Designing a software implementation of a media converter for the SBNI data transfer interface

This article covers the subject of making modifications to an existing high-speed data transmission interface meant for using in a dangerous environment of underground mining facilities, namely, the development of a software implementation of a media converter in order to replace it. At the end of the 90-s of the last century, a specialized network interface was developed to provide communication and environmental monitoring in hazardous environments of mining facilities. It was called Siberian Board Network Interface (SBNI) and allowed long-range (up to 9 km) data transmission via single twisted pair, offering higher speeds (up to 2 Mbit/s) than interfaces based on a widely known physical standard RS-485/EIA-485.The current configuration of the interface suggests usage of a media converter which is a device that transforms Ethernet data packets into SBNI datagrams. This media converter includes electronic components that are now obsolete, expensive and unavailable on the local market. Continuous development of embedded electronics now allows replacing the media converter by a software implementation. This article contains algorithms developed for work with remote processing units in order to solve the problem. The result of the work demonstrates a possibility of enabling previously unused remote processing units to implement the logic of a media converter on them, and simplify and optimize the production process without sacrificing reliability or functionality.