Real-time applications don't have to wait for 5G

Let us remember the beginnings of PC-based telecontrol technology: A serial cable (RS232 or RS485) was able to connect a host with a client - at that time we spoke of DTE and DCE - and to transport data bidirectionally. With the beeping modems of the analog telephone world, and later also with ISDN, this serial cable could be hundreds of kilometers long thanks to the telephone lines.

The big step back came in the age of GSM. With the timing, the service called CSD was expensive, remained unpopular and was not really technically convincing. Don't change anything when it finally works! The 14,400 bps at E-Plus and the HSCSD (with channel bundling) remain marginal phenomena.

But now the good times are coming back! Because there is now the serial cable across Germany and - if need be - around the world. Of course it is not a cable in the classic sense, but a virtual connection via LTE / 4G. But it is stable in operation like a real cable!

The speed limit of 9,600 bps that is usual with CSD no longer applies here and billing is not done in time, but according to data volume, as is now the norm. PC and PLC can now communicate again without any problems, just as many remotely readable energy meters and other technical devices that use the serial interface.

This "virtual serial cable" is called VORTIX Serial Data Bridge and can be configured both as a serial cable and as a modem for dialing with a phone number. "atdt 02345", "ring", "ata", "connect" are the well-known code words of this type of connection.

The technology of the VORTIX Serial Data Bridge is made possible by the fast Internet in the 4G network. The technical possibilities of LTE are sufficient to realize serial real-time connections for telecontrol applications without any problems.

There is actually nothing more to say. Request the VORTIX test package and never send it back. These are the next steps.