Whitepaper
Data Exchange Test of MODBUS Serial Connectivity February 2003Page 1
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Data Exchange Test of MODBUS Serial Connectivity
This whitepaper describes testing of a specific PLC and serial card setup to determine the data exchange.
Fisher-Rosemount Systems, Inc. 19962003 All rights reserved. DeltaV, the DeltaV design, SureService, the SureService design, SureNet, the SureNet design, and PlantWeb are marks of one of the Emerson Process Management group of companies. All other marks are property of their respective owners. The contents of this publication are presented for informational purposes only, and while every effort has been made to ensure their accuracy, they are not to be construed as warrantees or guarantees, express or implied, regarding the products or services described herein or their use or applicability. All sales are governed by our terms and conditions, which are available on request. We reserve the right to modify or improve the design or specification of such products at any time without notice.
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Contents
Introduction--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5 Summary -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5 Test System Equipment Setup ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6 Data Model and Test Setup ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Data Model.............................................................................................................................................................. 7 Test Setup ............................................................................................................................................................ 10 Test Conditions and Results------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 Test 1 Conditions ................................................................................................................................................... 11 Test 2 Condition ..................................................................................................................................................... 12 Test 3 Condition ..................................................................................................................................................... 13
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Figures
Figure 1 Test System Layout -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6 Figure 2 Data Communication Path---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7
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Tables
Summary of Test Results----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5 PLC and DeltaV Serial Card Configuration Design--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8 Data Type Design Details ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9 mimic Data Group Setup----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Test 1 Results per mimic Data Group -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 Test 1 Average Results ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 Test 2 Results per mimic Data Group ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 Test 2 Average Results ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 Test 3 Results per mimic Group --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 Test 3 Average Results ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14
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Introduction
The testing documented in this paper demonstrated the data transfer between a DeltaV controller with a serial card and a Modicon (Schneider Electric) Quantum PLC. The serial communication was via MODBUS Protocol at 19.2 kbaud. Results discussed in this whitepaper are valid only for the test equipment and setup used in the test scenarios described.
Summary
Three test conditions were performed on the same test system equipment. The three tests performed are: Test 1 contained 120 DeltaV control modules all having scans rates of 500 ms Test 2 contained 120 DeltaV control modules with all of the analog modules and 36 of the discrete modules having a 500 ms scan rate and the remaining 36 discrete modules with a scan rate of 200 ms. Test 3 combined the 48 analog control modules into 24, each containing 8 analog input function blocks writing to 8 analog output function blocks, the discrete control modules remaining configured the same as test 1 & 2. All control modules scan rate was 500 ms.
All three tests demonstrated little variation in the overall average input-to-output time and the average port scan rates of the serial card. The main difference was the additional loading on the DeltaV controller due to changing the scan rate from 500 ms to 200 ms for 36 of the discrete control modules. Table 1 shows a summary of the results from the three test scenarios. Details of each test condition and the test result is shown under Test Conditions and Results. Overall Average Input to Output Time, seconds 1.795 1.687 1.876
TEST 1 2 3
Serial Card Average Port Scan Rate, seconds 0.876 0.899 0.748
Average DeltaV Controller Free Time, % 55.45 31.70 57.60
Table 1 Summary of Test Results
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Test System Equipment Setup
Figure 1 shows a graphical layout of the test system used for the three test conditions. The test system comprises the following: 1) DeltaV digital automation system: 1DeltaV ProfessionalPLUS Station 1DeltaV MD controller 1DeltaV serial card with MODBUS 2) Quantum PLC system: 1140 CPU 113 02 controller 1140 CRP 932 00 remote I/O head 1PC with configuration software 3) mimic simulation of Quantum remote I/O 1PC with mimic software 1SSTech 5136 MODCARD (remote quantum I/O interface card)
Figure 1 Test System Layout
Data Model and Test Setup
The data model used for the tests is representative of a PLC configuration in the field. The purpose of the test was to document the average time required to: write data changes from the remote I/O input channels to the PLC, communicate those changes to the DeltaV serial card via MODBUS, and have modules in the DeltaV system read the change and write it back to the PLC remote I/O output channels.
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Figure 2 shows a block representation of the data communication path.
