ATOP Technologies GW21W-MAXI Wireless Serial Server User Manual

Atop ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial

Server GW21W-MAXI

User Manual

Version 1.2

Updated on 2004/01/31

Tel: 886-3-5508137

Fax: 886-3-5508131

www.atop.com.tw

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

1 / 56

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

The information contained in this document is the property of Atop Technologies, Inc. and is supplied for

the sole purpose of the operation and maintenance of products of Atop Technologies, Inc. No part of this

publication is to be used for any other purposes, and it is not to be reproduced, copied, disclosed,

transmitted, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any human or computer language, in any form,

by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior express written consent of Atop Technologies, Inc.

Published by

Atop Technologies, Inc.

2F, No. 146, Sec. 1, Tung-Hsing Rd.

Jubei City, Hsinchu 302

Taiwan, R.O.C.

Tel: 886-3-5508137

Fax: 886-3-5508131

www.atop.com.tw

All other product names referenced herein are registered trademarks of their respective companies.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

2 / 56

FCC WARNING

Class B for Ethernet-Serial Server (Model GW21W-MAXI)

Federal Communication Commission Interference Statement

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital

device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide

reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This

equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed

and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio

communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a

particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or

television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the

user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one of the following measures:

- Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna. - Increase the separation between the

equipment and receiver. - Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different

from that to which the receiver is connected. - Consult the dealer or an experienced

radio/TV technician for help. This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules.

Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause

harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received,

including interference that may cause undesired operation. FCC Caution: Any changes

or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could

void the user's authority to operate this equipment.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

FCC Radiation Exposure Statement:

This equipment complies with FCC radiation exposure limits set forth for an uncontrolled

environment. This equipment should be installed and operated with minimum distance

20cm between the radiator & your body. This transmitter must not be co-located or

operating in conjunction with any other antenna or transmitter.

Use only shielded cables to connect other devices to this equipment by RS-232 / RS-485 ports.

Be cautioned that changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for

compliance could void your authority to operate the equipment.

ATOP declared that GW21W-MAXI is limited in CH1~11 by specified firmware controlled in USA.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

3 / 56

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

4 / 56

1. INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................6

1.1 PACKAGING........................................................................................................................... 6

1. 2 APPLICATION CONNECTIVITY................................................................................................. 7

2. NOMENCLATURE AND SETTINGS ..........................................................9

2.1 NOMENCLATURE OF GW21W-MAXI COMPONENTS................................................................ 9

2.2 MODE SWITCH..................................................................................................................... 9

3. HARDWARE INSTALLATION ..................................................................10

3.1 CONFIGURATION.................................................................................................................. 10

3.2 ASSIGNING A NEW IP ADDRESS BY ARP COMMAND .............................................................. 10

3.3 TCP/IP PORT NUMBER ....................................................................................................... 11

4. SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION ...............................................................12

4.1 CONFIGURATION SET BY MONITOR.EXE UTILITY ..................................................................... 12

4.2 CONFIGURATION SET BY TELNET UTILITY .............................................................................. 12

4.3 CONFIGURATION SET BY HYPER TERMINAL CONSOLE UTILITY................................................. 24

4.4 CONFIGURATION SET BY WEB BROWSER............................................................................... 25

4.5 VIRTUAL COM MODE .......................................................................................................... 31

4.5.1 Setup of a virtual COM driver................................................................................... 31

4.5.2 Virtual COM communication..................................................................................... 32

5. SNMP SETUP ...........................................................................................37

5.1 SNMP NETWORK MANAGEMENT PLATFORM ........................................................................ 37

5.2 USING NETWORKVIEW AS AN EXAMPLE............................................................................... 37

6. START WRITING YOUR OWN APPLICATIONS......................................40

6.1 PREPARING THE SYSTEM .................................................................................................... 40

6.2 RUNNING THE SAMPLE PROGRAM........................................................................................ 40

TCPTEST in Visual Basic.................................................................................................. 40

TCPTEST2 in Visual C...................................................................................................... 41

7. DIAGNOSTICS .........................................................................................42

7.1 USE STANDARD TCP/IP UTILITY PING COMMAND ................................................................. 42

7.2 USE MONITOR.EXE CONFIGURATION UTILITY PROGRAM ........................................................ 42

7.3 USE TCPTEST.EXE OR TCPTEST2.EXE SAMPLE PROGRAM ............................................ 43

APPENDIX A: GW21W-MAXI ETHERNET-SERIAL SERVER

SPECIFICATIONS ......................................................................................44

A.1. HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS .............................................................................................. 44

A.2. SOFTWARE SPECIFICATIONS .............................................................................................. 45

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

5 / 56

A.3 CONNECTOR PIN ASSIGNMENTS.......................................................................................... 45

A.3.1 COM Port................................................................................................................. 45

A.3.2 Power terminal block connector............................................................................... 47

A.4 BUZZER/LED MESSAGE ...................................................................................................... 48

Buzzer ............................................................................................................................... 48

LAN LED ........................................................................................................................... 48

COM Port LED .................................................................................................................. 48

RUN LED .......................................................................................................................... 48

