Ethernet_IP Assembly

Owned by Gary Cane
May 09, 2022


Operator Menu Location: Generic Hardware Operators Networking Ethernet/IP

Operator Bitmap:
 

Functional Description: The Assembly operator is linked to a local or remote assembly as defined on a modules properties page under General->Networking->Ethernet->ETHERNET IP.  Assemblies provide a way to send (Produce) and/or retrieve (Consume) data through the "Implicit" EtherNet/IP messaging.

Clients will link to a remote server's assembly defined on a different module; Servers will link to the local assemblies on the module.  The data format of the assemblies are defined in structure libraries linked to the logical network defined for the ETHERNET/IP network on the NetworkView tab of Design Pad.

The Assembly operator will assume Client functionality or Server functionality depending on how the hardware link is constructed. In addition, the hardware link determines if the operator is a Producer or Consumer of the data.  The user should pick the Mode of the operator prior to linking to automatically filter the results shown when the operator is linked to an instance of an assembly via the "Connect to Hardware" option.

The list of available assemblies on the logical network will be displayed when "Connect to Hardware" dialog is displayed. Note that behind the scenes the Assembly Instance ID, Assembly type (Input, Output, Configuration), and connection information are specified in the link by the symbolic name that is selected. When connecting to a remote device (Client Mode), the following parameters may also be set:

  • Requested Packet Interval(RPI) 100ms default
  • Connection Type
    • Exclusive Owner
    • Input Only
    • Listen Only
  • Transport Mode
    • Point to Point
    • Multicast
  • Connection Timeout Multiplier of 4,8,16,32,64,128,256, or 512

Operator has the following Pins:

If the hardware link is a Producer:
Inputs:
Data Input (structure)
Disable Input (bool)

If the hardware link infers Client functionality, add the following output pins:
Actual Packet Rate (analog). Indicates the update rate in ms. Depending on the server's capabilities, this may differ from the requested data rate.
Server Connection Error (bool)

If the hardware link is a Consumer:
Inputs: none
Outputs
Data Output (structure)
Dead Time Exceeded Error (bool)

If the hardware link infers Client functionality, add the following output pins:
Actual Packet Rate (analog). Indicates the update rate in ms. Depending on the server's capabilities, this may differ from the requested data rate.
Server connection error pin (bool)
New data received indication pin (bool). Toggle high then immediately low on new data.

User-Defined Properties:
Label. A string label that identifies the operator.

Mode. the mode attribute specifies whether the Assembly is a Producer (sender) or a Consumer (receiver) of the data.

Packing Alignment.

Pack Bits Together.
Display Disable Input. This property determines if the error output pin is visible in the schema diagram. Design Pad issues a warning upon processing the schema when the pin is visible but not connected. The warning message is not issued when the pin is not visible (when this property is not checked).

Max Dead Time. Not currently supported for assembly operators.

Comments: None.

See Also: Ethernet/IP Object