Serial-based communication is used almost everywhere to access and control devices. Equipment ranging from POS bar code scanners, to medical equipment, to surveillance cameras, to RFID readers typically use COM Port-based application control software.
As long as the attached device is within the limited distance reach of the PC, this works great. But, the moment the device is placed on an Ethernet network and direct serial connection is broken, the ability of the application software to communicate with the device is lost. That’s where Com Port Redirector comes in.
Com Port Redirector (CPR) is software that maps ‘virtual COM’ ports on a PC platform. It redirects application data destined to an attached device via the PC’s local serial (COM) port.
Rather than going out the local port, the data is transmitted across the Ethernet network using TCP/IP. A device server attached to the network receives the data and transfers it from its own serial port to the attached equipment.
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