Communication Methods

The MBus_ioFlash application supports several different communication methods to access the MBus_ioFlash devices. There are several communication networks that are supported. 

The following communication network types are available:

- "Local Comm Port" type connection indicates that you will communicate with the devices directly through one of the computer's serial ports. Normallly this would be implemented by a USB-RS485 adapter or an RS485 converter connected to one of the computer's own RS232 com ports. Note that the BAUD rate is user definable but the other serial communication parameters are hard coded within the MBus_ioFlash program to match the hardware devices, namely 8-N-1, (8 data bits, no parity, and one stop bit).

Parameter Description
Comm Port Sets the computer's serial communication port to be used. COM1 to COM255 are listed.
If an un-existing COM port is selected, when communication initiates an error message will pop-up: "Communication error: The system cannot find the file specified."

Baud Rate

Sets communication baud rate. Default baud rate is 19200 which is also the default for the devices, highly recommended.

Timeout

Sets how long (in milliseconds) MBus_ioFlash will wait for a device to respond. 

 

- "Remote Ethernet Gateway" type connection indicates that you will communicate with the devices through a Modbus gateway.

Parameter Description
IP Address or DNS IP address or the DNS of the gateway.

TCP Port

TCP communication port of the gateway, 502 is the Modbus standard.

 

- In "Device Simulation" mode all devices are simulated within the computer so no actual communications will be required.