MODBUS™ RTU & MODBUS™ TCP/IP COMMUNICATIONS & COMPONENTS

Modbus™ is an industrial communication protocol developed in 1979 used to establish master slave/client server communication between intelligent devices. It is the most widely used network protocol in the industrial manufacturing environment.

Modbus™ TCP/IP (Ethernet) is the common transport protocol of the internet and Modbus™ TCP/IP can provide a reliable data transport mechanism between machines. Ethernet has become the standard of corporate enterprises and is becoming more common for factory networking. Using Ethernet TCP/IP in the factory allows true integration with the corporate intranet and systems that support the factory.

To learn more about Modbus™, visit their web site at  www.modbus.org.

ADVANTAGE has implemented Modbus™ RTU communication on Sentra HE, Regal HE and Maximum HE instruments. The physical connection is made using the standard RS-485 port.

ADVANTAGE has also implemented Modbus™ TCP/IP on Sentra HE and Regal HE instruments. A circuit board is attached to the standard instrument to convert the ModbusTM RTU to ModbusTM TCP/IP. An industrial grade RJ45/IP67 connector is generally provided on the unit to easily connect to the plant network. A variety of connectors can be supplied to meet customer needs and facility standards.

The Modbus™ RTU and Modbus™ TCP/IP interface allows the instrument to communicate with a variety of devices including primary processing equipment controls, PLC's and many more. Modbus™ can communicate information including setpoint, retransmit of setpoint, actual temperature, deviation alarm, sensor failure and remote start / stop.

The Modbus™ TCP interface can be configured to any user IP/Subnet. Configuration is achieved using a utility program that runs on Windows™ based PC's.