Moxa White Paper

3-way Communication for Serial-to-Fiber

Converters
Richard Hsia, Business Development Manager
Richard.Hsia@moxa.com

In general, serial-to-fiber converters on the market today only

provide one serial port and one fiber port for physical layer
media conversion. But as industrial networking applications
increase in complexity, users have started to demand
additional capabilities and features including easy wiring,
system diagnostics, and dual hosts/slaves. This white paper
explains how to use 3-way communication on Moxa’s ICF-1150
series media converters to achieve these various benefits on a
single device.

Let us use the ICF-1150 series media converters to illustrate

how 3-way communication works for serial-to-fiber converters.
Each ICF-1150 is equipped with one fiber port and two serial
ports. The D-sub connector is used for RS-232 communication
and the removable terminal block is used for RS-422 or RS-485
communication. When the ICF-1150 series converter receives
data through one of its ports, it will send the data back out
through the remaining 2 ports. For example, when the
ICF-1150 series receives a command from the remote device
via the fiber port, it will convert the command and transmit it
via the RS-232 port and RS-422/485 port at the same time.

Released on January 7, 2009

Copyright © 2008 Moxa Inc., all rights reserved.

Moxa manufactures one of the world’s leading brands of device networking solutions. Products include industrial
embedded computers, industrial Ethernet switches, serial device servers, multiport serial boards, embedded
device servers, and remote I/O solutions. Our products are key components of many networking applications,
including industrial automation, manufacturing, POS, and medical treatment facilities.

How to contact Moxa

Tel: 1-714-528-6777
Fax: 1-714-528-6778
This document was produced by the Moxa Technical Writing
Web: www.moxa.com
Center (TWC). Please send your comments or suggestions
Email: info@moxa.com
about this or other Moxa documents to twc@moxa.com.
Moxa White Paper 3-way Communication for Converters

Three-way communication brings the following benefits:

1. Easy wiring
2. Easy system diagnostic
3. Dual hosts/clients, redundant solution, and data logging

Easy Wiring
Compared to traditional serial-to-fiber converters that only
have one serial port and one fiber port, Moxa’s ICF-1150 series
provides 3 ports for data communication. Based on our many
years of experience, we have selected the most common
connectors used in the industry, such as D-sub for RS-232
connections and removable terminal blocks for RS-422/485
connections. Adopting the most commonly used connectors
can save users a great deal of time in field installation and
maintenance.

Copyright © 2008 Moxa Inc. Page 2 of 4

Moxa White Paper 3-way Communication for Converters

Easy System Diagnostic

When connecting PLCs or meters to a fiber converter, users
need a clear way to diagnose what is wrong if the send/receive
data are blocked, stopped, or an error occurs. In most cases,
users will change the wiring to see if the failure was caused by
improper wiring. Users may also try using a USB-to-serial
converter to connect the converter to a laptop that can run
diagnostics. After checking the data transmission, users
remove the USB-to-serial converter and reconnect all the
wires. However, none of that can guarantee that the new wiring
is correct.

Three-way communication can solve this problem and fulfill

customer expectations. Let us examine the following 2
scenarios to better understand this concept.

A. Connecting an RS-485 device to fiber converter.

Since the RS-232 port on the fiber converter is still unused, we
can connect the RS-232 port to a laptop and open the COM port
by “Hyper Terminal” to see what data is running. After running
diagnostics and correcting the wiring (if needed), we can
remove the link between the laptop and converter without
affecting any running systems.

B. Connecting an RS-232 device to a fiber converter.

We can use a USB converter such as Moxa’s UPort 1130 or
UPort 1150 to provide a computer with direct access to RS-485
data. Again, after checking the data and correcting the wiring
(if needed), we can remove the link between the laptop and
converter without affecting any running systems.

Copyright © 2008 Moxa Inc. Page 3 of 4

Moxa White Paper 3-way Communication for Converters

Dual Hosts/Clients, Redundant Solution, and Data Logging

Since the 3 ports are virtually connected, you can only connect
a maximum of 2 serial ports to different devices. For example,
users can connect 2 master devices, such as PLCs, one at the
RS-232 side and the other at the remote side via fiber link. The
slave device can be connected to the RS-485 port and receive
the command from a local master or remote master.
A computer can also be used to monitor the system and check
all the running communication as a solution for data logging.

Limitations
Again, since the 3 ports are virtually connected, the converter
will not receive data from more than two devices. Connecting
more than two devices will cause the program to halt or disrupt
data transmission since two devices sending data at the same
time will cause you to receive incorrect and unexpected data.

Disclaimer
This document is provided for information purposes only, and the contents hereof are subject to change without

notice. This document is not warranted to be error-free, nor subject to any other warranties or conditions,

whether expressed orally or implied by law, including implied warranties and conditions of merchantability, or

fitness for a particular purpose. We specifically disclaim any liability with respect to this document and no

contractual obligations are formed either directly or indirectly by this document. This document may not be

reproduced or transmitted in any form for any purpose, without our prior written permission.

Copyright © 2008 Moxa Inc. Page 4 of 4