IN TRODUCTION

O ne of the more popular technologi es

for i nterconnecti ng devi ces on a
network i s EI A-485. K nown throughout
i ndustry as RS-485, the proper ti tle for
the standard i s TI A/EI A-485-A
Electri cal Characteri sti cs of Generators
and Recei vers for Use i n Balanced
Di gi tal Multi poi nt Systems.
1
The
EI A-485 standard i s mi sunderstood to
mean more than what i t defi nes.
Accordi ng to the standard i t speci fi es
the characteri sti cs of the generators
and recei vers used i n a di gi tal
multi poi nt system. I t does not speci fy
other characteri sti cs such as si gnal
quali ty, ti mi ng, protocol, pi n
assi gnments, power supply voltages or
operati ng temperature range. A
multi poi nt system consi sts of two or
more generators and one or more
recei vers. A generator i s the same as a
transmi tter and si nce two or more
transmi tters can exi st on the same
electri cal bus, EI A-485 i s sui table for
multi master systems.
The standard i tself i s very short
consi sti ng of only 17 pages. Actually
more gui dance i s avai lable from i ts
si ster publi cati on TSB89 Appli cati on
Gui deli nes for TI A/EI A-485-A.
2
An
EI A-485 bus usually consi sts of two or
more communi cati on controllers each
powered by a separate power source.
At a mi ni mum, a si ngle shi elded or
unshi elded twi sted-pai r cable
i nterconnects the vari ous controllers i n
a dai sy-chai n fashi on. I n some
i nstances a short stub i s allowed;
however, hi gher speed networks
usually do not allow stubs. A star
topology i s defi ni tely not
recommended. Termi nati on i s usually
appli ed to the ends of the network.
EI A-485 i s basi cally a speci fi cati on for
the dri vers, recei vers and transcei vers
attached to the network. Therefore,
parameters such as uni t loads, output
dri ve, short ci rcui t current and
common mode voltage are speci fi ed.
Basi cally a dri ver must be able to
source at least 1.5 volts di fferenti ally
i nto 60 ohms ( two 120 ohm
termi nators i n parallel along wi th 32
uni t loads) under a common mode
voltage range of 7 to +12 Vdc. Data
rates are not speci fi ed and there are a
wi de range of devi ces that conform to
the standard but are i ntended ei ther
for hi gh speed ( up to 50 Mbps) or low
speed ( skew rate li mi ted) . So do not
assume that all dri ver, recei ver and
transcei ver chi ps are all the same.
Some recei vers and transcei vers have
hi gher i nput i mpedance thereby
representi ng less than one uni t load
to the dri ver.
Understanding EIA-485 Networks
EIA-4 8 5 netw orks a re usua lly
configured in a da isy-cha in fa shion
w ith termina tion a t ea ch end.
Volume 1 Issue1
Spring 1 9 9 9
t he
EXTENSION
A Technical Supplement t o control N ETW O RK
TEN RECOMMENDATIONSWHEN
IMPLEMENTING EIA-485
NETWORKS
1 . Recognize t hat EIA-4 8 5 is only a physical layer
st andard and connect ivit y bet ween t wo machines each
wit h an EIA-4 8 5 int erf ace is not ensured.
2 . Since EIA-4 8 5 is basically a specif icat ion f or driver,
receiver and t ransceiver chips, t he manuf act urer of t he
equi pment needs t o speci f y cabl i ng, groundi ng,
t erminat ion, f ail-saf e bias and connect ors.
3 . Dat a rat e and segment lengt hs are not addressed in t he
st andard and, t heref ore, must be specif ied by t he
manuf act urer. A high-speed EIA-4 8 5 design could be
quit e dif f erent f rom a low speed design.
4 . EIA-4 8 5 is int ended t o be cabled as a linear bus wit h
daisy-chain connect ions. St ubs may or may not be
allowed. Do not cable in a st ar t opology.