APPENDIX B. UPGRADE SYSTEM SOFTWARE .......................................49

B.1 UPGRADE PROCEDURES ..................................................................................................... 49

B.2 CRITICAL ISSUES OF UPGRADING ........................................................................................ 51

B.3 ERROR MESSAGES ............................................................................................................. 51

APPENDIX C. HARDWARE CONFIGURATION ..........................................52

C.1 DISABLE SYSTEM FIRMWARE .............................................................................................. 52

APPENDIX D CONFIGURATION UTILITY...................................................53

D.1 RUN THE UTILITY................................................................................................................. 53

D.2 DETECT OPERATIONAL DEVICES ......................................................................................... 53

D.3 CONFIGURE DEVICES.......................................................................................................... 53

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

6 / 56

1. Introduction

Atop GW21W-MAXI Wireless Ethernet-Serial Server is a gateway between Ethernet (TCP/IP) and

RS-232/RS-485 communications. It allows almost any serial device to be connected to a new or existing

Ethernet network. The information transmitted by GW21W-MAXI is transparent to both host computers

(Ethernet) and devices (RS-232/RS-485). Data coming from the Ethernet (TCP/IP) is sent to the

designated RS-232/RS-485 port and data being received from RS-232/RS-485 port is sent to the Ethernet

(TCP/IP) transparently.

In the computer integration manufacturing or industrial automation area, the Atop GW21W-MAXI

Ethernet-Serial Server is used for field devices to direct connect to Ethernet network. Terminal Server

(main control program run in GW21W-MAXI) transforms whatever data received from RS-232/RS-485 to

TCP/UDP port then connects devices to the Ethernet network via a single application program or multiple

application programs.

Many control devices provide the ability to communicate with hosts through RS-232/RS-485 however

RS-232/RS-485 serial communication has its limitations. For one, it is hard to transfer data through a long

distance. With Atop GW21W-MAXI, it is possible to communicate with a remote device in the Intranet

environment or even in the Internet and thus, increases the communication distance dramatically.

Flexible configuration options enable this unit to be setup remotely over Ethernet by Telnet, web browser,

or Window utility. Packed in a rugged DIN Rail mountable case and 9~30V DC power input range,

GW21W-MAXI is ideal for almost any industrial and manufacturing automation.

1.1 Packaging

Atop Ethernet-Serial Server x 1

Mini DIN to RS-232 DB 9 connector cable

Atop Ethernet-Serial Server quick start guide x 1

Product CD containing configuration utility and sample programs x 1

A label with MAC address at the right side of device in the format of "0060E9-xxxxxx".

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

7 / 56

1. 2 Application Connectivity

TCP Server mode

Host

Access Point

RS-232/RS-485

GW21W-MAX

I

PL

C

TCP Client mode

Host

RS-232

/RS-485

RS-232

/RS-485

RS-232

/RS-485

Access Point

Ca

r

d

R

eade

r

Ca

r

d

R

eade

r

Ca

r

d

R

eade

r

GW21W-MAXI GW21W-MAXI GW21W-MAX

I

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

8 / 56

UDP mode

GW21W-MAXI

Access Point

RS-232/RS-485

Display

Tunneling mode

GW21W-MAXI GW21W-MAXI

RS-232/RS-485 RS-232/RS-48

5

PLC Touch Screen

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

9 / 56

2. Nomenclature and Settings

2.1 Nomenclature of GW21W-MAXI Components

Figure 2.1 shows the names of GW21W-MAXI components. In the figure, the indicated switch settings

represent factory settings.

Led Indicator

RS232C Mini-Din

Connector

RS232C Terminal

Block Connector

Power Supply Input

Connector

Antenna

RS232C Mini-Din Pin

Assignment

Mode Switch

Table

Mode Switch

Figure 2.1. Nomenclature of GW21W-MAXI Components

2.2 MODE Switch

This sets or initializes the operating mode for the GW21W-MAXI.

The factory default setting is that Switch 1 (SW1) and Switch 2 (SW2) are set to OFF. You can use the

Mode switch to change the operating mode from the factory default settings to your desired mode.

GW21W-MAXI can be setup either RS-232, RS-485, RS-422 or Console configuration mode by MODE

Switch.

Table 2.1. MODE Switch Combinations

SW1 SW2 Mode

OFF RS-232 OFF

ON CONSOLE

OFF RS-485 ON

ON RS-422

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

10 / 56

3. Hardware Installation

■ Prepare necessary cables, hub, power cord and RS-232/RS-485 connector.

■ Place GW21W-MAXI to the area that an access point can cover.

■ Connect a serial device to a serial port of GW21W-MAXI, make sure the right connection of either

RS-232 or RS-485.

■ Plug in DC-9-30V, the buzzer will beep and the RUN LED will blink if GW21W-MAXI functions normally.

Please refer to Appendix A.4 to see all of LED messages.

■ Use monitor.exe configuration utility in the product CD or diskette to diagnose GW21W-MAXI. If it

starts up successfully, you are able to find the IP and MAC addresses of GW21W-MAXI. You can change

the network parameters of GW21W-MAXI to join your LAN by changing its IP address, gateway IP

address and subnet mask.

