RS232 to TCP/IP converter supports UDP

Windows software utility designed as an RS232 to TCP/IP converter exposes physical serial ports on a PC to TCP/IP network and can create virtual com ports that are actual connections to a TCP/IP port.

TCP-Com from Tal Technologies is a Windows-based software utility designed as an RS232 to TCP/IP converter.

TCP-Com performs two jobs: it exposes the physical serial ports on a PC to TCP/IP network ports; and it can create virtual com ports that are actual connections to a TCP/IP port.

It therefore lets the user send and receive RS232 (serial) data across any TCP/IP network including the internet.

The latest release - version 4.1 - has support for the UDP user datagram protocol in addition to TCP/IP.

The UDP is similar to TCP/IP except that the TCP/IP is a connection protocol whereas UDP is connectionless.

With TCP/IP, a client application establishes a connection to a TCP/IP server and data is exchanged until the connection is closed by either the client or the server.

It is similar to a telephone connection where the client dials the connection to the server and they carry on a conversation until either party hangs up the phone.

With UDP, both the client and the server open the same port and when one sends data, it is received by the other.

However, there is no actual connection between the client and the server.

In contrast to TCP/IP, the UDP works in a manner that is analogous to two walkie-talkies that are tuned to the same channel.

With TCP/IP, if a client tries to establish a connection to a server that is not available, then the client receives an error indicating that no connection is available.

With UDP, if there is no server, the client does not receive an error.

Also, with TCP/IP communications, if either end sends data to the other end and the data does not get through, the sending application receives an error indicating that the data transmission failed.

With UDP communications, no error checking is performed therefore data is not 100% guaranteed to get through.

However, UDP communication is generally much faster than TCP/IP.

UDP also recovers more easily if there are failures in a network connection that are subsequently repaired.

As with all Taltech software, TCP-Com comes with free and unlimited technical support.

Back to top