COMMUNICATION NETWORK

.
The communications need the support of a common language, which is the communications protocol. The
following chart shows the protocols most commonly used in different levels of industrial communications
networks. At the moment, the most popular device bus protocols are Ethernet TCP/IP, Modbus-RTU, ProfibusDP and DeviceNet.

Fig. N75: Different communication protocols

Modbus
Modbus is a message handling structure introduced by Modicon in 1979. Modbus is an application level
protocol based on the OSI model. It is independent of the physical layer.

Fig. N76: Modbus architecture

Modbus-RTU (a.k.a SL - Serial Line)

Modbus can be implemented on RS232, RS442 or RS485 links as well as other media like Ethernet. Modbus
RS485 has been the most common protocol in the world. It supports communications speed up to 115kbps, but
most devices support only communication up to 19.2 kbps.
Modbus RS485 is a low cost communication implementation, and it has the largest installation base and
supplier network. The weak point of Modbus is the transmission speed (since it is limited by serial line speeds)
and the relatively small number of devices that can be connected to one network. However, Modbus-RTU is
still an economical and reasonable choice to the majority of motor protection systems.

Modbus is based on a Master/Slave concept. One device is the master and sends requests to read or write data
to each slave in turn. Slaves answer to requests from the Master. Even though you can have many devices
connected to one serial line only one device can talk at a time.

Fig. N77: Modbus-RTU architecture

Modbus/TCP
Modbus/TCP is an excellent choice for large sites applications. Modbus/TCP uses the standard 100 Mbps
Ethernet media in physical layers to carry the Modbus message handling structure. It offers very fast speed and
big number of devices in one network; it is easier to integrate MCC into the Local Area Network (LAN) of a
company, so it is the choice of more and more customers.
Unlike Modbus-RTU, Modbus/TCP works on a Client/Server concept:

A client initiates the requests and a server answers,

Any device can be a client or a server,

Many devices are both client and server at the same time,

A network can consist of many clients.

Fig. N77a: Modbus/TCP architecture

Many clients can send requests at the same time and many servers can answer at the same time:

A client can talk to multiple servers at the same time,

A server can answer to multiple clients at the same time,

Ethernet switches take care of packet delivery to all a devices at the same time.

Fig. N78: Typical communication architecture

Differences between Modbus/TCP and Modbus-RTU:

Devices can be a client and a server at the same time.

Everyone can talk at the same time: multiple devices can initiate communications, not just one.
Increases system response time by parallel communications.

Multiple requests can be sent from one device to another without waiting for the first request to be
answered. A new piece of data is added to the Modbus frame called the Modbus Transaction identifier to
allow a response to be matched to a specific request.

The Transmission speed is much increased:10Mb, 100Mb, 1Gb etc.

The transmission media is much more flexible and costs are lower: fiber, radio etc.

The number of nodes on a single network is almost unlimited: maximum recommended is around 200,
but routers can be used to join several networks.

Gateways/Proxies allow transparent communications between Ethernet Modbus/TCP and Modbus-RTU

devices.

Profibus
Profibus (PROcess Filed BUS) is a protocol introduced by a fieldbus working group in 1987. It is supported by
PI (Profibus & Profinet International). Profibus-DP is the version of Profibus used at device level. It has been a
successful protocol in the last decades, especially in Europe. Profibus-DP. It supports communications up to 12
Mbps it, but actually 1.5 Mbps is the most practical maximum value in applications. In order to achieve a
transmission speed up to 12 Mbps it requires additional constraints such as the suppression of bus derivations.
The network topology is a bus. The number of devices in a bus is limited. The use of specific repeaters may be
required in order to achieve the theoretical maximum number.

Synthetic view
The following table shows a short (non-exhaustive) comparison of these protocols:
Modbus RTU
Speed
up to 115 kbps
Max. distance without repeaters 1300 m

Profibus-DP
9.6 kbps to 12 Mbps
100m at 12Mbps

DeviceNet
125, 250 or 500 kbps
100m at 500kbps

Ethernet Modbus TCP/IP

10 / 100Mbps / 1Gbps
Twisted pair: 100m

1.2km at 10kbps
Max. number of devices
Max. distance with repeaters

32 without repeater:
1 master and 247 slaves
Depends on the type of repeater

126: mono or multi-masters,

122 slaves max with 3 repeaters
400 to 4800m according to speed

Fig. N80: Comparison of communication protocols

500m at 125kbps
64: 1 master and 63 slaves
Depends on the type of repeater

Optical fibre:
. 2000 m (multi-mode)
. >2 km (mono-mode)
128 with I/O scanning; no
limit with others
10km optical fibre