Note: If there are more than one access points, the access point’s ESSID must be the same.

3.1 Configuration

Atop GW21W-MAXI Ethernet-Serial Server is shipped with default settings shown in the following table:

Property Default Value

IP Address 10.0.50.100

Gateway 10.0.0.254

Subnet Mask 255.255.0.0

User Name admin

Password Null

COM 1 9600,None,8,1,No flow control, buffer disabled, packet delimiter timer 1ms

Link 1 Type: TCP Server, Listen port 4660, Filter=0.0.0.0, Virtual COM disabled

SysName of SNMP name

SysLocation of SNMP location

SysContact of SNMP contact

NOTE: Atop provides a reset button to restore system settings including IP address, gateway IP address

and subnet mask etc. to the defaults. Press and hold the reset button for 5 seconds till the server reboots.

3.2 Assigning a new IP Address by ARP command

Arp –s is used to assign a static IP address of GW21W-MAXI and add this static entries to the Arp cache

of the computer, when TCP/IP packet with destination port number 1 is sent to GW21W-MAXI, it causes

the device to check its MAC address with IP address, once GW21W-MAXI finds those two unmatched, it

will reboot and change to the new IP address which was set by Arp –s command. The following example

uses ARP to assign a static IP address of GW21W-MAXI using its MAC address printed on the label of

the rear panel, then use Telnet to send the TCP/IP packet with destination port number 1 to

GW21W-MAXI, after GW21W-MAXI reboots it will change its IP address to the new one.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

11 / 56

Note:

1. Arp command can only be used to set a static IP address of GW21W-MAXI using system default

user name admin and default password null.

2. Only TCP/IP packet with destination port number 1 will lead GW21W-MAXI to reboot and change the

IP address.

3.3 TCP/IP Port Number

Port number 4660 is default of GW21W-MAXI and is associated with serial port COM1. After your

application program connects to the TCP port 4660 of GW21W-MAXI, data being sent to this TCP

connection from your application program are transparent to the COM1 of GW21W-MAXI. Vice versa is

also true.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

12 / 56

4. Software Configuration

4.1 Configuration set by monitor.exe utility

Use monitor.exe that comes with the product CD or diskette to configure the network parameters of

GW21W-MAXI. As you can see from the following picture, you can change IP address, gateway IP

address, subnet mask, user ID and password of GW21W-MAXI from the utility. For more details of the

utility please refer to Appendix-D Configuration Utility.

4.2 Configuration set by Telnet utility

You can use Telnet utility to change configuration settings of GW21W-MAXI. To do so, please do the

following.

Log in to the system

■ Telnet to GW21W-MAXI using command “Telnet IP_address”.

For example Telnet 10.0.154.66

1. After Telnet to GW21W-MAXI, system prompts for a password, the default password is null.

Note: You can press the reset button of GW21W-MAXI to reset the password to the default value.

2. After verifying the password, the following terminal screen appears.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

13 / 56

Notes:

1. If GW21W-MAXI does not receive any command within 1 minute, Telnet will be terminated

automatically.

2. The changes of networking parameters will take effect only when you exit and restart GW21W-MAXI.

3. Select “1” from “Input choice and enter (0~5):” to enter overview page as following:

This page gives you the general information of GW21W-MAXI including IP and MAC address, SNMP

information, kernel and AP version, and connection status of the device.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

14 / 56

Networking

Select “2” from “Input choice and enter (0~5):” to enter Networking page as following:

This page allows you to change network settings of the device including IP address, subnet mask,

gateway IP address and SNMP information of GW21W-MAXI. Please notice that any setting change

made on this page won’t take effect until you restart the device.

Change the password

1. Select “3” from “Input choice and enter (0~5):” the following screen appears.

2. If you want to change the password, please type the old password in the “Please input old password”

field, type the new password in the “Please input new password” and the “Please verify new

password” fields.

Note: You can press the reset key of product to reset password to the default value.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

15 / 56

COM1 Setup

Select “4” from “Input choice and enter (0~5):” the following screen appears

The page gives you the opportunity to configure parameters of COM1 setting which include COM1

working mode, port parameters, enabling or disabling serial buffer’s data and setting packet delimiter.

LINK1 Setup

Type 1 from “Input choice and enter (1~4):” of COM1, the following screen appears. Configure

GW21W-MAXI as TCP server and the local port is 4660. IP filter is disabled by default, if IP filter is

enabled, only source IP 10.0.0.154 can connect to GW21W-MAXI.

Note: IP filtering function is disabled if setting FILTER_IP to “0.0.0.0”.

Configure GW21W-MAXI as TCP client, the destination IP is 10.0.29.123, destination port is 666.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

16 / 56

Configure GW21W-MAXI as UDP client, the local port is 4660, the destination IP is 10.0.29.254,

destination port is 666.

COM port setting

Type 2 from “Input choice and enter (1~4):” of COM1, the following screen appears, you can then give the

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

17 / 56

COM port alias name, set the baud rate and parity, determine number of data bit and stop bit, and decide

if you want to use flow control and the type of flow control you want to use.