5 . Caref ully review grounding pract ice. EIA-4 8 5 t ransceiver
damage is usually due t o excessive common mode
volt age caused by unequal ground pot ent ials at t he
vari ous devi ces. Somet i mes a t hi rd-wi re ground
connect ion must be carried t o all nodes t o ensure t hat
t he common mode volt age remain wit hin limit s.
6 . Device prot ect ion circuit ry can cert ainly minimize device
f ailures, however, verif y t hat high dat a rat es can be
maint ained wit h prot ect ion applied.
7 . Alt hough opt ically isolat ed EIA-4 8 5 will not prot ect t he
t ransceivers t hemselves, it will provide a level of
prot ect ion t o t he at t ached equipment . Be sure t o
run a common wire bet ween all opt ically-isolat ed
t ransceivers.
8 . The design of EIA-4 8 5 repeat ers is t ricky. Use only
t hose repeat ers recommended by t he manuf act urer.
9 . Be caref ul when applying t erminat ion and f ail-saf e bias
so as t o not int roduce excessive loading. Terminat ion is
only applied at each end of t he net work while bias is
applied per t he manuf act urer s recommendat ion.
1 0 . EIA-4 8 5 can be quit e an ef f ect ive net work as long as it
is applied properly. Here are our recommendat ions:
If t he devices are in t he same cont rol panel, use
DC coupled EIA-4 8 5 and individual eart h ( chassis)
connect ions f or ground ref erence.
If t he devices are in separat e cont rol panels wit hin
t he same building use opt ically-coupled EIA-4 8 5 and
a separat e ref erence ground wire.
If t he devices are in separat e panels in dif f erent
buildings, use f iber opt ics if at all possible.
Physical Layer Standard
I n terms of the O pen Systems
I nterconnecti on Reference Model ( O SI ) ,
EI A-485 only defi nes the lowest layer
the physi cal layer. I t i s used by Allen
Bradleys DH-485,
3
Profi bus,
4
BACnets
Master/Slave Token Passi ng opti on
5
and ARCNET
6
as well. Each of these
i mplementati ons i s di fferent
demonstrati ng that EI A-485 i s not an all
encompassi ng standard.
In terms of the OSI model, EIA-4 8 5
only a ddresses the low est la yer.
There are several key topi cs that must
be consi dered when deployi ng EI A-485
networks such as termi nati on, fai l-safe
bi as, connectors, groundi ng, cabli ng
and repeaters.
TERMIN ATION
Termi nati ng a data cable wi th a value
equal to i ts characteri sti c i mpedance
reduces reflecti ons that could cause
data errors. However, i f the data rate i s
low or the cables are short, termi nati on
may be unnecessary. As data rates
i ncrease, termi nati on becomes
i mportant. Si nce any devi ce on the bus
can transmi t, i t i s probable that a node
wi thi n the mi ddle of the bus wi ll
transmi t requi ri ng that termi nati on be
appli ed to both ends of the bus
segment. Nati onal Semi conductor offers
a hi ghly i n-depth di scussi on on
termi nati on i n appli cati on note AN-903
7
and offers several alternati ves. The
most popular approach i s DC
termi nati on although thi s approach
results i n hi gher power di ssi pati on.
Resi sti ve termi nators typi cally have
values of 120 to 130 ohms although
twi sted-pai r cable i mpedances can be
as low as 100 ohms. An 100 ohm
termi nati ng resi stor i s too low for the
EI A-485 dri vers. A value closely
matchi ng the cable i mpedance must be
appli ed at some conveni ent locati on
closest to the ends of the cable
segment as possi ble. O ne possi bi li ty i s
to provi de the resi stor wi thi n a node
wi th a jumper to di sable thi s opti on i f
termi nati on i s not requi red. The
problem wi th thi s approach i s that
each node wi ll be confi gured
di fferently si nce only two nodes should
have termi nators. Care must be
exerci sed to ensure that only the
proper modules have termi nati on
i nvoked i n order not to cause
excessi ve bus loadi ng.