Figure 2 Data Communication Path Data Model The DeltaV control modules configured for the tests contained: Analog input control modules where each module contains 8 AI function blocks Analog output control modules where each module contains 8 AO function blocks written to/from the corresponding AI blocks Discrete input control modules where each module contains 96 DI function blocks Discrete output control modules where each module contains 96 DO function blocks written to/from the corresponding AI blocks Module scan rates were set to maintain 100% module execution. Note: Variable scan rates were investigated but test results of any scan rate that did not result in 100% block execution were not reported. The PLC data model developed included: Analog inputs registers: 189 Analog outputs registers: 189 Discrete inputs registers: 576 Discrete outputs registers: 576 Total number of registers: 1530 The DeltaV serial card, port 1 properties included: Enabled Protocol type: RTU Mode: Master Retry count: 1 Message timeout (ms): 1000 Transmit delay (ms): 0
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The port 1 dataset properties are detailed in Table 2.
DeltaV SERIAL CARD DATA SET #
1
DATA DIRECTION
INPUT
OUTPUT MODE
N/A COMPLETE BLOCK N/A COMPLETE BLOCK N/A COMPLETE BLOCK N/A COMPLETE BLOCK N/A COMPLETE BLOCK N/A COMPLETE BLOCK N/A COMPLETE BLOCK N/A COMPLETE BLOCK
DeltaV DATA TYPE
16 BIT INTEGER W/STATUS 16 BIT INTEGER W/STATUS 16 BIT INTEGER W/STATUS 16 BIT INTEGER W/STATUS BOOLEAN WITH STATUS BOOLEAN WITH STATUS BOOLEAN WITH STATUS BOOLEAN WITH STATUS BOOLEAN WITH STATUS BOOLEAN WITH STATUS BOOLEAN WITH STATUS BOOLEAN WITH STATUS BOOLEAN WITH STATUS BOOLEAN WITH STATUS BOOLEAN WITH STATUS BOOLEAN WITH STATUS
PLC DATA TYPE
INPUT REGISTERS HOLDING REGISTERS INPUT REGISTERS HOLDING REGISTERS INPUT STATUS
PLC BASE REGISTER ADDRESS
30003
NUMBER OF VALUES
93
OUTPUT
40003
93
INPUT
30201
96
OUTPUT
40101
96
INPUT
10001
96
OUTPUT
COILS
00001
96
INPUT
INPUT STATUS
10101
96
OUTPUT
COILS
00101
96
INPUT
INPUT STATUS
10201
96
10
OUTPUT
COILS
00201
96
11
INPUT
INPUT STATUS
10301
96
12
OUTPUT
COILS
00301
96
13
INPUT
INPUT STATUS
10401
96
14
OUTPUT
COILS
00401
96
15
INPUT
INPUT STATUS
10501
96
16
OUTPUT
COILS
00501
96
Table 2 PLC and DeltaV Serial Card Configuration Design
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The data model configuration design used for the test is detailed in Table 3:
DATA TYPE
AI
MODBUS TYPE
INTERGER REGISTERS HOLDING REGISTERS INTERGER REGISTERS HOLDING REGISTERS STATUS REGISTERS COILS STATUS REGISTERS COILS STATUS REGISTERS COILS STATUS REGISTERS COILS STATUS REGISTERS COILS STATUS REGISTERS COILS
PLC Starting ADDRESS
30003
PLC REGISTERS USED
93
DeltaV SERIAL CARD DATA SET NUMBER
1
DeltaV CONTROL MODULES
12
AO
40003
93
12
AI
30201
96
12
AO
40101
96
12
DI
10001
96
DO DI
00001 10101
96 96
6 7
6 6
DO DI
00101 10201
96 96
8 9
6 6
DO DI
00201 10301
96 96
10 11
6 6
DO DI
00301 10401
96 96
12 13
6 6
DO DI
00401 10501
96 96
14 15
6 6
DO Totals
00501
96 1530
16
6 120
Table 3 Data Type Design Details
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Test Setup The test was set up to a) programmatically, via a C program, cause changes to all of the inputs via MIMIC and b) determine the time for all of the output channels to be changed to the new corresponding input values. In MIMIC , channels were assigned to data groups that correspond to the serial card data sets. See Table 4 below for details on data group set-up.