Enabling serial data buffer

Type 3 from “Input choice and enter (1~4):” of COM1, by default COM port serial data buffer is enabled

meaning that when TCP/IP Ethernet connection is broken, serial data collected from serial device will be

kept in GW21W-MAXI, once TCP/IP connection is resumed, the serial data will be sent through Ethernet

connection, you can disable it if you wish.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

18 / 56

Setting packet delimiter

Packet delimiter is a way of controlling packets within serial communication. It can prevent packets from

being cut thus keep the packets complete. GW21W-MAXI provides two ways of parameter setting as inter

character timer and terminator. By default packet delimiter timer is 0 ms, you can change timer shown in

the following figure:

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

19 / 56

You can also choose character pattern as the packet delimiter indicated in the following figure:

Accessing Wireless LAN setting

Select “5” from “Input choice and enter (0~5):” the following screen appears.

The above page gives you the general information about GW21W-MAXI wireless configurations including

the access point it connects to, the current channel and transmitting rate it communicates with the other

wireless devices, topology it uses, and what the ESSID (extended service set identifier) and WEP

(wireless encryption protocol) are if you use them.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

20 / 56

Wireless LAN topology

You can choose either infrastructure or ad-hoc mode for GW21W-MAXI as indicated in the following

figure:

Wireless LAN Transmission Rate

You can set GW21W-MAXI transmission rate as 1 Mbps, 2Mbps, 5.5Mbps, 11Mbps, or full auto based on

802.11 standard shown in the following figure:

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

21 / 56

Wireless LAN Ad-hoc channel

You have to select the same channel for two wireless devices to talk to each other as indicated in the

following figure:

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

22 / 56

Wireless LAN ESSID

ESSID (extended service set identification) is used to identify all of the computers in the wireless LAN

system, it is different from BSSID (basic service set identification) which contains a single access point

(AP) and several other nodes. The following diagram illustrates this concept:

By default, GW21W-MAXI’S ESSID is NULL meaning that it can connect to any access point it detects

regardless of SSID of the access point. However if there are two access points within the coverage of

GW21W-MAXI, it will not connect to either of them, in this case you have to specifically input the ESSID of

one of the access points for connection. From telnet you can input ESSID as indicated in the following

figure:

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

23 / 56

Wireless Encryption Protocol or Wired Equivalent Protocol ( WEP ) Setting

For security reason, GW21W-MAXI can set up to use WEP key of 40 bits or 128 bits to securely

communicate in the wireless network. Telnet WEP key set up screen is as following:

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

24 / 56

4.3 Configuration set by hyper terminal console utility

1. Power off GW21W-MAXI.

2. Set the MODE switch SW1 to ‘OFF’ and SW2 to ‘ON’.

3. Use a PC to connect to GW21W-MAXI’s console with RS-232 cross over cable.

4. Power on GW21W-MAXI.

5. Open a hyper terminal program from your computer Start menu -> Programs -> Accessories ->

Communication -> hyper terminal, set COM1 parameters as follows.

- Baud rate : 9600bps

- Data bit: 8 bits

- Parity: None

- Stop bit: 1bit

- Flow control: None

NOTE:

At present time baud rate is fixed at 115200bps for console port communication, RS-232C

parameters of your computer COM port and GW21W-MAXI must be the same.

6. Once hyper terminal is connected, type in username and password then the following hyper terminal

window appears.

7. The following configuration operations are totally the same as those configure by telnet.

8. After finishing console settings, power off GW21W-MAXI, put SW1 and SW2 back to the previous

setting.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

25 / 56

4.4 Configuration set by web browser

It is also possible to modify various settings through the web server interface. To do so, please follow the

steps below.

Log in to the system

1. From web browser, type in the IP address of GW21W-MAXI in the URL.

Example: http://10.0.50.100

2. The following authentication screen appears. Please type in user name and password then click on

“OK”. The user name is admin and password is null by default.

3. The following overview page appears.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

26 / 56

Change the password

1. Click on the “Security” link and the following screen appears.

2. Please input the old password in the “Old Password” field, input the new password in the “New

Password” and the “Verified Password” fields. Then click on “Save Configuration” to update the

password.

Note: You can press the reset key of product to reset password to the default value.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

27 / 56

Network setup

Click on the “Networking” link and the following screen appears. Fill in IP information under TCP/IP field.

Enable SNMP by checking “Enable”, fill in network identification information under SNMP field and click

on the “Save Configuration” button to save the changes, please notice that the setting will not become

effective until you restart GW21W-MAXI.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

28 / 56

COM1 Setup

Click on the “COM1” link and the following screen appears. Fill in COM1 parameter information under

COM1 field then click on “Save Configuration” button to save the changes.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

29 / 56

LINK1 Setup

1. Click on the “COM1” link and the following screen appears, you can configure GW21W-MAXI as

transparent mode by default. Configure GW21W-MAXI as TCP server and the local port is 4660, IP

filter is disabled by default, if IP filter is enabled, only source IP 10.0.29.11 can connect to

GW21W-MAXI.

Configure GW21W-MAXI as TCP client, the destination IP is 10.0.29.11, destination port is 4660.

