Hi. I need to interface two devices, both offering a RS-232 port. The general idea is to read the output (weight) from an electronic scale using it's RS-232 port, compose a string (containing control codes and the message to be printed) and send the string to an industrial ink-jet printer. We are talking about 1 reading/printing per minute. Follows a simple block diagram:
|----------------------| Scale -> | Protocol converter | -> Ink-jet system |----------------------| ^ | Product sensor
I am borrowing the "protocol converter" concept from a product named PPC (Programmable Protocol Converter,
Assuming that I have both the scale and printer techincal information (that is, their protocol definition), I request your comments to determine good options for the "protocol converter" system. "Good" refers to simple and economical yet robust solutions since this is intended for use in an industrial environment.
So far I have found the KK product mentioned before, and I am also considering using a low power (both in terms of power consumption and processing power) PC/104 solution.
As you might have already guessed, reading the output (I am considering a few 10-20 bytes long per scale reading) and generating the string (which should be around 20-30 characters long including the scale reading) at one per minute does not require a superscalar processor :) A 25 MHz processor should be more than enough, I am considering this speed because is the smallest systems I have found so far.
For your ideas, thanks in advance.