The way we use digital communications to support industrial control systems is continuously changing. A number of factors contribute to this, including the need for 24/7/365 visibility, digitization of processes, IIoT and new regulations. How we communicate over longer distances has also changed. Not too long ago we used dial-up modems over landlines and 2G networks or modems over leased lines.

These old methods and technologies have been swept away as the need for broadband communications have grown. The Internet has become the new media of choice and IP the method of data transmission. However, there are still a large number of legacy serial devices that have a long service life ahead of them. The cost of replacing all these devices with an IP equivalent would be astronomic and largely unnecessary.

A much more cost effective alternative is to migrate these legacy serial devices from dial-up or leased line modem communications to serial over IP broadband.