However, in our case, we actually want to use a classic terminal and so this means interfacing with its coax connection, but on the other side, the OEC will use TN3270 for connecting to the emulated mainframe. Interface buildĪs noted in the previous post, the 3270 data stream (protocol) can be run over a TCP/IP connection - aka TN3270 - and this is commonly used with mainframe computers today unsurprisingly very few would use a real physical terminal, when much more convenient terminal emulation is available for Linux, Windows and Mac. The OEC hardware is Arduino-based and in our case, we’ll be using this to interface with an emulated mainframe running on a Raspberry Pi 4. In this post, we now take a look at a rather neat open-source implementation of an “establishment controller” which is used to interface a 3270 series terminal with a mainframe. In a previous post, we took a fresh look at IBM 3270 and noted how this family of terminals is particularly interesting, working as part of a highly integrated system that allowed a mainframe computer to scale and serve thousands of users. Building the Open Establishment Controller interface and using this to connect a 3270 terminal to an emulated IBM mainframe running VM/370.
