Remote Port Communication
Hardware
The RS232 port runs at 9600 baud, 8 bits, no parity, and 1 stop bit. The pins required are:
- 2 RxD (into the SS1),
- 3 TxD (out to the Host), and
- 5 Ground.
When attaching to an IBM PC compatible computer a null modem is required (pin 2 to pin 3, pin 3 to pin 2, pin 5 to pin 5).
No flow control is used.
Software
This section is for programmers to write the software to remotely control the SS1.
The commands available are as follows:
- Select a segment to be connected to the common segment,
- Lock the Front Panel;
- Unlock the Front Panel;
- Find out which segment is connected to the segment; and
- Get a report of the software version number and the activity status of all the segments.
All commands have <cr> // | as a header (0x0d, 0x2f, 0x2f,0x7c) and are terminated with another <cr>.
To select a segment, send: <cr> // | AnK <cr>
The n in that string represents the segment that should be attached to the common segment.
Example:
<cr> // | A3K <cr> selects segment 3 to be connected to the common segment (A). This protocol is designed to be expandable to more than 1 common segment. If it is used in a 3 by 5 segment switch side would range from 1 to 5.
Note:The SS1 has 1 common segment, so the letter would always be an "A".
To lock the front panel, send; <cr> // | L <cr>
To unlock the front panel, send: <cr> // | U <cr>
To find out which segment is connected to the common segment, send <cr> // | S <cr>
The response is: <cr> // | Ank <cr>, where n is the segment that is connected to the common segment.
To get a report, send: <cr> // | R <cr> or <cr> // | ? <cr>
The response is:
<cr> // | A Paralan SS1 Vx.xx Raaa <cr>, where x.xx is the software version number, R is a flag for whether the Front Panel is L(locked) or U(nlocked), and aaa is a hexadecimal representation of Activity on all of the segments. Note that the SS1 can handle 9 segments (plus the common segment). If you have less than 9 segments, the unused segments will show as if Activity is on.
Example response in a 6 segment SS1:
<cr> // | A Paralan SS1 V1.00 R1c4 <cr>.
This shows that; the software is version 1.00, the Front Panel is unlocked, and that Activity is true on segment 3 (0x1c4=0x 1100 0100). Since there are only 6 segments, the unused ones show up as if Activity is true.
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