Compare PLC and DCS: What is the difference?

You must automate a process, but you can't decide between a DCS and a PLC. Are these systems really all that different? he answers depend on a slew of other !uestions. Turn the clock back 10-15 years: The programmable logic controller (PLC) is king of machine control hile the !istribute! control system ("C#) !ominates process control$ %f you manufacture plastic i!gets& you speak PLC$ %f you pro!uce chemicals& you speak "C#$ To!ay& the t o technologies share king!oms as the functional lines bet een them continue to blur$ 'e no use each here the other use! to rule$ (o e)er& PLCs still !ominate high-spee! machine control& an! "C#s pre)ail in comple* continuous processes$ The early "C# looke! !ramatically !ifferent from the early PLC$ %nitially& the "C# performe! the control functions of the analog panel instruments it replace!& an! its interface mimicke! their panel !isplays$ "C#s then gaine! se+uence logic capabilities to control batch processes as ell as continuous ones$ "C#s performe! hun!re!s of analog measurements an! controlle! !o,ens of analog outputs& using multi-)ariable Proportional %ntegral "eri)ati)e (P%") control$ 'ith the same --bit microprocessor technology that ga)e rise to the "C#& PLCs began replacing con)entional relay.soli!state logic in machine control$ PLCs !ealt ith contact input.output (%./) an! starte!.stoppe! motors by performing 0oolean logic calculations$

The big change in "C# o)er the past 10 years is its mo)e from proprietary har! are to the personal computer (PC) an! stan!ar! L23 technologies$ 'ith each a!)ance in PC po er& "C#s ha)e mo)e! up in po er$ PCs ga)e us spee!y& responsi)e& multime!ia& in!o e!& operator-process interfaces (/P%)$ 4elational !atabases an! sprea!sheet soft are enhance the ability of "C#s to store an! manipulate !ata$ 2rtificial intelligence (2%) technology gi)es us 5smart5 alarming$ To!ay6s "C# architecturally looks much like the "C# of 10 years ago& but tomorro 6s "C# may control through net orke! 5smart5 !e)ices- ith no %./ har! are of its o n$ 7ost "C#s offer re!un!ant controllers& net orks& an! %./s$ 7ost gi)e you 5built-in5 re!un!ancy an! !iagnostic features& ith no nee! for user- ritten logic$ "C#s allo centrali,e! configuration from the operator or engineering console in the control room$ 8ou can change programming offline& an! !o nloa! ithout restarting the system for the change to be effecti)e$ "C#s allo inter-controller communications$ 8ou can !o !ata e*change in most "C# systems a! hoc (no nee! for pre!efine! !ata point lists)$ 8ou access !ata by tag name& regar!less of har! are or location$

"C#s use multi-tasking operating systems& so you can !o nloa! an! run applications asi!e from the real-time control functions an! still !o fractional-secon! control$ "C#s no come in 5micro5 systems& to price-compete ith PLCs-but ith full "C# features an! capabilities$ The typical "C# has integrate! !iagnostics an! stan!ar! !isplay templates that automatically e*ten!.up!ate hen your !atabase changes$ This !atabase is central to the system-you !on6t ha)e !ifferent !atabases sitting in the controllers$ "C#s ha)e user-frien!ly configuration tools& inclu!ing structure! 9nglish& control block libraries& #:C (se+uential function chart)& an! e)en 4LL (relay la!!er logic)$ 7ost "C#s allo graphical configuration& pro)i!e online !iagnostics& an! are self!ocumenting$ 7ost pro)i!e for user-!efine! control blocks or customi,e! strategies$ The controllers e*ecute control strategies as in!epen!ent tasks; thus& making changes to part of the control logic has no impact on the rest$ 2n important !ifference bet een "C#s an! PLCs is ho )en!ors market them$ "C# )en!ors typically sell a complete& orking& integrate!& an! teste! system; offering full application implementation$ They offer many ser)ices: training& installation& fiel! ser)ice& an! integration ith your %nformation Technology (%T) systems$ 2 "C# )en!or pro)i!es a ser)er ith a relational !atabase& a L23 ith PCs for office automation& net orking support an! integration of thir!-party applications an! systems$ The "C# )en!or tries to be your 5one-stop shop$5 The PLC is more of a 5!oit-yourself5 !e)ice& hich is sometimes simpler to e*ecute$

