Serial communications tap device

Abstract

A serial tap device consists of a first serial port, a second serial port directly connected to the first serial port by multiple serial lines, and a switch configured to selectively connect one or more of the multiple serial lines to a convertor module. The convertor module is configured to convert serial communications signals from the one or more serial lines to transistor-transistor logic (TTL) level signals. The serial tap device includes a communications module and a processor which operates to capture data from the TTL level signals, generate packets containing the captured data, and transmit the packets to a communications network, such as the internet, through the communications module. The serial tap device may be connected inline, between two serial devices, in order to capture data exchanged in serial communication flows between the devices and transmit the captured data to a remote server.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.