Configure GW21W-MAXI as UDP mode. Local port is 666, destination IP is 10.0.50.100 and destination

port is 4660.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

30 / 56

2. Click on “Save Configuration” to save the changes.

3. If the update is successful, the following screen appears.

Wireless LAN Setup

You can configure wireless LAN parameters through web pages, the following page gives you the

information of the access point GW21W-MAXI is connected to, it also allows you to configure

GW21W-MAXI’s wireless topology, ESSID and WEP security.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

31 / 56

4.5 Virtual COM Mode

Virtual COM driver mode for windows converts COM data to LAN data to control the RS-232C port on a

GW21W-MAXI via the LAN. By creating virtual COM ports on the PC, Atop virtual COM redirects the

communications from the virtual COM ports to an IP address and port number on a GW21W-MAXI that

connects the serial line device to the network. The following figure is Atop virtual COM connection

diagram.

4.5.1 Setup of a virtual COM driver

Correspondence OS

Atop virtual COM driver can be used on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and

Windows Millennium Edition.

Cautions on Use

1. Support firmware AP v3.0 and above of ABLELink Ethernet-Serial Servers.

2. When you change the IP address of one of the 2 virtual COM ports, delete the one just being

modified, then add the deleted port again, this will cause the host PC to break down(blue

screen).

Limitation

Currently Atop virtual COM only acts as TCP client

Installation

Make sure you have turned off all anti-virus software before beginning the installation. Run

Setup.exe program included in the CD to install Atop virtual COM for your operating system.

Uninstalling

1. From Windows Start menu select Setting, Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs.

2. Select virtual COM Port and press the Add/Remove button to remove the program, or From

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

32 / 56

Windows Start menu select Programs, Atop, Virtual COM, uninstall to remove the program.

4.5.2 Virtual COM communication

4.5.2.1 Enable virtual COM on GW21W-MAXI

From web browser access to GW21W-MAXI by typing its IP address, click on COM1 link to access

COM1 page, on the top half of the page click on “TCP Server” and enable virtual COM by putting a

check in front of the “Enable” button, then type in the local port number in the “Local Port” field as

indicated in the following figure:

or you can enable virtual COM through telnet by setting COM1 as TCP server, and type in the local

port number for COM1, then enable virtual COM as shown in the following figure:

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

33 / 56

4.5.2.2 Run virtual COM program on monitoring PC

From monitoring PC open virtual COM program, the main window is shown as following:

Invite Devices

Click on the ‘Invite Devices’ button, the program searches for available ABLELink

Ethernet-Serial devices and pops up their network and device information. The shown devices

can be selected for the further operation as following:

Add virtual COM port

Click on the ‘Add Vcom’ button, the following dialog box will pop up for you to choose virtual

COM port number which maps to GW21W-MAXI COM port. Input GW21W-MAXI IP address in

the “Device IP” field, port 1 is the only choice in the “Device COM Port” field since

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

34 / 56

GW21W-MAXI is one port device, by default GW21W-MAXI TCP port number is 4660 which is

indicated in “Device TCP Port” field. If you select a device from invited device in the lower half

panel of the main window, the IP Address and port information will inherit from the selected

device.

After adding a virtual COM port its information will show on the left upper panel of the main

window. Move the mouse cursor on the existing virtual COM port and left click to highlight it for

further operation.

Edit a virtual COM port

To modify the setting of an existing virtual COM port, select a virtual COM port from the main

window and click on the ‘Edit Vcom’ button, the VcomEdit dialog box will pop up as following,

you can change port name, device IP, device COM port and device TCP port settings from this

pop up window.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

35 / 56

Delete a virtual COM port:

If you want to remove a virtual COM port, select the virtual COM port from the main window

then click on the ‘Delete Vcom’ button. The confirmation dialog box will show up, confirm by

selecting the ‘Yes’ button to delete the virtual COM port.

COM port setting

You can change COM port settings of GW21W-MAXI by selecting the correspondent virtual

COM port, then select the ‘Setting’ tab on the right upper panel of the main window, the virtual

COM port configuration page will show up as following. From this page you can change the

parameters of the virtual COM port then click on the ‘Update’ button to execute the

modification.

Security and authorization:

When you select the correspondent virtual COM port, you can change the user name and

password of GW21W-MAXI by selecting the ‘Auth’ tab on the right upper panel of the main

window.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

36 / 56

4.5.2.3 What happen when enabling virtual COM as TCP client on GW21W-MAXI

Similarly you can enable virtual COM as TCP client on GW21W-MAXI as explained in 4.5.2.1.

However, since Atop virtual COM only supports TCP client running on the monitoring PC which

means virtual COM port can’t be established between GW21W-MAXI and the monitoring PC. The

benefit of enabling virtual COM as TCP client on GW21W-MAXI at this point is not only sending data

but sending hardware handshaking information as well to GW21W-MAXI which is enabled as virtual

COM TCP server.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

37 / 56

5. SNMP Setup

5.1 SNMP Network Management Platform

Atop GW21W-MAXI is an SNMP device that allows many popular SNMP network management platforms

such as HP OpenView and SunNet Manager to conduct monitoring on the device.

