Design Pad Networking

Design Pad G4 Networking

Overview

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There are a variety of industrial networking protocols available on the market today. Some protocols are open and enjoy support from multiple vendors, while others are proprietary to a single vendor. In the recent past, open protocols have become the norm, but interoperability between protocols remains challenging. Design Pad provides support configuring a variety of industrial protocols and the Chameleon modular framework provides for a platform for protocol interoperability. Design Pad also provides a framework to implement custom protocols that could be employed to interface with devices that use proprietary networking protocols.

An industrial networking protocol consists of a physical connectivity standard (e.g., RS-485, Ethernet, etc.) and a "logical" communication protocol (e.g., Modbus TCP, PROFIBUS, etc.). The physical protocol is the medium of information exchange; in human communication it could be verbal speech, written documents, or hand gestures and facial expressions. The "logical" protocol is the language of information exchange; in human communication, it could be English, Spanish, sign language, or many others.

Fairmount Automation controllers provide a variety of physical and logical connectivity options. FAC-2100 and Valve-embedded controller products have integrated support for various networking protocols. The Chameleon product suite uses a modular approach to manage network activity through dedicated Network Interface Modules (NIM-1, NIM-2 etc.).

Generally one NIM provides a dedicated physical network type and has the ability to execute one or more logical protocols. For example, a NIM-1 provides an RS-485 physical network connection and can execute a Modbus, FairNET, or a custom ASCII or binary protocol. Depending on the limitations of the network type, logical protocols may not be able to be used simultaneously. While most physical networks only allow one logical protocol to execute at any given time, the packet-based nature of Ethernet networks allow multiple logical protocols to execute simultaneously over the same physical wire. In all cases, multiple Chameleon modules can be combined in a node to share information across multiple protocols (physical and/or logical). The Chameleon node backplane can be used to exchange information between one protocol and another.

Fairmount Automation Networking Support at a Glance