Product category:
Plant- and Machine-Wide Communications
News Release from: Alpha Micro Components | Subject: NetPort
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 23 January 2004
Adapter adds easy web connection to
serial devices
NetPort is a "plug-and-play" serial-to-Ethernet cable adapter that enables any device or machine with a serial port to become network and Internet-enabled in an instant.
NetPort is a "plug-and-play" serial-to-Ethernet cable adapter that enables any device or machine with a serial port - ranging from network routers, meter readers and point of sale terminals to home entertainment systems, vending machines and security systems - to become network and Internet-enabled in an instant NetPort is targeted primarily at system builders and OEMs who want to integrate Ethernet connectivity into their product designs without adding to the cost or time to market, as well as organisations that want to upgrade their legacy systems without replacing the entire IT infrastructure
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 16 Jan 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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The external NetPort adapter - which is only marginally larger than a matchbox - features an integrated web server, allowing any device to which it is attached to be "contacted" and monitored via a standard Internet browser.
TCP/IP protocol stacks are embedded into the NetPort, enabling it to operate within non-PC environments, and the adaptor features a modem emulation mode, allowing it to be interrogated like any standard modem.
These features bring remote management possibilities to whole new arena of products.
For example, the stock levels of drinks in a vending machine can be monitored remotely, a security system can send alerts via the Internet to anywhere in the world, utility companies can take meter readings without leaving their offices and system administrators can monitor network routers and firewalls from the comfort of their homes.
Christos Papakyriakou, Managing Director, Alpha Micro, explains: "In this Internet age, the ability to communicate with products over the web is crucial to the economic success of many organisations.
But there remains a whole host of machines and devices that do not come with built-in network connectivity.
In NetPort, we have created an extremely cost-effect, off-the-shelf product which requires little or no technical knowledge to install and can network-enable these products in a matter of minutes".
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