Ripex In Detail; Modes Of Operation; Bridge Mode - RACOM RipEX User Manual

RipEX in detail

2. RipEX in detail

2.1. Modes of operation

Radio modem RipEX is best suited for transmission of a large number of short messages where a
guaranteed delivery time is required, i.e. for mission critical applications.
RipEX has the following basic uses:
• Polling
In poll-response networks a central master unit communicates with a number of remote radiomodems
one at a time. The master unit exchanges data with the currently connected remote radio, and when
finished, it establishes a new connection with the next remote radio according to the polling order.
• Report-by-exception
In report-by-exception networks remote units can be contacted similarly to polling networks. In ad-
dition, any remote unit can spontaneously send data to the master unit (typically an alarm).
• Mesh
In mesh type networks any radio modem in the network can access any other radio modem randomly
and spontaneously. Mesh network can also host polling or report-by-exception applications, even
in several instances.

2.2. Bridge mode

A packet received through any interface is broadcast to the appropriate interfaces of all units within the
network. Packets received on COM are broadcast to both COM1 and COM2 at remote sites, allowing
you to connect 2 RTU's to any radio modem.
Any unit can be configured as a repeater. A repeater relays all packets it receives through the radio
channel. The network implements safety mechanisms which prevent cyclic loops in the radio channel
(e.g. when a repeater receives a packet from another repeater) or duplicate packets delivered to the
user interface (e.g. when RipEX receives a packet directly and then from a repeater).
Beside standard packet termination by an "Idle" period on the serial port (a pause between received
bytes) the bridge mode also offers "streaming". While in streaming mode, transmission on the radio
channel starts immediately, without waiting for the end of the received frame on COM => zero latency.
The bridge mode is suitable for all polling applications.
Note
Limited broadcast 255.255.255.255 and Direct broadcast e.g. 192.168.255.255 as well as
Multicast (224.0.0.0 through 239.255.255.255) on Ethernet are supported and transferred
over the network.
You can see an instructional video explaining the Bridge mode functionality here: http://www.ra-
com.eu/ripex-bridge-mode
14 RipEX Radio modem & Router – © RACOM s.r.o.