Depending on the network management tools you are using, device (GW21W-MAXI) information can be

collected from running the management tools including IP address, DNS name, system descriptions and

NIC information etc.

5.2 Using NetworkView As An Example

The NetworkView is a compact network management tool from NetworkView Software, Inc.

(www.networkview.com). It discovers all TCP/IP nodes in a network using DNS, SNMP and ports

information and documents with printed maps and reports for future use. You may visit their web sites and

get a free download.

To use NetworkView, you will need to download and install the tool on your PC (Windows NT and

Windows 9x only). Please refer to the installation instructions that come with the tool.

1. After you have done the NetworkView installation, start NetworkView.

2. Click on the button to open a new file. The following screen appears, in the Addresses field,

type in the IP address range to search.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

38 / 56

3. Click on “OK” and the following dialog box appears. It displays the searching progress.

4. When the search is completed, NetworkView will display the devices found in the main window, as

shown in the following diagram.

5. Double-click on the device icon to display information about the device, including IP Address,

Company, SysLocation (Max 15 characters), SysName (Max 9 characters) and types etc.

Note:

1. The NetworkView tool is limited to information extracting and viewing only.

2. To modify the configurations please use the web server, Telnet or monitor.exe configuration

utilities.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

39 / 56

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

40 / 56

6. Start Writing Your Own Applications

Before you start writing your host applications or programs to interact with GW21W-MAXI, please make

sure you have done the following.

6.1 Preparing The System

1. Properly connect GW21W-MAXI hardware including power, Ethernet and RS-232/RS-485 cables.

2. Properly configure the parameters of GW21W-MAXI including connection type, IP address, gateway

IP address, and network mask accordingly (see chapter 3 Hardware Installation section).

3. Configure GW21W-MAXI as TCP Server using default TCP port number 4660.

4. The host (PC) application program must be configured as a TCP client and connects to

GW21W-MAXI with designated TCP port number 4660 for COM1.

5. Make sure GW21W-MAXI is running by checking the running status through monitor.exe

configuration utility.

6.2 Running The Sample Program

Sample programs written in VB and VC++ included in package are provided for your reference, source

codes are also included. Test program can be found in the product CD or diskette under the directory of

\sample\vb_ap\ and \sample\vc_ap respectively.

There are two test programs, TCPTEST written in Visual Basic and TCPTEST2 written in Visual C++.

TCPTEST in Visual Basic

This sample program is written in Visual Basic 5.0 with Winsock Controls. It shows you how to send and

receive data between host (PC) and GW21W-MAXI via Ethernet in two socket ports.

Run Visual Basic and open sample program tcptest.vbp, after the program is started successfully, you can

start testing functions. For more information, please press Help in the program to get detail explanation.

Note: Please be sure the Microsoft visual studio family software is installed on the computer. Otherwise

the sample program will not run.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

41 / 56

TCPTEST2 in Visual C

To start the program, please type in the following command in the command line prompt:

TCPTEST2 IP_Address Port_Number

The command tcptest2 10.0.50.100 4660 brings you to connect to a TCP server of IP address

10.0.50.100 and port number 4660, the received data is displayed on the screen and the data typed in is

sent to the TCP server of the designated port number. You can also send binary data in hex format with a

leading character “\”. For example, “\00” and “\FF” represent ASCII code 0 and 255 respectively.

You can also use modem to connect to the serial server. Command "AT\Od" sends standard AT command

to the modem which in return responds with "OK\0D\0A" message to the host application.

Always use '=' then Enter key to exit the program.

1 2

3 4

Status

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

42 / 56

7. Diagnostics

There are several ways you can check on the status and availability of GW21W-MAXI.

7.1 Use Standard TCP/IP Utility ping Command

From Windows Start menu, select Run and type in “ping <TCP Server IP address>”.

If the connection is established, the Reply messages are displayed, otherwise it will indicate Request

timed out.

7.2 Use monitor.exe Configuration Utility Program

Use monitor.exe configuration program that comes with the product CD or diskette to check on the status

of GW21W-MAXI. The status can be read from “AP version” column of the tool.

Status Descriptions

S The system is configured as a TCP Server and not yet connected.

C The system is configured as a TCP Client and not yet connected.

U The system is configured as an UDP.

A The TCP Server and is connected.

B The TCP Client and is connected.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

43 / 56

For example, ‘s’ means that COM1 is server mode and is not connected.

