Allen-Bradley DF1 OPC Server

The Allen-Bradley DF1 Serial OPC Server reads and writes data to and from various Allen-Bradley controllers using the Allen-Bradley DF1 full-duplex data link protocol on an RS-232-C or RS-422-A asynchronous link. This Server meets the OPC Data Server Specification Version 2.0. It also supports OPC Version 1.0.

The Server allows the user to configure bi-directional communications between its database and the Allen-Bradley controllers. It can be configured to operate as a true DF1 peer node accepting and performing both read and write commands from and to other DF1 peers on the network.

The Server supports full peer-to-peer operations including the ability to be read from and written to. Two types of unsolicited processing are supported, slave mode unsolicited and device specific unsolicited. Slave mode unsolicited processing allows both reading and writing operations by peers to and from the Server. The data written/read is from a common global database belonging to the Server. All peers exchange data in this one area. The area acts like a virtual controller’s memory. Device specific unsolicited processing only allows peers to perform write operations to a pre-configured Device representing them. The devices in a sense update their own memory image in the Server. Each peer can write only to its image. Peers cannot read from the Server nor write to another peer’s image.

The Server has a graphical user interface (GUI) configuration environment with an "Explorer" look and feel. The configuration environment allows the Server to be configured with information such as which device to interface with and which data in those configured devices should be accessed. Once data points have been configured, the Server can communicate with these devices on behalf of the Clients. Data exchanged occurs between the Server and the defined device data locations. These locations are defined as part of the configuration process generating Tags in the Server database. Clients and the Server then reference the data via the tag names.

The Server was developed by DASTEC Corporation using the OPC Server Toolkit from FactorySoft, Inc.

Specifications

Operating System Supported: Windows 95/98/NT/2000 and newer
Device Supported: Any controller supporting the above protocol and functions can be used with the Server. These include the Allen-Bradley SLC 5/00 through the 5/05 as well as the MicroLogix family of controllers.
Protocol Supported: DF1 (Full Duplex) to 1770-KF3 or 1747-KE (RS232 to DH-485 Converters) for multi-drop networking or DF1 point-to-point
Functions Supported: Protected Typed Logical Read with Three Address Fields for read operations. Protected Typed Logical Write with Three Address Fields to perform write operations.
Data File Types Supported: Input, Output, Status, Bit, Timer, Counters, Control, Integer, Float,String and ASCII Data
Data Types Supported: BIT(a single bit), INT2(two bytes as a signed integer), UINT2(two bytes as a unsigned integer), INT4(four bytes as a signed integer), UINT4(four bytes as a unsigned integer), BCD3(three digits from two BCD bytes as a signed integer), BCD4(four digits from two BCD bytes as a signed integer), FLT4(four bytes as a IEEE floating point), ASCII(single byte ASCII characters)
Addressing Method: Standard Allen-Bradley SLC addressing: Tf:e.s/b,n

Server error/status announcing via Device Tags
Error Detection: Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC16) or Block Check Sum (BCC)
Baud Rate: 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 14400, 19200, 38400, 56000, 57600, 76800, 115200, 128000 and 256000
Adjustable Protocol Settings: OPC Server’s DF1 Node Address, Number of ENQs (1 - 10), Number of NAKs (1 - 10), Link Level Timeout (25 - 5000msec)
Serial Line Control: Selectable control of the following lines: RTS Output, DTR Output, CTS Input Xmit Control, DSR Input Xmit Control, and DSR Input Rcv Control

Required Additional Hardware
None

Required Additional Software
None

Ordering Information

Part No: OPC-ABDF1