Wireless terminal DTU

The full name of wireless terminal DTU is data transmission unit, which is an Internet of Things wireless data terminal. It uses public operator networks to provide users with wireless long-distance data transmission functions, uses high-performance industrial-grade 8/16/32-bit communication processors and industrial-grade wireless modules, uses an embedded real-time operating system as the software support platform, and also provides RS232 and RS485 (or RS422) interfaces can be directly connected to serial devices to achieve transparent data transmission.

Core functions of wireless terminal DTU

1. Support bidirectional conversion of serial port data

Wireless terminal DTU provides serial communication interfaces, including RS232, RS485, RS422, etc., which are commonly used serial communication methods, and most DTU designs use serial port data as a “transparent conversion” method, which means that DTU can convert The original data on the serial port is converted into TCP/IP data packets for transmission without changing the original data communication content. Therefore, DTU can be connected to various user equipment that uses serial port communication, and there is no need to make changes to the user equipment.

2. Internally integrated TCP/IP protocol stack

The wireless terminal DTU internally encapsulates the PPP dial-up protocol and TCP/IP protocol stack and has an embedded operating system. From a hardware perspective, it can be regarded as a combination of an embedded PC and a wireless MODEM, with dial-up Internet access and TCP/IP data communication function.

3. Support automatic heartbeat and remain permanently online

One of the advantages of the GPRS communication network is that it supports terminal equipment to be permanently online. Therefore, typical wireless terminal DTUs are designed to support the permanent online function. This requires the DTU to include automatic dialing after power-on and the use of heartbeat packets to remain permanently online (when long-term When there is no data communication, the mobile gateway will disconnect the DTU and the center. The heartbeat packet is a small data packet sent by the DTU and the data center before the connection is disconnected to keep the connection from being disconnected) and supports automatic reconnection after disconnection. , automatic redialing and other features.

4. Support parameter configuration and permanent storage

As a communication device, wireless terminal DTU has a wide range of applications. In different applications, the IP address and port number of the data center, the baud rate of the serial port, etc. are different. Therefore, DTU supports parameter configuration and saves the configured parameters in an internal permanent storage device (usually FLASH or EEPROM, etc.). Once powered on, the DTU will automatically work according to the set parameters.

Basic usage of wireless terminal DTU

Insert an IoT card into the wireless terminal DTU . After the DTU is powered on, it first registers with the network, and then establishes a connection with the data processing center through the network. This connection involves wireless network operators, Internet broadband providers, the user’s company’s network conditions, and the user’s computer configuration. Therefore, to establish this connection, all parts need to be configured.

In essence, the wireless terminal DTU and the data processing center establish a SOCKET connection, the DTU is the SOCKET client, and the data processing center is the SOCKET server. SOCKET connections are divided into TCP protocol and UDP protocol. DTU and the center must use the same protocol. This is generally configured by configuration software.

Wireless terminal DTU has now been used in many industries such as electricity, environmental protection, hydrology, meteorology, logistics, etc. Although the application industries are very different, the application principles are basically the same. Today, with the increasing development of the Internet of Things, the use of DTU will also become more and more popular. coming more and more widely.