APPLICATION LAYER

DeviceNet Interface Notes

• DeviceNet Protocol supports Master/Slave, Multiple Master
and Peer to Peer Communications.

• 1771-SDN Scanner for 1771 platform, 1747-SDN for

SLC-500 platform, 1756-DNB for the ControlLogix
platform, and 1784-PCIDS for the PC platforms
are currently available Network Masters.
• Network Masters send outputs from the platform to
each slave device and receive inputs from each slave device
to be put to the platform.
• User program in PLC or PC utilizes data in platform to
do actual control of devices over DeviceNet.
 Producer/Consumer
• Data is identified as to it's content
– No more Source/Destination requirements
– No sense of mastership
• Allows the functionality of the Source/Destination
models: Master/Slave and Peer-to-Peer
• Additional models allowed because relationships
can be built dynamically:
– Multicast - one to many, many to one
– Change of State, event based; Cyclic, time based
• Superior performance because bandwidth is not
wasted
• Examples - DeviceNet, ControlNet, FIP, Fieldbus
 Network Models -
Master/Slave
• The simplest and most understood; “polling”
• The PLC or scanner is the master and I/O devices are
the slaves
– The slaves speak only when spoken to
– Only one master per slave (“single master”)
– Deterministic but not repeatable
• Network examples - Remote I/O, Profibus DP, Interbus-
S, Seriplex, LON

PLC
3,6,..
1,4,...
I/O 1 2,5,.. I/O 2 I/O 3
 Protocol Notes
• DeviceNet protocol supports both Polled and Strobed
commands and responses.

• Strobe Command/Response

-- Strobe Command - An 8 byte I/O message broadcast to

all Slaves on network at same time. 1 bit of output data
for each possible node number. 8 byte message looks
like 64 bit bitmask with node number of device acting
as index into bitmask to extract devices 1 bit of data.

Strobe Transmission format

Node/Bit # 63 56 55 48 47 40 39 32 31 24 23 16 15 8 7 0
Byte 7 Byte 6 Byte 5 Byte 4 Byte 3 Byte 2 Byte 1 Byte 0
 Protocol Notes ( Cont )
-- Strobe Response - All Strobe Slave devices will send
back their input data, if a slave is also an input device.

• Poll Command/Response

-- Poll Command - An I/O message is directed towards a

single, specific Slave ( point-to-point ). The Master must
transmit a separate Poll Command for each one of its
Slaves that is to be polled.

-- Poll Response - Polled Slave device will send back its

input data, if slave is also an input device.
 Scan Cycle
• STROBE: This multicast message starts off the scan cycle.
Strobe-able slaves respond based on their latency.
• POLL: Sent out even as strobe responses are being
received, as bandwidth allows.
• INTER SCAN DELAY: User selectable minimum quiet time to
allow other devices access to the network. Scanner will not
start another scan cycle (even if packet processing is
complete).

New
Strobe/responses Polls/Responses Cycle

S P1 R1 P2 R2 ..... P R ..........packet processing time........ S

ISD
... (up to 63) ...... (up to 63) .....
 Network Models -
Change of State
• Devices report data (input or output) on a change-of-state basis as
the events happen
– Rather than a master going through a polling list (scanning),
• Change of State is more efficient for discrete applications
– Network traffic is significantly reduced
– Performance is greatly improved
• Background heartbeat for device health
• