Alpha Micro NetPort User Manual
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Alpha Micro NetPort User Manual

Rs232 to ethernet adaptor
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NetPort User Guide
Version: v1.2 July 2020

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Summary of Contents for Alpha Micro NetPort

  • Page 1 NetPort User Guide Version: v1.2 July 2020...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    Assign IP Manually ....................... 10 4.3.1 If the NetPort is shown in DeviceInstaller: ..............10 4.3.2 If the NetPort is NOT shown in DeviceInstaller: .............12 Changing NetPort’s Serial Parameters to connect to your Equipment ........ 14 4.4.1 Via Web Interface ......................14 4.4.2 4.4.3 Via Telnet ........................17...

  • Page 3: Introduction

    1 Introduction This User Guide provides a familiarisation tool to allow you to get your NetPort connected and get your RS232 equipment on the network as quickly as possible. It will take you step by step through hardware setup and configuration and help you verify that everything is working.

  • Page 4: What's In The Box

    AMCPS081 and can be ordered separately should your application require With LAN06, this PSU can be used to power NetPort and the RS232 equipment but please check compatibility of your RS232 equipment before applying power to LAN06 versions. NetPort can accept input voltages from 5v to 30v DC.

  • Page 5: Connecting Netport

    This procedure assumes that the PC is connected to the network. You may connect a crossover Ethernet cable directly between the PC and NetPort if a network is not available but you will need to fix the IP address of both PC & NetPort for consistent operation.

  • Page 6: Configuring Netport

    Set up a ‘serial tunnel’ from the network to the NetPort • Change settings in NetPort to make it compatible with your serial equipment. The following diagram may help you to establish what decisions you need to make and the...
  • Page 7 Deciding the best routes Power up NetPort on your LAN to getting connected Do you want to run NetPort with a FIXED IP addresss? Dynamic IP address allocated by a DHCP Server (this means the IP could change over time)

  • Page 8: What You Need To Know Before You Start

    IP address, Subnet & Gateway from a DHCP Sever. You have several options for manually assigning an IP to your unit. We recommend that you connect the NetPort to the network and assign the IP address using DeviceInstaller, which is on the NetPort CDROM.

  • Page 9: Install Deviceinstaller

    Press Search to detect NetPorts on the network. If the Search window reveals ‘No Devices Found’, press Search again until your NetPort is shown. You may need to wait for up to 30 seconds for all NetPorts to be shown, keep pressing Search.

  • Page 10: Assign Ip Manually

    There are 2 ways to achieve this depending on whether or not you have successfully detected NetPort using Device Installer. 4.3.1 If the NetPort is shown in DeviceInstaller: 1. Select the NetPort to be modified 2. Click the Assign IP icon.
  • Page 11 5. Click the Assign button and wait several seconds until a confirmation message displays. Click Finish. 6. You should see NetPort displayed like this:...

  • Page 12: If The Netport Is Not Shown In Deviceinstaller

    4.3.2 If the NetPort is NOT shown in DeviceInstaller: 1) Click on Assign IP 2) When prompted, enter the hardware address in the format 00-20- 4a-XX-XX-XX, where the XXs are unique numbers assigned to each individual product. Click Next. 3) Select Assign a specific IP Address...
  • Page 13 4) Enter the IP address. The Subnet mask displays automatically based on the IP address; if desired, you may change it. On a local network, you can leave the Default gateway blank (all zeros). Click Next. 5) Click the Assign button and wait several seconds until a confirmation message displays.

  • Page 14: Changing Netport's Serial Parameters To Connect To Your Equipment

    • RS232 port using an application such as HyperTerminal. 4.4.1 Via Web Interface 4.4.2 Open a browser on a computer on a compatible Subnet as the NetPort. Enter the IP Address of the NetPort into the browser and press ENTER.
  • Page 15 Within 5 seconds a Java-based applet will upload into the browser and look like this:...
  • Page 16 In the Server Properties page: IP Address: The unique address that the NetPort resides at. Over type this field to fix the IP Address – this may mean that it is incompatible with other LAN’s that it is subsequently connected to.

