Grass Valley UniConfi NVISION Series v.1.3 - Manual (Page 34)

22 Rev 1.3 • 14 Dec 09
6. Setting Up Communication
Communicating with a Router Control System
The following points list the differences between Ethernet and serial connections:
Ethernet
• Can select a control card by simply selecting it on the ‘Control Card’ pane in the UniConfig
screen.
• UniConfig and control cards can be accessed through any workstation on the network.
• If updating control card firmware, the Ethernet’s higher speed makes downloads much faster.
• If the control card IP address is unknown, you must use a serial connection to determine it and/
or initially set it.
Serial
• Serial communication is limited to one control card at a time; a cable must be physically moved
from one control card to the next.
• Very simple to establish communication between host PC and control card, especially using the
temporary serial port on the control card itself.
• In most instances, it is necessary to use a serial connection to initially configure functionality. It
is also recommended for configuration updates because port has fixed, known settings (9600
baud, 8 data bits).
• The permanent diagnostic ports on the rear of the router are best used when upgrading firmware
or application code residing on the control card and there is no Ethernet connection to the
router.
Communicating with a Router Control System
The router control system can communicate through an Ethernet port or through serial ports,
labeled ‘CTRL 1’ and ‘CTRL 2’, on the rear of the router (For more information, see the router
User’s Guide). Depending on the protocol loaded onto the control card, UniConfig provides limited
configuration options for the ports.
Currently, Ethernet is only supported when the Miranda protocol is loaded onto the control card.
Similarly, certain protocols offer the ability to configure Baud rate and/or communication parame-
ter for the serial ports while others do not. Depending on the protocol loaded, the related fields are
active, inactive (grayed-out) or do not display. If the protocol currently loaded on the control card
enables an action, the related Ethernet or serial port configuration fields are active and display.
Third-party protocols affect only the ‘CTRL 1’ serial port located on the rear of the router. The
‘CTRL 2’ port always supports Miranda protocols. The control card supports dual, simultaneous
control so that it is possible to connect a third-party router control system to ‘CTRL 1’ and an
Miranda router control system, such as the NV9000 (or other devices capable of running Miranda
serial protocol) to ‘CTRL 2’. For more information, see the router User’s Guide.
Note The NV8288, NV8288-Plus and NV8500 Family routers have only a rear diag-
nostic port, which is fixed at 38.4
K. This enables the rear port to double as a tem-
porary connection to the control card, as well as a permanent connection.