GE MDS SD Series Technical Manual page 15

Standard Modes
(Modes covered by
this manual)
x710 Mode:
Different Manual
Required
MDS 05-4846A01, Rev. H
• Packet Mode—Payload data from the radio's serial and Ethernet
ports is assembled into packets and transmitted over the air.
Packet mode supports Ethernet Bridging, AES 128-bit encryp-
tion, and Virtual Radio Channels (VRC). This mode requires an
all-SD radio network.
• Packet w/MAC—This mode is similar to Packet Mode above,
but adds a Media Access Control (MAC) layer to the feature set.
The MAC provides robust collision avoidance, with an AP con-
trolling which unit can access the communication channel, and
when, for maximum efficiency of the radio channel. This mode
supports push traffic, data retry, Virtual Radio Channels (VRC),
AES 128-bit encryption, Peer-to-Peer, and Store and Forward
operation. This mode requires an all-SD radio network.
• Transparent Mode—This mode is over-the-air compatible with
MDS x710 transceivers, while supporting payload data encapsu-
lated in IP at the Ethernet port. This mode is ideal for mixed net-
works containing SD and older MDS x710 radios. It allows
currently deployed x710 networks to add support for Ethernet
data at either the Master or Remote radios. Note that Ethernet
Bridging is not supported in this mode.
Transparent Mode also offers AES Encryption and added security
for DLINK polling. DLINK Encryption is only available in
Transparent Mode when AES Encryption is enabled. Transparent
w/AES Encryption requires an all SD radio network.
• x710 Mode—This mode provides direct, drop-in compatibility
with MDS x710 (4710 or 9710) transceivers, and uses the same
core command set as these radios. It is designed for use in systems
containing a mix of SD radios and legacy MDS x710 units.
IMPORTANT: This manual does not cover x710 Mode opera-
tion. Refer instead to the following manuals for x710 instruc-
tions:
• Start-Up Guide (x710 Mode)— Part No. 05-4669A01
• Technical Manual (x710 Mode)—Part No. 05-4670A01
Figure 3. SD Transceivers offer compatibility with older MDS x710
Transceivers (left), and may be used for replacement and/or
interoperability in these networks. A retrofit kit is available for
connector conversion (see Table 1).
SD Series Technical Manual
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