Serial lines

1 General Description
2 Console
- 2.1 rts
- 2.2 dsr
- 2.3 communication
- 2.4 line
3 Serial line controllers
- 3.1 address
- 3.2 vector
- 3.3 line
- 3.4 communication
- 3.5 rts
- 3.6 dsr
- 3.7 tx_q_max_depth
- 3.8 Example of loading 2 instances of DHV11
- 3.9 Example of loading DHW42CA
4 Mapping Serial line controllers to system resources
- 4.1 Types of serial line mapping
- 4.2 physical_serial_line
  - 4.2.1 line
  - 4.2.2 baud
  - 4.2.3 break_on
  - 4.2.4 stop_on
  - 4.2.5 log
  - 4.2.6 Example of mapping a console line to an onboard serial line
- 4.3 virtual_serial_line
  - 4.3.1 host
  - 4.3.2 port
  - 4.3.3 break_on
  - 4.3.4 stop_on
  - 4.3.5 log
  - 4.3.6 Example of mapping a console line to an onboard serial line
  - 4.3.7 Example of two CHARON systems connected to each other:
- 4.4 operator_console
- 4.5 "ttyY" notation specifics
5 Linking serial controller port to host connection

General Description

Configuration of CHARON-VAX serial lines is performed in 3 steps:

Loading virtual serial lines controller, for example:
In this example, an instance of a "DHV11" serial line controller is loaded and named "TXA"
Note that VAX console adapters ("UART", "QUART") do not need to be loaded; they are preloaded.
Mapping an object type to host resources: For example:
In this example the object "physical_serial_line" is loaded, named "TTA1", and mapped to the "/dev/ttyS1" host physical serial port.
Connect the loaded virtual line controller and the mapped object:
In this example, the 6th line of the DHV11 controller "TXA" loaded at step 1 is connected to the mapping object "TTA1" loaded at the step 2.

Console

CHARON-VAX offers a one- or four-port serial console depending on the specified VAX model. The one line serial line controller is identified in CHARON-VAX with the name UART. The four serial lines controller is identified in CHARON-VAX with the name QUART.

UART is used in Qbus systems only (e.g. the MicroVAX/VAXserver 3600/3900).

QUART is used in SCSI (e.g. MicroVAX 3100 model 96/98, VAXstation 4000 model 90) and SCSI/Qbus systems (e.g. VAX4000 model 106/108). The last QUART line (line[3]) is the console port (known in VAX/VMS as OPA0).

CHARON-VAX console ports can be configured to connect to an external terminal via the host system COM/TTY port or can be connected via TCP/IP.

rts

Parameter	rts[<line>]
Type	Text string
Value	"On" - assert RTS (Request To Send) signal "Off" - clear RTS signal (default) "DTR" - assert RTS signal as soon as DTR signal is asserted

dsr

Parameter	dsr[<line>]
Type	Text string
Value	"On" - always reports DSR signal asserted "Off" - always reports DSR signal deasserted "DSR" - use DSR signal of physical serial line (if configured) "CD", "DCD", "RLSD" - use CD (carrier detect) signal of physical serial line (if configured) This parameter is applicable only for line "2" of QUART.

communication

Parameter	communication[<line>]
Type	Text string
Value	"ASCII" - for connection to terminals (default) "BINARY" - for serial lines carrying binary (packet) protocols, which are used mainly for communicating with PLCs

line

Parameter	line[<line>]
Type	Identifier
Value	This parameter is used to connect a particular serial line interface to the controller. See below for details.

