What is VIP ?
Windows applications using asynchronous serial ports RS232 / RS422 / RS485 are widely used in industrial datacommunications to connect sensors, PLCs, card readers and any other data collection and acquisition systems.
Serial link topologies allow medium distance and multidrop connections depending to cabling.
This kind of connections presents several drawbacks:
- Limited number of devices per COM port
- Limited distance from the control computer
- Maintenance & evolution is made difficult by dedicated cabling
VIP solve these issues by:
- Replacing the dedicated cable by a network connection
- Giving the application software the “look & feel” of a COM port
- Keeping the dedicated cable on the device side
VIP adds virtual COM ports to your system that enable Windows applications to use serial device servers, eliminating the distance and cabling limitations of locally connected serial equipments.
All data from the serial equipments are re-directed to the Ethernet TCP/IP network.
VIP allows to:
- Use existing Ethernet network to replace dedicated serial cables
- Reuse COM port application software as it is with network
- Move your serial device far away from the computer
- Handle more devices from the same computer
- Drive devices through standard radio network tunnels (WiFi)
Comparison between standard COM port and VIP use
- Case 1 illustrates a standard COM port use, the application software access diretly to the data of the serial equipment through the legacy serial port of the computer.
- Case 2 illustrates access to the serial equipment through the TCP/IP network and the serial device server, application software still continue to use the standard COM port API of Windows through the VIP software. Serial equipment can be located anywhere on the Internet / Intranet TCP/IP network.
Some VIP screens
 |
 |
 |
General characteristics
- Compatible with virtually any Windows program
- Windows version compatibility : supports all 32-bit or 64-bit Windows systems (until Windows 10)
- Recommends available COM ports not used by hardware
- Connect to any TCP/IP network
- Connect to any ACKSYS serial COM port servers (wired & wireless), free of charge
- Easy setup
- Compliant to RFC2217 COM port control extensions of the TELNET protocol
- VIP is a Windows service
Benefits
- Remotely drives and monitors serial data and all control signals
- Serial data format set by application or on the serial device server (raw mode)
- Handles all classic flow control modes
- Up to 255 COM ports (no port count limit), controlled within the same control panel
- A single VIP licence can be installed on as many computers as you want
- Automatic reconnection in case of temporary network failure
- Serial device server access can be checked while configuring the port
- Activity display for signals and diagnostic trace to record & view communication events
VIP is free of charge on ACKSYS serial device servers.
Download VIP
| [FirmTabName] | Version | Download |
|---|---|---|
| VIP : Virtual COM port redirector software + release notes. Supports all 32-bit or 64-bit Windows systems (until Windows 10) |
3.0.4 |
 |
