FIFO Notes

The 16550 serial UART used for serial communications in a PC has FIFO buffers fo
r both transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) data.
The size of the Tx FIFO affects the raising and lowering of RTS which can be use
d for Radio, RS-485, and RS-232 flow control. If RTS is not being used (RTS TX
DELAY in Mdbus is 0), it is not important.
The size of the Rx FIFO affects message timeout and the ability of Mdbus to dete
rmine the end of messages in Slave and Monitor modes (should be set as low as po
ssible for this - preferably 1).
The maximum buffer size is 16 characters and is configurable via the Control Pan
el. The FIFO buffers can also be disabled in which case the buffer size is 1.
Windows 95/98, NT, and 2000 handle the viewing and changing of these buffer size
s differently. The buffer size cannot be changed directly via software using th
e Windows Application Interface (API). Mdbus has made the FIFO buffer sizes con
figuration items. A user of Mdbus has to obtain the size of the buffers and ent
er the values in the Mdbus Configuration Window. Mdbus uses these configured va
lues for timing.
The following is the procedure under Windows 95/98 to view/change the Tx and Rx
FIFO buffer size.
1. Click on Start.
2. Click on Settings.
3. Click on Control Panel.
4. Double Click on System Icon.
5. Click on the Device Manager Tab.
6. Double Click on Ports (COM & LPT).
7. Double Click on the Communications Port being used.
8. Click on Port Settings Tab.
9. Click the Advanced Pushbutton.
10. Either note the present size of the buffers, change the sizes of the buffers
, or uncheck the "Use FIFO buffers" checkbox.
11. Select OK to close the Advanced Port Settings Window.
12. Select OK to close the Communications Port Properties Window.
13. Select OK to close the System Properties Window.
14. Close the Control Panel Window.
15. Open the Configuration Window of Mdbus and set the Tx and Rx FIFOS size acco
rdingly.
The machine must be rebooted for any FIFO changes to take effect.
Under Windows NT only the "Use FIFO" option can be enabled or disabled via the C
ontrol Panel.
The procedure is as follows:
1. Click on Start.
2. Click on Settings.
3. Click on Control Panel.
4. Double Click on Ports Icon.
5. Double Click on the communications port to be changed.
6. Click on the Advanced pushbutton.
7. Uncheck or Check "FIFO Enabled".
8. Select OK to close the Advanced Setting for the communications port.
9. Select OK to close Window with Settings for the communication port.
10. Select Close to close Ports Window.
11. Close the Control Panel Window.
12. Open the Configuration Window of Mdbus and set the Tx and Rx FIFOS size acco
rdingly. If the FIFO enabled was unchecked set the TX and RX buffer sizes to 1.
If the FIFO was checked, obtain the size as follows:
The viewing and changing of the size of the buffers can be done in the registry
only under Windows NT and care must be taken to not make a mistake or NT may hav
e to be reloaded. If the buffer sizes are changed, the machine must be rebooted
for the changes to take effect.
The following describes under NT the keys for the Rx and Tx FIFO values in the r
egistry. These values can then be viewed/changed using the registry editor rege
dit. The registry should be exported for backup from the editor before making c
hanges in case of error.
1. Tx Fifo (it can be found as follows)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
SYSTEM
CurrentControlSet
Services
Serial
TxFIFO
2. Rx Fifo (it can be found as follows)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
SYSTEM
CurrentControlSet
Services
Serial
RxFIFO

Open Mdbus Configuration Window and set the Tx and Rx FIFOS size accordingly.
The machine must be rebooted for any FIFO changes to take effect.
The following is the procedure under Windows 2000 and XP to view/change the Tx a
nd Rx FIFO buffer size.
1. Click on Start.
2. Click on Settings.
3. Click on Control Panel.
3. Double Click on System Icon.
4. Click on Hardware Tab.
5. Click on Device Manager Pushbutton.
6. Click on Ports (Com & LPT).
7. Double Click on The appropriate Comm. Port (ex. Communications Port (COM1).
8. Click on the Port Settings Tab.
9. Click on the Advanced Pushbutton.
10. Either note the present size of the Buffers, change the sizes of the Buffers
, or uncheck the "Use FIFO buffers" checkbox.
11. Select OK to close the Advanced Settings for the communications port.
12. Select OK to close the Communications Port Properties for the communications
port.
13. Close Device Manager Window.
14. Click OK on System Properties Window.
15. Close Control Panel Window
16. Open Mdbus Configuration Window and set the Tx and Rx FIFOS size accordingly
.
The machine must be rebooted for any FIFO changes to take effect.
Mdbus sets its receive message inter character timeout greater then the Rx FIFO
value times the character time times 2.
In summary, the following problems can occur if the TX and RX Buffer sizes are n
ot set correctly or their values are not recorded properly in Mdbus.
TX FIFO
This value is only of importance if RTS keying is used with Mdbus. If the TX FI
FO value is less than it should be in Mdbus, Mdbus will lower RTS before all the
characters are transmitted. If RTS from the Mdbus port to a Modbus device is w
ired directly to CTS, or a Radio or RS-485 converter is being used, the receivin
g device will only receive characters until RTS is lowered. If the TX FIFO valu
e is more than it should be, Mdbus will hold RTS high too long and if the device
responds quickly, Mdbus may not be prepared to receive data from the Modbus dev
ice. Mdbus clears its receive buffer after RTS is dropped when RTS TX Delay val
ue is nonzero (RTS keying enabled).
RX FIFO
The RX FIFO value is used by Mdbus to help determine the end of a message. If M
dbus is being used in Monitor or Slave Mode, it is important to set the RX FIFO
as low as possible (1 is best) and set this value in the Mdbus Configuration Win
dow. This allows Mdbus to determine the end of a message in the shortest possib
le time. If RX FIFO value in Mdbus is too short, it will process a message too
quickly and if the RX FIFO value is too long, there will be a delay before a mes
sage is processed.