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Serial line controllers

Asynchronous serial line multiplexers are capable of serving up to 8 asynchronous serial lines (the DHW42-BA supports 16 lines).The following asynchronous serial line multiplexers are supported:

VAX model	Asynchronous serial line emulation

VAX model	Asynchronous serial line emulation
MicroVAX II, MicroVAX 3600, MicroVAX 3900, VAXserver 3600, VAXserver 3900 (QBUS systems)	CXA16, CXB16, CXY08, DHQ11, DHV11, DZV11, DZQ11, DL11, DLV11, DZ11
MicroVAX 3100 - 96, MicroVAX 3100 - 98 (SCSI systems)	DHW42-AA, DHW42-BA, DHW42-CA
VAX4000 - 106, VAX4000 – 108, VAX4000 – 700, VAX4000 – 705 (QBUS/SCSI systems)	CXA16, CXB16, CXY08, DHQ11, DHV11, DZV11, DZQ11, DLV11, DHW42-AA, DHW42-BA, DHW42-CA
VAX6310, VAXstation 4090	N/A

The following names are used for the multiplexers:

Device name	Module name

Device name	Module name
DHV11	DHV11
DHQ11	DHV11
CXY08	DHV11
CXA16	DHV11
CXB16	DHV11
DHW42AA	DHV11
DHW42BA	DHV11
DHW42CA	DHV11
DZV11, DZ11	DZ11
DZQ11	DZ11
DL11, DLV11	DL11

The following example loads an instance of an asynchronous serial line multiplexer:

load DHQ11/DHV11 TXA

Only one instance of DHW42 can be loaded. There is no restriction on the number of the other multiplexers.

The multiplexers offer the following configuration parameters, specified with the "set" command:

address

Parameter	address
Type	Numeric
Value	Specifies CSR address. The address must be valid QBUS 22-bit wide address in I/O space.Default values are 017760440 for DHV11-family controllers and 017760100 for DZV11/DZQ11, which are the factory settings for asynchronous serial line multiplexers. This parameter is not applicable to DHW42-xx serial line controllers

vector

Parameter	vector
Type	Numeric
Value	Specifies interrupt vector.Default value is 0300 which is the factory setting for asynchronous serial line multiplexers. This parameter is not applicable to DHW42-xx serial line controllers

line

Parameter

line[N]

N=0…3(7,15)

Type

Identifier

Value

Specifies a name of the serial line interface object in configuration to which the N-th line of the multiplexer is connected. See below for details.

communication

Parameter

communication[N]

N=0…4(7,15)

Type

Text String

Value

"ASCII" - for connection to terminals (default)
"BINARY" - for serial lines carrying binary (packet) protocols, which are used mainly for communicating with PLCs

rts

Parameter

rts[N]

N=0…3(7,15)

Type

Text String

Value

Controls RTS signal of the Nth line of the multiplexer.

"On" - assert RTS (Request To Send) signal
"Off" - clear RTS signal (default)
"DTR" - assert RTS signal as soon as DTR signal is asserted

When left blank (initial state), the level of the RTS signal is as requested by the VAX software.

dsr

Parameter

dsr[N]

N=0…3(7,15)

Type

Text String

Value

"On" - always reports DSR signal asserted
"Off" - always reports DSR signal deasserted
"DSR" - use DSR signal of physical serial line (if configured)
"CD", "DCD", "RLSD" - use CD (carrier detect) signal of physical serial line (if configured)

This parameter is applicable only for DZV11 and DZQ11 serial lines controllers

tx_q_max_depth

Parameter

tx_q_max_depth[N]

N=0…3(7,15)

Type

Numeric

Value

Specifies depth of the TX FIFO for the N-th line of the multiplexer. Possible values are 1…1000, initially it is set to 1 to properly represent the hardware limitation of certain multiplexers. Values greater than 1 improve transmission rate of corresponding line, but break correspondence to the original hardware.

This parameter is applicable only for DHV11 serial lines controller

To load several instances of Qbus multiplexers, use the "address" and "vector" parameters. Both "address" and "vector" parameter values must be unique for every instance of a QBUS multiplexer.Read the VAX hardware documentation and the VM system management documentation to understand how to correctly assign the "address" and "vector" parameters.