Programmable Logic Controllers$ 'hen PLCs ere solely replacements for har!- ire! relays& they ha! only !igital %./& ith no operator interface or communications$ #imple operator interfaces appeare!& then e)ol)e! into increasingly comple* interfaces as PLCs orke! ith increasingly comple* automation problems$ 'e ent from a panel of buttons an! %./-!ri)en lamps to PLC full-color customi,e! graphic !isplays that run on #C2"2 soft are o)er a net ork$ PLCs no ha)e many "C#-like control functions (e$g$& P%" algorithms) an! analog %./$ They6)e mo)e! past their birthplace: the !igital orl! (s itch an! binary sensor inputs an! output contacts to run motors an! trigger solenoi!s)$ PLCs are fast: They run an input-compute-output cycle in millisecon!s$ /n the other han!& "C#s offer fractional secon! (1.1 to 1.10) control cycles$ (o e)er& some "C#s pro)i!e interrupt.e)ent-triggere! logic for high-spee! applications$ PLCs are simple& rugge! computers ith minimal peripherals an! simple /#s$ 'hile increasing reliability& PLC simplicity is not con!uci)e to re!un!ancy$ Thus& fully re!un!ant (5hot&5 automatic& bumpless) )ariations of PLCs& ith their a!!e! har! are an! soft are& sometimes suffer from a re!uction in their reliability-a characteristic PLCs are famous for$ "ata e*change typically re+uires you to preassign !ata registers an! har! co!e their a!!resses into the logic$ %f you a!! registers or nee! to reassign !ata& you typically ha)e to !eal manually ith the "omino 9ffect$

Typical PLC 4elay La!!er Logic (4LL) languages inclu!e function blocks that can perform comple* control an! math functions (e$g$& P%" algorithms)$ Comple* multiloop control functions (e$g$& casca!e management an! loop initiali,ation) are not typical$ :or functions too messy to implement in 4LL& most PLCs pro)i!e a function block that calls a user- ritten program (usually in 02#%C or C)$ PLCs typically operate as 5state5 machines: They rea! all inputs& e*ecute through the logic& an! then !ri)e the outputs$ The user- ritten logic is typically one big 4LL program& hich means you may ha)e to take the hole PLC off-line to make a change of any si,e$ 8ou also run into !atabase synchroni,ation problems because of the separation of PLCs an! the 7an 7achine %nterface (77%) soft are packages& as oppose! to the central !atabases of "C#s$ 2 PLC ill run in a stan!-alone configuration$ 2 "C# controller normally e*pects an operator interface an! communications& so it can sen! alarms& messages& tren! up!ates& an! !isplay up!ates$ 7any PLC installations use interface soft are from thir!-party )en!ors for impro)e! graphics an! )arious le)els of alarming& tren!ing& an! reporting$ The PLC an! 77% soft are normally interact by sitting on the net ork an! using the register e*change mechanism to get !ata from an! to the )arious PLCs$ This type of communication presumes you ha)e preassigne! !ata registers an! can fetch !ata on an absolute a!!ress basis$ This can lea! to !ata processing errors (e$g$& from the rong input) you on6t encounter ith the central !atabase of a "C#$ #ome PLCs use proprietary net orks& an! others can use L23s$ 9ither ay& the communication functions are the same-fetch an! put registers$ This can result in bottlenecking an! timing problems if too many PCs try communicating ith too many PLCs o)er a net ork$ 2 PLC may ha)e a thir!-party package for operator interfaces& L23 interface to PCs an! peripherals& PLC !ata high ay or bus& re!un!ant controllers ith local an! !istribute! %./& local 77% an! local programming capability$ The PLC oul! ha)e re!un!ant me!ia support& but not the re!un!ant communication har! are or %./ bus har! are you6! fin! in a "C#$ 2 PLC oul! ha)e preprogramme! %./ car!s for specific signal types an! ranges$ To!ay& the !ecision bet een PLC an! "C# often !epen!s on business issues rather than technical features$ <uestions to consi!er are those in)ol)ing: The internal e*pertise to e*ecute the pro=ect& Le)el of support a)ailable from a )en!or.integrator& Long-term maintainability& an! Life-cycle costs$ PLCs an! "C#s o)erlap in their features& but also ha)e !istinct strengths an! eaknesses$ 'hen !eci!ing bet een the t o& kno ho ill !eli)er an! support your system& an! ho they ill !o it$

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