Another approach i s to use external
termi nati on outsi de the node. Profi bus
uses thi s approach. Both termi nati ng
and bi as resi stors are located i n the
shell of a DB9 connector. DI P swi tches
wi thi n the shell are used to di sable thi s
feature. The advantage of thi s
approach i s that all nodes on the
network are the same whi le connectors
are used to properly confi gure the
network.
Allen-Bradleys DH-485 uses a sli ghtly
di fferent approach. Although
termi nati ng resi stors are located wi thi n
all nodes, an external jumper appli ed
at the connector i nvokes termi nati on.
Agai n, thi s keeps the confi gurati on i n
the connector and not wi thi n the node.
FAIL-SAFE BIAS
EI A-485 i s a multi poi nt standard where
i ndi vi dual devi ces transmi t and recei ve
data shari ng a common two-wi re
medi um. The opportuni ti es for
colli si ons ( two transmi tters on at the
same ti me) are i mmense and a method
of medi um access control ( MAC) i s
requi red. The 485 standard does not
provi de a bus arbi trati on scheme si nce
thi s i s not a requi rement of the
physi cal layer but i s a requi rement of
the data li nk layer. Wi th a master/slave
protocol such as Profi bus DP, bus
arbi trati on wi th a si ngle master and
multi ple slaves may not be a problem
si nce the master di rects all the traffi c.
Slaves are always li steni ng and only
respond to the masters request thereby
avoi di ng colli si ons. Duri ng thi s ti me,
the bus wi ll "float" enabli ng noi se to
falsely tri gger one of the bus recei vers.
Thi s can occur because the recei vers
output i s undefi ned when the
recei vers i nput voltage i s less than 200
mv whi ch could happen when the bus
floats. To ensure that the bus assumes
a defi ned state when all transmi tters
are off, fai l-safe bi as must be appli ed.
Disconnects a re provided for
fa il-sa fe bia s a nd termina tion.
Nati onal Semi conductors AN-847
8
appli cati on note fully di scusses the
need for fai l-safe bi as and recommends
the proper bi asi ng resi stors needed to
ensure that the bus di fferenti al voltage
wi ll not di p below 200 mv when i dle.
Thi s note recommends a pull-up
resi stor to +5 volts attached to one
si gnal li ne and a pull-down resi stor to
ground attached to the other. I n
conjuncti on wi th an end-of-li ne
termi nator, a voltage di vi der i s created
whi ch i mpresses a bi as across the li ne
that exceeds 200 mv. Therefore, the
recei vers are bi ased i n the mark
( off, logi c 1) state when the network
i s i dle or when the transmi tter sends a
logi c 1. When a transmi tter sends a
logi c 0, the li ne wi ll revert to space
( on, logi c 0) .
Bi as can be appli ed at any poi nt on
the bus segment but i t i s not necessary
to lump the bi as at only one poi nt. The
bi as can be di stri buted throughout the
segment wi th each node provi di ng a
porti on of the bi as. The advantage of
thi s approach i s that there i s no need
to provi de an external bi as network
and power suppli es. The problem wi th
thi s approach i s that the amount of
bi as developed depends upon the
number of nodes on the bus. I f too
few nodes are connected, i nsuffi ci ent
bi as may result. Too much bi as can
result i f too many nodes are connected
causi ng excessi ve loadi ng. I f i t i s
desi red to supply lumped bi as, a
source for +5 volt power needs to be
found whi ch may be awkward to
arrange. The other approach i s to
provi de the complete bi as requi rement
wi thi n each node whi le provi di ng
di sconnecti ng jumpers on the node. I n
thi s way, only one node needs to be
strapped for bi as so record keepi ng
must be good to ensure that the
APPLIC ATIO N
PRESEN TATIO N
SESSIO N
TRAN SPO RT
N ETW O RK
DATA LIN K
PHYSIC AL
locati on of thi s node i s known when a
replacement i s necessary.