DeltaV SERIAL CARD DATA SET NUMBER
1 1 2 3 2 4 5 6 4 7 8 5 9 10 6 11 12 7 13 14 8 15 16 AO DI DO DI DO DI DO DI DO DI DO DI DO AO AI
mimic Data Group
DATA TYPE
MODBUS TYPE
INTERGER REGISTERS HOLDING REGISTERS INTERGER REGISTERS HOLDING REGISTERS STATUS REGISTERS COILS STATUS REGISTERS COILS STATUS REGISTERS COILS STATUS REGISTERS COILS STATUS REGISTERS COILS STATUS REGISTERS COILS
PLC Starting ADDRESS
30003 40003 30201 40101 10001 00001 10101 00101 10201 00201 10301 00301 10401 00401 10501 00501
PLC REGISTERS USED
93 93 96
DeltaV CONTROL MODULES
12
AI
12 12 12 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
96 96 96 96 96 96 96 96 96 96 96 96 96
Table 4 mimic Data Group Setup
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The following was the test sequence, via a C program, to determine the time recorded for the three test conditions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Start timer Concurrently change all 8 input mimic data groups Monitor all 8 output mimic data groups until they match the changes in step 2 Stop the timer Record the time for each output data group to change to the input data group Wait 2 seconds Repeat test until test is run 500 times.
Test Conditions and Results
The following three sections show the results of each Test Condition performed on the test system.
Test 1 Conditions
All 120 modules at 500 ms scan rate. Analog input and output function blocks are in separate DeltaV Control Modules:
mimic Data Group 1
DELTAV SERIAL CARD DATA SET NUMBER 1 2
DATA TYPE AI AO AI AO DI DO DI DO DI DO DI DO DI DO DI DO
DELTAV CONTROL MODULES 12 12 12 12 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
Control Module Scan Rate, ms 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500
Average Input to Output Time, seconds 1.831
3 4
1.783
5 6
1.847
7 8
1.925
9 10
1.619
11 12
1.853
13 14
1.751
15 16
1.752
Table 5 Test 1 Results per mimic Data Group
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Table 6 provides the test 1 overall average input to output time for all 8 mimic data groups and from the DeltaV diagnostics: the serial cards port 1 average scan time to update all of the datasets and the average controller free time. Overall Average Input to Output Time, seconds 1.759 Serial Card Average Scan Time to Scan all Data Sets, seconds 0.876 Table 6 Test 1 Average Results Average DeltaV Controller Free Time, % 55.45
Test 2 Condition
All analog modules and half of the discrete modules at 500 ms scan rate, with half of the discrete modules at 200 ms scan rate. Analog input and output function blocks are in separate DeltaV control modules
DELTAV SERIAL CARD DATA SET NUMBER 1 2 2 3 4 3 5 6 4 7 8 5 9 10 6 11 12 7 13 14 8 15 16
MIMIC Data Group 1
DATA TYPE AI AO AI AO DI DO DI DO DI DO DI DO DI DO DI DO
DELTAV CONTROL MODULES 12 12 12 12 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
Control Module Scan Rate, ms 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 200 200 200 200 200 200
Average Input to Output Time, seconds 1.906
1.719
1.685
1.852
1.806
1.527
1.554
1.446
Table 7 Test 2 Results per mimic Data Group
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Table 8 provides the test 2 overall average input to output time for all 8 mimic data groups and from the DeltaV diagnostics: the serial cards port 1 average scan time to update all of the datasets and the average controller free time. Overall Average Input to Output Time, seconds 1.687 Serial Card Average Scan Time to Scan all Data Sets, seconds 0.899 Table 8 Test 2 Average Results Average DeltaV Controller Free Time, % 31.70
Test 3 Condition
All analog input and output function blocks in the same modules, with 8 AIN and 8 AOUT blocks/module. All 120 modules at 500 ms scan rate: Mimic Data Group
1
DeltaV SERIAL CARD DATA SET NUMBER
1 2
DATA TYPE
AI
DeltaV CONTROL MODULES
12
Control Module Scan Rate, ms
500
Average Input to Output Time, seconds
2.058
AO AI AO DI DO DI DO DI DO DI DO DI DO DI DO 12 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 1.698 1.764 1.873 1.563 1.908 2.234
3 4
5 6
1.908
7 8
9 10
11 12
13 14
15 16
Table 9 Test 3 Results per mimic Group
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Table 10 provides the test 3 overall average input to output time for all 8 mimic data groups and from the DeltaV diagnostics: the serial cards port 1 average scan time to update all of the datasets and the average controller free time. Overall Average Input to Output Time, seconds 1.876 Serial Card Average Scan Time to Scan all Data Sets, seconds 0.748 Table 10 Test 3 Average Results Average DeltaV Controller Free Time, % 57.60
