Introduction - Advantech EKI-1521 User Manual

1.1

Introduction

Advantech's EKI-1500 series of Industrial Device Servers are a robust, feature-rich,
and cost effective way to network-enable equipment in an industrial automation envi-
ronment. The EKI-1521/1522/1524 provides one, two, or four serial ports, two
switched Ethernet ports, a wide range of power inputs, and a compact slim design,
making them an ideal solution for connecting multiple asynchronous RS-232/422/485
serial devices to an Ethernet network.
The two Ethernet ports allow the EKI-1521/1522/1524 to establish two separate
Ethernet connections to two Ethernet domain or two Ethernet Switches in the same
domain. Through dual Ethernet connections, the EKI-1521/1522/1524 greatly
improves the device connectivity reliability, increase system stability, and simplify the
redundant configuration.
By encapsulating serial data and transporting it over Ethernet, the EKI-1521/1522/
1524 allows virtual serial links over Ethernet and IP (TCP/IP, UDP/IP) networks. After
Advantech Serial Device Server Configuration Utility installation, standard serial
operation calls are transparently redirected to the serial device servers, guaranteeing
compatibility with legacy serial devices and enabling backward compatibility with
existing software. EKI-1521/1522/1524 also supports serial tunneling, allowing two
native serial devices to communicate over a network without any hosts and program-
ming. As a result, you can extend limited distance, point-to-point, direct serial con-
nections within the plant, throughout the factory, the facility, the office building, or
across the global enterprise.
The EKI-1521/1522/1524 provides an impressive list of features and functions
enabling multiple industrial devices to be connected, controlled, configured, man-
aged, and updated over a network. With serial ports and two auto-sensing Ethernet
ports, the EKI-1521/1522/1524 can easily connects multiple serial devices to a net-
work.
The transmission speed of the EKI-1521/1522/1524 is up to 1.2M bps totally outstrip-
ping the competition to meet the demand for high-speed exchange. Functionally
transparent and efficient, the EKI-1521/1522/1524 is especially designed for remotely
controlling and monitoring devices via the Internet.
Types of supported devices:
Human Machine Interface (HMI)
Programmable Controller(PLC)
Flow meters
Temperature / pressure monitoring equipment
Gas leak detection device
Scales
Power monitoring equipment
Data Acquisition Modules
EKI-1521/1522/1524 provides various TCP/UDP operations: COM port redirection
(Virtual COM port), TCP server/ client and UDP mode. Serial devices can be con-
nected by means of multi-access modes.
EKI-1521/1522/1524 User Manual 2