Profi bus nodes source +5 volt power
to the connector allowi ng for the bi as
resi stors i n the shell of the mati ng
connectors. DI P swi tches wi thi n the
shell di sable the bi as. Profi bus uses
390 ohms for the pull-up and pull-
down resi stors and 150 ohms for
termi nati on. Thi s provi des about 800
mv of bi as and a Theveni n equi valent
termi nati on resi stance of 125 ohms. I n
TSB89 the resi stance values are 620
and 130 ohms respecti vely whi ch
yi elds 475 mv of bi as and a Theveni n
equi valent termi nati on resi stance of
118 ohms. Ei ther approach i s adequate
i n termi nati ng 120 ohm cable.
However, i t must be remembered that
a termi nati on resi stor exi sts at the
other end of the cable. The di stant
termi nator wi ll load the bi as network
thereby reduci ng the bi as voltage by a
factor of two. So i nstead of havi ng 475
mv of bi as, the resulti ng bi as wi ll be
only 240 mv whi ch i s sti ll above the
200 mv li mi t. Thi s analysi s assumes
there i s no resi stance i n the cable.
I f the requi red bi as i s appli ed at two
poi nts, then cabli ng rules are si mpli fi ed.
Apply bi as and termi nati on only at the
end two nodes by usi ng a combi nati on
bi as/termi nati on resi stor network.
There i s another benefi t to applyi ng
bi as at end nodes. I f a lumped bi as
was appli ed to one end of a long
cable wi th termi nati on at each end, a
voltage di vi der i s formed wi th the DC
resi stance of the cable. For 24 AWG
cable, the resi stance i s 24 ohms/1000
ft. Si nce there are two wi res i n the
cable, the cable resi stance i s effecti vely
48 ohms/1000 ft. An 2500 foot cable
would have the same DC resi stance as
the end termi nator thereby reduci ng
the effecti ve bi as at the end node by a
factor of two. Thi s could put the
di stant nodes i n an unreli able state
compared to devi ces closer to the
source of bi as. A way of correcti ng thi s
i s to i ncrease the cable wi re gauge to
reduce resi stance or apply an equal
amount of bi as at the di stant end of
the cable effecti vely eli mi nati ng the
voltage drop due to cable resi stance.
CON N ECTORS
Wi th coaxi al and fi ber opti c cabli ng,
speci fyi ng connectors i s easy si nce
there i s common practi ce i n the
i ndustry. However, wi th twi sted-pai r
cabli ng there are many opti ons. Si nce
the EI A-485 standard does not address
connectors, trade associ ati ons or
manufacturers must do so. From
practi ce there seems to be three
popular approaches. The tradi ti onal
approach i s to use a four-pi n, si x
posi ti on RJ-11 or ei ght posi ti on RJ-45
provi di ng plenty of pi ns for si gnal and
ground reference. Some RJstyle
connectors are shi elded.
Another approach to connectori zati on
i s to use removable open style screw
connectors. DH-485 uses a si x-posi ti on
connector provi di ng all the necessary
connecti ons i ncludi ng termi nati on.
A popular connector i s the DB9
connector that i s used wi th the Profi bus
standard. Wi th ni ne pi ns, i t i s easy to
accommodate si gnals, logi c ground,
shi eld connecti on and power pi ns. DB9
housi ngs are also avai lable wi th metal
shrouds for better EMC performance
and the housi ng has bui lt-i n bi as and
termi nati on provi si ons. Thi s connector,
however, tends to be pri cey.