  • Page 17: Via Telnet

    Select None for simple 3 wire UART connection where flow control is not necessary Local Port This is the TCP/IP Port that NetPort uses for the data in & out of the RS232 port. In most cases set this to 10001 for a standard connection. (older units may be factory set to 10001)
  • Page 18 RS232 port of NetPort and not the config menus. Once Telnet has established a link: You will need to press ENTER within 3 seconds or NetPort will time out and close the session. Once the session has begun NetPort will scroll through all of its config in an...

  • Page 19: Via Serial Port (Master Config Port)

    A null modem cable in its simplest form connects the GND (pin 5) and crosses the Tx (pin 3) and Rx (pin 2) wires over. LAN02 variants will connect directly to the COM Port. DO NOT POWER THE NETPORT YET...
  • Page 20 If the CAPS lock is enabled on your keyboard NetPort will not respond. Turn off CAPS Lock, turn off power to NetPort and repeat the above. 4. You will need to press ENTER within 3 seconds or NetPort will time out and close the session.

  • Page 21: Sending/Receiving Data

    Socket. You have 2 options without creating a specific software application: 1. Use Com Port Redirector to assign a Virtual Com Port to the NetPort, you can then use your existing application software to communicate via COMx over the Ethernet without any TCP/IP knowledge.
  • Page 22 Ethernet to the NetPort. Note: At the time of going to press, NetPort is factory set to Local Port = 14001 and will need changing by the user to 10001. See section: 4.4 Changing NetPort’s Serial Parameters to connect to your Equipment •...

  • Page 23: If You Have An Application Already Which Can Talk To A Tcp/Ip Socket

    RS232 port using an application such as HyperTerminal. Note: At the time of going to press, NetPort is factory set to Local Port = 14001 and will need changing by the user to 10001. See section: 4.4 Changing NetPort’s Serial Parameters to...

  • Page 24: Appendix A - Setup Mode Parameters

    Appendix A – Setup Mode Parameters The following is the raw breakdown of the Setup Mode Parameters that apply to NetPort. You can enter Setup Mode using the following procedures locally or remotely: • Use a Telnet connection to configure the unit over the network.
  • Page 25 Setup Menu Options 4. Select an option on the menu by entering the number of the option in the Your choice? field and pressing Enter. 5. To enter a value for a parameter, type the value and press Enter, or to confirm a current value, just press Enter.

  • Page 26: Server Configuration (Network Configuration)

    6.2 Server Configuration (Network Configuration) The unit’s basic network parameters display when you select Server configuration (option 0). The IP Address, Set Gateway IP Address, and Netmask fields display the current values. Server Configuration Parameters 6.2.1 IP Address The IP address must be set to a unique value in your network.

  • Page 27: Channel 1 Configuration (Serial Port Parameters)

    Set Gateway IP Address The gateway address, or router, allows communication to other LAN segments. The gateway address should be the IP address of the router connected to the same LAN segment as the unit. The gateway address must be within the local network. The default is N (No), meaning the gateway address has not been set.

  • Page 28: Baudrate

    Default Serial Port Settings are: 6.3.1 Baudrate The unit and attached serial device, such as a modem, must agree on a speed or baud rate to use for the serial connection. Valid baud rates are 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600 (default), 19200, 38400, 57600, 115200, and 230400 bits per second. In standard Clock Mode.
  • Page 29 Flow Control Options Port Number The setting represents the source port number in TCP connections. It is the number that identifies the channel for remote initiating connections. The default setting for Port 1 is 10001. The range is 1-65535, except for the following reserved port numbers: Reserved Port Numbers Warning: We recommend that you not use the reserved port numbers for this setting as...
  • Page 30 Connect Mode Options Incoming Connection...
  • Page 31 Response Manual Connection Address Example...
  • Page 32 Autostart (Automatic Connection) To enable the hostlist: Enter a Connect Mode of 0x20 (2X), where X is any digit. The menu shows you A list of current entries already defined in the product. To delete, modify, or add an entry, select Yes. If you enter an IP address of 0.0.0.0, that entry and all others after it are deleted.
  • Page 33 Modem Mode In Modem (Emulation) Mode, the unit presents a modem interface to the attached serial device. It accepts AT-style modem commands, and handles the modem signals correctly. Normally, there is a modem connected to a local PC and a modem connected to a remote machine.
  • Page 34 Modem Mode Commands Note: The unit recognizes these AT commands as single commands such as ATE0 or ATV1; it does not recognize compound commands such as ATE0V. Remote IP Address This is the destination IP address used with an outgoing connection. Remote Port You must set the remote TCP port number for the unit to make outgoing connections.
  • Page 35 DisConnMode This setting determines the conditions under which the unit will cause a network connection to terminate. Note: In DisConnMode (Disconnect Mode), DTR drop either drops the connection or is ignored. Disconnect Mode Options Flush Mode (Buffer Flushing) Using this parameter, you can control line handling and network buffers with connection startup and disconnect.
  • Page 36 Pack Control Two firmware-selectable packing algorithms define how and when packets are sent to the network. The standard algorithm is optimized for applications in which the unit is used in a local environment, allowing for very small delays for single characters, while keeping the packet count low.

