9, negative (ground) is
pin No.5. Powered status is indicated with green LED. The adapter
is secured against the polarity change.

3.4 Driver installation

The adapter's configuration software can operate on computers
under Operation systems both MS Windows and Linux/Unix, but
only Windows software is enclosed. Supported are version from
Win 98 to Vista. Unix/Linux software can be downloaded from
following address:

http://www.digi.com/support/productdetl.jsp?pid=2469&osvid=0&s=54&tp=1

A RealPort drivers you can find on supplied CD-ROM in
E220_drivers directory. The drivers can be downloaded from web
pages www.elo.cz too. If virtual COM port on PC is applicable, it is
neccessary to install the RealPort application. In other cases,
utilities DigiConf and DigiWiz would be used instead.

3.5 Virtual COM port installation

When connected to the network, and link device to a PC is
required, it is neccessary to install Virual Port application. Bellow
described process is for Windows XP, for other Windows version

4

ELO E221ZKE001

the procedure is similar.

1) Start the DigiWiz application on the dedicated computer,
which will guide throuhgt all installation process; computer
must be connected to the network and capable to reach IP
address of the adapter.

2) The „Welcome to the Digi device Setup Wizard” screen will
appear. Click “Next”

3) On the next screen “Discover Device” the adapter with IP
and MAC address should be seen. If not, check power,
cabling and DHCP service, and click “Refresh” then. Check
off the adapter and click “Next”.

4) Window “Configure Network Settings” appears. Leave
DHCP or set fixed IP address,mask and gateway. Click
“Next”.

5) In window “Select scenario” from a scroll menu choose
“RealPort (COM port redirection)”. Click “Next”.

5

ELO E221ZKE001

6) In the window “Configure RealPort Settings” choose
“Install Digi RealPort on this computer” and click “Next”.

7) These settings can be verified in following window “Verify
configuration” eventually corrected by clicking “Next”. To
acknowledge, click “Next”

8) On the screen “Save settings” is saved configuration and
started installation of “Serial adapter Digi Connect ME”
and “COM port Digi Connect ME (COMx)”; these device
can be found in Device Manager of the computer.

9) Successful installation ends with screen “Congratulation!”
with report about end of the installation. Click “Finish”, and
wizard ends.

6

ELO E221ZKE001

3.6 Virtual Port settings

User can change settings in Device Manager. There should be
“Multiport serial adapter” caption, under the “Digi connect Wi-
ME” device. Select “Properties”, tab “Advanced”, button
”Properties”. Here user can change a device name, COM port, IP
address and port (assign device with IP address to the COM port;
you can list all devices in the network by clicking “Browse”), enable
ciphering.

Caption “Digi Connect Wi-ME (COMx)” allows to change
proprietary communication protocol (speed, parity and so on), but
usually it is not necessary as application overrides these settings.

3.7 Uninstalling the adapter drivers

Driver can be uninstalled in Device Manager, caption „Multiport
serial adapter” right click on device “Digi connect Wi-ME”, in
menu select “Uninstall”. After this procedure the devices “Digi
connect ME” from captions “Ports (COM & LPT)” and
“Multiport serial adapter” disappear.

3.8 Adapter configuration over the web interface

The adapters network layer (Ethernet) can be configured either
with web browser or by an utility. It can be accessed by a Telnet too.
Bellow described is the web-interface. Notice, that entries may
differ version by version.

1. Start configuration utility DigiConf. Here user can see the
configuration, change settings, start Telnet or web session
and restart the adapter. Double click the device or click
“Open web interface”
or put the interface's IP address straight to the address line
of the web-browser.

7

ELO E221ZKE001

2. Fill the name and password (default is: root/dbps).Then
configuration window appears.

3. Startup window “Home” offers overview of the settings
and there is link to tutorial too.

4. A ”Network” section contains:
IP Settings – IP address assignment
Network Services Settings – offers some network services
Advanced Network Settings – other settings

Every settings change must be confirmed with “Apply”
button.

5. A “Serial Ports” section allows to set up device profile as
described in chapter 3.9. User can choose among RealPort,
TCP/UDP sockets, Serial bridge and others.

8

ELO E221ZKE001

6. In a “GPIO” section user can configure all five pins of the
General Purpose port as Input/Output/RS232 Control signal.
When some of them are configured as input, it is possible to
enable sending alarms by an e-mail.

7. “Alarms” can be set if either any GPIO inputs state
combination comes or required pattern in serial data flow
appears.

8. “System” section stores network ID strings – adapter's name,
administrator contact..

9. “Remote management” enables the remote configuring the
adapter with Connectware Manager

10. In a “Users” section can be be managed user approved to
login and configure the adapter and assigned different rights
for every user.

11. A “Management” section shows active configuration and
allows some changes to that. It depends on chosen profile.

12. “Administration” section allows to customize web interface,
update firmware, backup profile settings, factory reset,
settings overview and remote reboot.

The configuring should be finished by clicking “logout”.