GROUN DIN G
I s EI A-485 a two wi re or a three-wi re
system?I t i s most defi ni tely a three-
wi re system. The standard clearly states
that generators and recei vers requi re a
return path between ci rcui t grounds at
each end of a connecti on. Thi s return
path could be an actual wi re i n the
cable connecti ng each of the logi c
grounds together or earth can provi de
the return path by havi ng each logi c
ground returned to earth. Usi ng the
latter approach, a si ngle pai r twi sted
cable can be used. I f the thi rd wi re i s
to be used, the standard states that the
connecti on between logi c ground and
the thi rd wi re contai n some resi stance
to li mi t ci rculati ng currents when other
ground connecti ons are provi ded for
safety. Thi s resi stor could be between
logi c ground and frame ( frame i s ti ed
to earth) or i t can be between the logi c
ground and thi rd connecti on. The
standard uses 100 ohms as an example
for both si tuati ons.
If a third w ire connection is used,
resistors must be used to limit
circula ting ground current.
There i s much confusi on and
mi sunderstandi ng of the thi rd wi re
requi rement and di ffi culty i n even
fi ndi ng a thi rd wi re. I f the logi c
grounds of the transcei vers are ti ed to
earth and a thi rd wi re i s used, there i s
almost a guarantee of a ground loop
current whi ch may or may not i nduce
excessi ve noi se that could di srupt data
transmi ssi ons. The thi rd wi re wi ll also
be the path for fault currents whi ch
could be si gni fi cant when the two
ground potenti als are di fferent due to a
si gni fi cant electri cal event. Sti ll the
thi rd wi re helps to ensure that the
common mode requi rements ( -7 to
+12 volts) of the transcei vers are
mai ntai ned. Excessi ve common mode
voltage i s the most common reason for
transcei ver fai lure.
Protection Circuitry
To protect EI A-485 transcei vers from
excessi ve common mode voltages,
di ode protecti on ci rcui ts are used whi ch
are referenced to earth or logi c ground.
Usually protecti on i s provi ded from each
data li ne to earth and i t i s necessary to
protect agai nst ei ther a posi ti ve or
negati ve occurrence whi ch doubles the
protecti on ci rcui try. The more robust the
protecti on, the more the capaci tance
whi ch li mi ts the data rate.
Protection circuitr y is usua lly
referenced to ea r th.
I t i s qui te possi ble that systems wi ll
refuse to work at the desi red data rate
due to the i ncreased capaci tance. Some
protecti on i s afforded when the
protecti on ci rcui t consi sts of a bulky
transi ent voltage suppressor i n seri es
wi th a di ode. The capaci ti ve di vi der
created by the di ode and suppressor i n
seri es yi elds a capaci tance that i s less
than the di ode i tself thereby lesseni ng
the i mpact of protecti on on data rate.
O f course, protecti on i s possi bly
requi red at each node i ncreasi ng the
li keli hood that ei ther data rate or
di stance wi ll be compromi sed by
addi ng protecti on ci rcui try.
Optical I solation
O pti cally i solated transcei vers can be
treated li ke DC coupled transcei vers.
The termination and fail-safe bias
issues are the same, so what is
isolated? What i s i solated are si gnals
TXD, RTS and RXD. Therefore, three
opto-i solators are requi red. The two
used for data should be hi gh speed
whi le the transcei ver enable i solator
can be slower. A DC-DC converter
needs to be provi ded and i ts
breakdown voltage wi ll probably be
the li mi ti ng factor i n terms of i solati on.
The opti cally i solated transcei ver
desi gn i s the most expensi ve approach
and i t does not guarantee that the EI A-
485 transcei vers, whi ch are connected
di rectly to the cable, wi ll survi ve abuse
from severe electri cal transi ents.
Chances are, however, that the damage
wi ll stop at the i solators and not
i nvolve the equi pment attached to the
node. O pti cally-i solated EI A-485 forces
a thi rd wi re connecti on si nce the
transcei vers must have a return path.
However, thi s ti me there i s no ground
loop si nce logi c ground of the
transcei vers i s not connected to the
earth. Where do we get the third
wire? Many ti mes the shi eld i s used
and not everyone i s i n agreement on
the wi sdom of thi s approach. Si nce
such a small current i s goi ng to flow, i t
seems a reasonable approach. DH-485
uses a two pai r cable wi th one wi re of
one pai r dedi cated as the common
ground. A shi eld covers the two pai rs
and i s only grounded at one poi nt.