  • Page 37: E-Mail Settings

    Telnet Terminal Type This parameter displays only if you enabled the terminal type option in Disconnect Mode. If this option is enabled, you can use the terminal name for the Telnet terminal type. Enter only one name. If the terminal type option is enabled, the unit also reacts to the EOR (end of record) and binary options, which can be used for applications like terminal emulation to IBM hosts.

  • Page 38: Expert Settings

    High CPU Performance mode This option applies to NetPort Iss01 and greater units only. It allows you to increase the CPU performance and utilize the higher baud rates on the serial interface (i.e. 460Kbps and 920Kbps).

  • Page 39: Security Settings

    Monitor Mode at Bootup This option allows you to disable all entries into Monitor Mode during startup, except for the ‘xxx’ sequence. This prevents entry via ‘yyy’, ‘zzz’, ‘xx1’, and ‘yy1’ key sequences (only during the bootup sequence). The default for Monitor Mode at Bootup is enabled. See Appendix B - Using Monitor Mode for more info on Monitor Mode HTTP Port Number This option allows the configuration of the web server port number.
  • Page 40 This setting controls whether the serial port echoes characters it receives. Enable Encryption This option displays only if you purchased the encrypted versions of NetPort (LAN03 or LAN04)). You can enable or disable (default) Rijndael encryption. Rijndael is the block cipher algorithm recently chosen by the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) as the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to be used by the US government.

  • Page 41: Encryption Tutorial

    NetPort. To ease the development process, Alpha Micro can provide an AES encryption DLL for Windows and protocol source code samples.

  • Page 42: Factory Defaults

    Disable Port 77F0 (Hex) Port 77F0 is a setting that allows a custom application to query or set the three NetPort configurable pins (factory set to CTS/RTS/DTR) when they are functioning as general purpose I/O (GPIO). You may want to disable this capability for security purposes. The default setting is the N (No) option, which enables GPIO control.

  • Page 43: Appendix B - Using Monitor Mode

    Appendix B - Using Monitor Mode Monitor Mode is a command-line interface used for diagnostic purposes that allows the user to interrogate the NetPort and perform some low-level network tests, in some cases adding intelligence to the serial equipment to verify network & DHCP status.
  • Page 44 3. To enter the Monitor Mode, press Upper-case M within 5 seconds. The command prompt will be displayed. A 0> prompt indicates that you have successfully entered Monitor Mode and looks like this: Monitor Mode (Telnet) You can perform the following actions, observe upper-case where shown. Queries software header record (16 bytes) of VS x.x.x.x Version...

  • Page 45: Appendix C - Reloading Firmware

    5. For Firmware File, click the Browse button and go to the location where the firmware file resides. Tip: Make sure the NetPort on which you are recovering firmware is connected to this ☺ selected port on your PC and no other applications are accessing this port...

  • Page 46: Appendix D - Hexadecimal Table

    Appendix D – Hexadecimal Table Dec Hex Dec Hex Dec Hex Dec Hex 00000000 01000000 10000000 11000000 00000001 01000001 10000001 11000001 00000010 01000010 10000010 11000010 00000011 01000011 10000011 11000011 00000100 01000100 10000100 11000100 00000101 01000101 10000101 11000101 00000110 01000110 10000110 11000110 00000111 01000111...

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