Example of loading 2 instances of DHV11

load DHV11/DHV11 TXA address=017760440 vector=0300
load DHV11/DHV11 TXB address=017760460 vector=0310

Example of loading DHW42CA

load DHW42CA/DHV11 TXA

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Mapping Serial line controllers to system resources

Types of serial line mapping

Type	Function

Type	Function
physical_serial_line	This type of mapping associates some TTY port on host system with an emulated VAX serial line controller virtual "line".The TTY port can be physical hardware port or a logical TTY port.
virtual_serial_line	This type of mapping associates a network connection on the host system with an emulated VAX serial line controller virtual "line"
operator_console	This type of mapping associates the current TTY console with the OPA0 console port (if CHARON-VAX does not run as service)

Example:

load physical_serial_line OPA0

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physical_serial_line

line

Parameter

line

Type

Text string

Value

A defined TTY port on host system:

"/dev/tty<N>" - virtual serial lines
"/dev/ttyS<N>" - onboard serial lines
"/dev/ttyUSB<N>" - modem or usb serial lines adapters

baud

Parameter

baud

Type

Numeric

Value

Forces the baud rate of the corresponding TTY port to a specified value.The variety of supported values depends on the underlying physical communication resource (TTY port). The most widely used values are: 300, 1200, 9600, 19200, 38400.

Example:

set OPA0 baud=38400

break_on

Parameter

break_on

Type

Text string

Value

Specifies what byte sequences received over the physical serial line will trigger a HALT command.This parameter works only for the console line (for the one UART line and "line[3]" of QUART).Specify the following values: "Ctrl-P", "Break" or "none" ("none" disables triggering HALT condition).

Example:

set OPA0 break_on="Ctrl-P"

The default value is "Break" for line 3 of QUART and "none" for other lines.

stop_on

Parameter

stop_on

Type

Text string

Value

Specifies what byte sequences received over the physical serial line will trigger a STOP condition. The STOP condition causes CHARON-VAX to exit.Specify the value as the following: “F6” or “none” ("none" disables triggering STOP condition).

Example:

set OPA0 stop_on="F6"

The default value is "none".Setting "F6" triggers the STOP condition upon receipt of the "<ESC>[17~" sequence. Terminals usually send these sequences on pressing F6 button

log

Parameter

log

Type

Text string

Value

A string specifying a file name to store content of console sessions or a directory where log files for each individual session will be stored.If an existing directory is specified, CHARON-VAX automatically enables creation of individual log files for each session. If the "log" parameter is omitted, CHARON-VAX does not create a console log.

Examples:

set OPA0 log="log.txt"

set OPA0 log="/opt/charon/logs"

Example of mapping a console line to an onboard serial line

load physical_serial_line OPA0
set OPA0 line="/dev/ttyS1"

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virtual_serial_line

host

Parameter

host

Type

Text string

Value

A remote host’s IP address or a host name (and optional remote TCP/IP port number) for the virtual serial line connection. If omitted, the virtual serial line does not initiate a connection to the remote host and will listen for incoming connection requests.Specify the value in the following form:

set OPA0 host="<host-name>[:<port-no>]"

If "<port-no>" is not specified, the virtual serial line uses the TCP/IP port number specified by the "port" parameter (see below).

port

Parameter	port
Type	Numeric
Value	TCP/IP port number for the virtual serial line. A virtual serial line always listens on this port for incoming connection requests.

break_on

Parameter

break_on

Type

Text string

Value

Specifies what byte sequences received over virtual serial line must trigger HALT command.This parameter works only for console line (for CHARON-VAX it is the only line of UART and the "line[3]" of QUART).Specify the following values: "Ctrl-P", "Break" or "none" to disable triggering HALT condition.

Example:

set OPA0 break_on="Ctrl-P"

The default value is "Break" for line 3 of QUART and "none" for other lines.

stop_on

Parameter

stop_on

Type

Text string

Value

Specifies what byte sequences received over the virtual serial line will trigger a STOP condition. The STOP condition causes CHARON-VAX to exit.Specify the value as the following: “F6” or “none” ("none" disables triggering STOP condition).

Example:

set OPA0 stop_on="F6"

The default value is "none".Setting "F6" triggers the STOP condition upon receipt of the "<ESC>[17~" sequence.

log

Type
Parameter	log