Sometimes the shield is used a s the
third w ire w ith a n optica lly-isola ted
interfa ce.
CABLIN G
O ne of the more cri ti cal deci si ons to
make i s the selecti on of cable. There
are many choi ces of cable and people
i ncorrectly assume that any 24 AWG
telephone cable wi ll do. Cable
selecti on depends on several factors
i ncludi ng data rate, si gnal encodi ng
and di stance desi red. Cables attenuate
the transmi tted si gnal and i ntroduce
di storti on of the si gnal waveform i tself.
Addi ti onal di storti on occurs by the way
recei vers are bi ased. Ji tter can occur
when the recei ver attempts to recover
the di storted data. I ntersymbol
i nterference results when a new si gnal
arri ves at the recei ver before the last
si gnal reached i ts fi nal value.
Therefore, the two successi ve symbols
i nterfere wi th one another resulti ng i n
a ti me shi ft i n the data recovery whi ch
i s called ji tter. Nati onal Semi conductor
di scusses thi s phenomenon i n AN-808.
9
Some ji tter i s usually acceptable,
however, i f i t i s excessi ve, the only
soluti on i s to obtai n better cable,
reduce the modulati on rate or reduce
the di stance.
O ther cabli ng i ssues i nclude the wi re
si ze of the conductors, the need for
shi eldi ng, the presence of a thi rd wi re
ground and the type of i nsulati on. I t i s
best to only use the manufacturers
recommended cable and not substi tute
wi thout consulti ng wi th the
manufacturer fi rst.
REPEATERS
EI A-485 segments can be extended
usi ng acti ve hubs or repeaters;
however, care needs to be exerci sed i n
the selecti on of repeaters. Si nce only
two wi res are used, the di recti on of
si gnal flow through the repeater must
change dynami cally. Usually a
di recti on control li ne i s provi ded to the
repeater to control flow or the repeater
automati cally senses traffi c and adjusts
accordi ngly. Do not assume any low-
cost EI A-485 repeater wi ll work at all
speeds. Repeaters that sense li ne
acti vi ty could be fooled i n beli evi ng
data flow from one di recti on has
stopped when i n fact i t was a seri es
of logi c 1s or 0s wi thout state
transi ti ons. Thi s i s especi ally true of
RZ or NRZ encoded data. Repeaters
that operate wi th a knowledge of the
data li nk protocol are much more
reli able than off-the-shelf soluti ons.
SUMMARY
Wi th some attenti on to detai l,
EI A-485 can be an effecti ve physi cal
layer technology.
1 . Telecommunications Industry Association,
Electrical Characteristics of
Generators and Receivers for Use in
Balanced Digital Multipoint Systems,
TI A/ EI A-485-A, March 1998.
2 . Telecommunications Industry Association,
Application Guidelines for
TI A/ EI A-485-A, TSB89, June 1998.
3 . Rockwell Software, SLC500 Modular
Hardware Style I nstallation and
Operation Manual, SLC500CD, July 1998.
4 . Profibus Trade Organization, Profibus
Standard-Part 1, DIN 19245, 1993.
5 . ASHRAE, A Data Communications
Protocol for Building Automation
and Control Networks,
ANSI/ASHRAE 135-1995, Dec. 1995.
6 . FieldComms USA, ARCNETs Already
Flexible Physical Layer Enhanced
with Several EI A-485 Variants,
George Thomas, June 1997.
7 . National Semiconductor, A Comparison
of Differential Termination
Techniques, AN-903, 1993.
8 . National Semiconductor, Fail-safe Biasing
of Differential Buses,AN-847, July 1992.
9 . National Semiconductor, Long
Transmission Lines and Data Signal
Quality, AN-808, March 1992.
REFERENCES
www.ccontrols.com