3.9 Serial Port profiles

As mentioned in chapter 1.1, the adapter can operate in different
modes. In the configuration window of the web interface, section
“Configuration \ Serial ports” can be chosen the proper mode by
clicking the “port n” link. The “Serial Port Configuration“ window
appears. Click the “Change Profile...” link, and choose the right

9

ELO E221ZKE001

profile. Additional info can be found under the link “More...”:

1. RealPort – maps serial port over the Ethernet (COM port
redirection).

2. Console management – allows to access a device's console
port (such as routers, switches.) over a network connection.

3. TCP Sockets - the TCP Sockets Profile allows a serial
device to communicate over a TCP network

4. UDP Sockets - the UDP Sockets Profile allows a serial
device to communicate using UDP

5. Serial Bridge - the Serial Bridge Profile configures one side
of a serial bridge. A bridge connects two serial devices over
the network as if they were connected with a serial cable –
so called Serial tunnelling. As it it commonly used
configuration, installation procedure follows:

a) Under the Configuration heading, select Serial Ports,

then select the port to be configured.

b) Select Change Profile....

c) On the Select Port Profile page, select Serial Bridge and

click the “Apply” button.

d) Check Initiate serial bridge to the following device.

• Enter the IP Address of the other Digi device server.

• In the TCP Port box, type the Raw TCP port number

for the destination serial port. If the serial port is the
first or the only port on the device server, the value is

10

ELO E221ZKE001

2101.

e) Check Allow other devices to initiate serial bridge. The

default TCP Port rarely needs to be changed.

f) Click Apply to save the configuration.

g) Configure the Basic Port Settings to match the settings

of the attached serial device and click Apply to save the
configuration.

h) Follow the same steps to configure the other Digi device

server of the bridge, specifying the IP address of the first
Digi device server.

6. Local Configuration - the Local Configuration Profile
allows you to connect standard terminals or terminal
emulation programs to the serial port in order to use the
serial port as a console to access the command line interface.

7. Modem Emulation - the Modem Emulation Profile allows
you to configure the serial port to act as a modem.

8. Custom - the Custom Profile is an advanced option to allow
full configuration of the serial port.

Keep in mind, once you configure the adapter to the Serial

Bridge, you will be able to configure the adapter No More!!

If needed so, the factory reset must be done!

11

ELO E221ZKE001

4.0 Testing

Plug the adapter to the Ethernet network. Power up the adapter.
After a second should light up an orange indicator LNK (close to
the Ethernet socket).. In a minute should LNK indicator (orange)
light on. If not, the cable may be defective or improper wired (when
connecting to the endpoint like PC – you should use cross-over UTP
cable, in other cases use straight UTP cable) or power supply is not
good or module might be damaged. In a while the green indicator
ACT starts blinking indicating a network traffic. Make sure drivers
are installed (see chap. 3.5). Start DigiWiz. application from
supplied CD-ROM and click “Next” to discover the adapter. If it
appears in the window, installation was successful. Finish the
DigiWiz application (click “Next”). See the port number in Device
Manager. Connect loopback to the RS232 port (connecting Tx and
Rx together) and run the Autotest application from the installation
CD-ROM. Fill up the port number and click “Start data transfer”. If
everything is O.K, the message “Data transfered successfully”
appears; while if not, the error message “Timeout on Device Read”
will be seen.

For testing purpose can be helpful a HyperTerminal, which is part
of the operating system MS Windows.

12

ELO E221ZKE001

5.0 Troubleshooting

Symptom Solution

The LNK indicator does
not come up

Check power supply polarity,
voltage

Check Ethernet status and cable

LNK lights, but cannot
locate adapter in computer

Check PC network settings

Everything works but
serial connection

Check a serial cable

Check if the serial port installed in
Device Manager

Check adapter configuration,
especially serial interface

6.0 Ordering info

Ordering code is ELO E221

The Adapter is delivered with installation CD-ROM and this
manual. Serial cable with DB9 connectors is an optional accessory
and must be ordered separately. Please include the cable length and
connector type in the order then.

13

ELO E221ZKE001

7.0 Technical info

Ethernet interface

Standard IEEE 802.3

Connector RJ-45 socket UTP

Transmission speed 10/100 Mbps, automatic

Modulation CCK / DQPSK / DBPSK

Operation full duplex, half duplex

IP address assignment static, DHCP, auto IP

Supported protocols TCP, UDP, DHCP, SNMP, HTTP,

SMTP, ARP, ICMP, IGMP

Security SSL v3.0 / TLS v1.0, AES 128bit

RS-232 interface

Connector DB9 male

Transmission speed max. 230 kb/s

Transmitted signals TXD, RXD, RTS, CTS, DTR,

DSR, DCD
Flow control HW or SW (Xon / Xoff)
GPIO general I/O with RS232 voltage

levels (± 12V)

Others

Configurability over web interface (HTTP/HTTPS)
Ethernet indicators LNK – orange (Link)

ACT – green (Activity)
RS-232 indicators Tx – orange (Trasmit)

Rx – green (Receive)
Power indicator PWR – green
Power supply 9-24V DC
Current consupt. 150mA at 12V
Dimensions (WxLxH): 80 x 120 x 25 mm
Storage temperature - 10 .. +55 °C
Operating temperature + 0 .. +50 °C
Humidity 0 – 95% (non-condensing)

14

ELO E221ZKE001

15