Anybus Communicator - Questions & Answers

Read the most common questions about the Anybus-Communicator Gateways

Q: What serial protocols does Anybus Communicator (ABC) Support?
A: Two modes are included:

Master Mode: The ABC is a Master and the customer can connect 1-31 Slave nodes to one ABC. The register mapping and set-up are done with the Configuration Software that runs on a PC.A Visual protocol description system for Modbus-RTU and DF1 Master makes it very easy to configure the serial sub-network. In addition the Communicator can also support custom Response/Request protocols. Contact HMS to learn more about custom protocol support.

Generic Mode: Generic mode is built on the produced-consume methodology and any type of telegram can be created for cyclic or change-of-state update. This can be used for simple serial devices, such as barcode readers and text displays that just send or receive a flow of serial characters, commonly called ASCII communications. The ABC supports the serial interfaces RS232, RS422 and RS485. This is selected by software in the Configuration Program.

Q: Do I need any additional configuration files to install the Communicator on the network?
A: For DeviceNet, ControlNet and Ethernet/IP an EDS-file (Electronic Datasheet) for Profibus and CANopen there are similar files that need to be imported in the PLC/Networking commissioning tool used by the system integrator. These files are downloadable from HMS website under the support section for your specific Anybus Communicator version.

Q: Can I connect a device using Rockwell “DF1” serial protocol to Anybus-Communicator?
A: YES, the Anybus Communicator now supports the Rockwell DF1 protocol. All Communicstor versions with the exception of Lonworks can now support this Rockwell protocol. DF1 can be easily selected and configured via the in-built visual description system within the ABC Config Tool.

Q: How would I set up a system where Modbus RTU data is read and written by Profibus DP, when my Profibus system is running at 1.5 Mbit/sec and my Modbus RTU is running at 38,4kbit/sec?
A: The speed on the Profibus line is not an issue here since the Profibus interface and the serial interface on the ABC run independently of each other. The Profibus and the Modbus networks both access their own data buffers, which are periodically synchronized against each other by the CPU in the Anybus-Communicator.

Q: I need to connect Allen-Bradley SLC controller via DeviceNet to Modbus based field device. Are there some Anybus products that can do this?
A: If we assume that the SLC500 is a DeviceNet Scanner and your Modbus devices are Slaves, then Anybus Communicator is the perfect match. One of the greatest benefits with this product is that you can configure the Modbus Commands you want to use to your serial device and just map selected data up to a local memory map, this is then transferred over DeviceNet to your SLC500. The configuration work is very simple and does not require any additional programming of the SLC500.

Q: The web site states that the sub-network can "multi-drop to up to 31 nodes". But the ABC-config tool limits this to 100 “transactions”. Is this a limitation?
A: Normally a Modbus command requires two “transactions”. If you have many different Modbus commands to each slave, you might reach the limit of 100 transactions on fewer slaves than 31.