7.3 Use TCPTEST.EXE or TCPTEST2.EXE Sample Program

Use sample programs TCPTEST.EXE and TCPTEST2.EXE that comes with the product CD or diskette to

check on the status of GW21W-MAXI. Please refer to chapter 6.2 to run the sample programs.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

44 / 56

Appendix A: GW21W-MAXI Ethernet-Serial Server Specifications

A.1. Hardware Specifications

Specifications

CPU  16-bit Embedded CPU

 100MHz

Flash Memory  512K Bytes

SDRAM  512K Bytes

EEPROM  512 Bytes

Host Communication  IEEE802.11b 11 Mbps Wireless LAN

 TCP/IP, UDP, SNMP, HTTP, Telnet, ARP, BOOTP

Reset  Built-in reset key to restore factory default settings

Watch Dog Timer  1.34 second hardware auto reset

 Power failure threshold: 4.75V

Serial Port

Communication

 One RS-232 or RS-485 selectable

 RS-232: EIA-RS-232C standard, Full Duplex, 8 pins Mini-DIN or 5 pins

terminal block

 RS-485: 2/4 wires, Half/Full duplex, 8 pins Mini-DIN or 5 pins terminal

 Parameters

1) Baud-rate: 1200 bps ~ 230400 bps

2) Parity: None, Even, Odd, Mark, Space

3) Data bits: 7,8

4) Stop bits: 1,2

5) Packet Delimiter: by inter-character timeout, by characters deli

m

6) Flow Control: None, Hardware CTS/RTS, Software Xon/Xoff

LED indication  RUN x 1 (Green)

 LAN x 1 (Green)

 COM port1 (Green)

Power Requirement  +9~30Vdc , 2.8 Watt Max

Temperature  Operation:

 Storage:

0℃ to 60℃

-20℃ to 85℃

Humidity  20%~90% non-condensing

Housing  90mm(L) x 45mm(W) x 63mm(H)

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

45 / 56

A.2. Software Specifications

Item Specifications

Protocol TCP, UDP, ARP, ICMP, SNMP, HTTP, Telnet, BOOTP

Configuration

 Configuration information for both TCP/IP and serial ports is kept in the

EEPROM.

 Configuration utilities of Windows 95/98/NT are provided for configuring

settings.

Internal Buffer Size  TCP receiving buffer size = 8K bytes

 TCP transmitting buffer size = 16K bytes

 RS-232/RS-485 receiving buffer size = 4K bytes

 RS-232/RS-485 transmitting buffer size = 4K bytes

A.3 Connector Pin Assignments

A.3.1 COM Port

1. 8 pin Mini DIN connector

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

46 / 56

Pin assignments of Mini DIN connector is shown in the following table:

Pin# RS-232

Full Duplex

RS-485

2 wire, Half Duplex

RS-485

4 wire, Full Duplex

1 DCD N/A N/A

2 RXD N/A

RxD/T+

3 TXD

TxD/R+ TxD/R+

4 DTR N/A (reserved) N/A

5 SG (Signal Ground) SG (Signal Ground) SG (Signal Ground)

6 DSR N/A N/A

7 RTS

RTS/R- RTS/R-

8 CTS N/A

CTS/T-

9 N/A N/A(reserved for Atop

devices)

N/A

Atop provides Mini DIN connector to DB9 connector cable, the pin assignments of DB9 connector is

shown in the following table:

Pin# RS-232

Full Duplex

RS-485

2 wire, Half Duplex

RS-485

4 wire, Full Duplex

1 DCD N/A N/A

2 RXD N/A N/A

3 TXD

DATA- RXD-

4 DTR N/A (reserved)

TXD-

5 SG (Signal Ground) SG (Signal Ground) SG (Signal Ground)

6 DSR N/A N/A

7 RTS N/A N/A

8 CTS

DATA+ RXD+

9 RI N/A(reserved for Atop

devices)

TXD+

Note that RS-485 2 or 4 pins assignments of DB9 connector is different from those of Mini DIN connector.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

47 / 56

2. Terminal Block Connector

RS-485 only uses RTS/R- and TxD/R+ for data communication while RS-232 or RS-422 uses RTS/R-,

TxD/R+, CTS/T- and RxD/T+ for communicating data.

A.3.2 Power terminal block connector

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

48 / 56

A.4 Buzzer/LED Message

Buzzer

“ ^ “ : Beep twice

“ = “ : Beep off

Message Description

^===^===^===^===^===^===^..

(1sec)

Watchdog problem, return service is required

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^.. Memory problem, return service is required

^==^========^^

(5sec)

Startup OK but AP firmware is disabled

^==^========^^^

(5sec)

Startup OK and AP firmware is enabled

Table 1. RUN LED Message

LAN LED

Message Description

LED Off No data is transmitting on Ethernet

LED blinking Data is transmitting on Ethernet

Table 2. LAN LED Message

COM Port LED

Message Description

LED off No data is transmitting on COM port

LED on blinking state Data is transmitting on COM port

Table 3. COM Port LED Message

RUN LED

Message Description

LED on Jumper JP7 and JP8 are short to disable AP firmware in

the flash memory.

LED blinking (rate: 0.5Sec) AP firmware is running

Table 4. RUN LED Message

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

49 / 56

Appendix B. Upgrade System Software

After the new version of firmware is released, customers can download it from Atop’s web site at

www.atop.com.tw. You can contact Atop’s sales person to request the newest product CD as well.

You may decide to or not to upgrade the system’s firmware. To do so, please follow these instructions

listed below.

B.1 Upgrade Procedures

When you get a new software version, please follow the sequences below to upgrade your

GW21W-MAXI.

1. Connect a PC (Windows 95/98/NT/2000) and GW21W-MAXI you wish to upgrade the firmware in the

same TCP/IP network. Use command ping or monitor.exe utility program to verify their availability.

2. Prepare the download tool. Execute the utility program download.bat and press any key to edit its

configuration file dapdl.cfg. dapdl.cfg file can be found in the product CD.

3. Edit the "dapdl.cfg" file to fit your system need, the content of the file looks like as the following. Be

sure to save your modifications after the change is made.

Remote_IP 10.0.50.100

Load U21wmap.hex

The first line identifies the IP address of GW21W-MAXI, the second line identifies the firmware (.Hex

file) name to be downloaded.

4. Input the user name and password credential, the new firmware will be downloaded.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

50 / 56

5. GW21W-MAXI will automatically restart each time the firmware is successfully downloaded.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

51 / 56

B.2 Critical Issues of Upgrading

1. You can always abort the upgrading process by pressing the <Esc> key from host PC during the

upgrading process. GW21W-MAXI will restart automatically and the system remains intact.

2. If GW21W-MAXI does not receive any upgrading data within 30 seconds, GW21W-MAXI will restart

automatically and the system remains intact.

3. After the upgrading process finishes, GW21W-MAXI will program the flash memory and buzzer beeps

6 times then restarts. Normally, it takes around 10 seconds to complete the programming process. If

an error occurs during the programming process, GW21W-MAXI will clear the corresponding memory

and the system remains intact of what it was.

B.3 Error Messages

Firmware upgrade may not be successful if errors occur during the process.

Error Cause Message Comments

Illegal Hex file format Hex File Text Error

Hex File Check-Sum Error

Hex File Format Error

Hex File End of Record Error

GW21W-MAXI handshaking problem GW21W-MAXI ACK Start Address Error

GW21W-MAXI ACK Length Error

GW21W-MAXI Response Command Error

Configuration file Remote IP not found

Open configuration file failure

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

52 / 56

Appendix C. Hardware Configuration

C.1 Disable System Firmware

The AP (application program) firmware of GW21W-MAXI can be disabled. This function is used in the

situation that you downloaded a wrong version of firmware that caused the system crashed.

To disable the current version of firmware and prevent it from executing, please do the followings:

1. Turn the power off, open the case of GW21W-MAXI.

2. Short the Jumper JP7 and JP8 on the right-top corner from the main board to disable AP

firmware.

3. Power on GW21W-MAXI.

4. Download the correct AP firmware to GW21W-MAXI.

5. Remove the Jumper JP7 and JP8 to enable AP firmware.

6. Close the case and continue your operations.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

53 / 56

Appendix D Configuration Utility

The configuration utility monitor.exe comes with the product CD or diskette is the main utility program to

demonstrate and configure GW21W-MAXI’s settings.

D.1 Run the utility

Start the program under Windows 95/98/NT/2000 environment and the following window appears.

D.2 Detect Operational Devices

You may do the following steps to detect devices currently available on the network.

1. Start monitor.exe utility program.

2. Select an item from the Broadcast IP list.

3. Specify a number in the Wishes box.

4. Click on the Invite button. This will display all the devices information you have requested.

D.3 Configure Devices

You may use monitor.exe configuration utility to configure the settings of devices on the network. To do

so, please follow the steps below.

1. Repeat the steps in the section of D.2 to bring up the devices information.

2. Select the device you want to configure from the IP Address column, click on the Config button, a

configuration window will popup as shown in Figure D2:

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

54 / 56

3. After you click the “Configure Now” button, the target device will return an ACK message indicating

the modification is successful as shown in the following:

Please note monitor.exe version 2.3 and above requires gw21le.dll library to function properly.

User manual Version 1.2

ABLELink® Ethernet-Serial Server

GW21W-MAXI

55 / 56

The following table lists the functional descriptions for all the fields.

Field Name Field Descriptions

Broadcast IP Except for the default IP 255.255.255.255, other items (IPs) are read from the file

“seg.cfg”. This field specifies a detecting IP range. It may be a designated IP or a

broadcast IP.

Wishes Specifies minimum number of the devices you wish to get reply from after sending an

Invite request. If there is not as many as devices responding to your invitation, the

system repeatedly sends invitation until your request is fulfilled.

Reply Indicates the actual number of devices this utility program detected.

Retry Specify the number of times that an Invite request is re-sent.

Locate Locate the specified device.

Reset Reset the selected device.

Config Configure the selected device.

Exit Exit this utility.

IP Address Indicate the IP address of the device that replied to your request.

 Leading tag “!” stands for IP address collision, possibly caused by duplicated IP

addresses on the network.

 Leading tag “?” stands for Mac address collision, possibly caused by duplicated

Mac addresses on the network.

MAC Address Indicates the MAC address of responding device.

Gateway Indicates the IP address of the gateway.

Subnet Mask Indicates the TCP/IP network mask.

OS Indicates the OS version of the responding device.

AP Version Indicates the AP version of the responding device.

Model Indicates the model number of the responding device. This field is only available for

monitor.exe version 2.0 and above.

ATOP Technologies GW21W-MAXI Wireless Serial Server User Manual

ATOP Technologies, INC. Wireless Serial Server

User Manual

Navigation menu

Namespaces

Views

Navigation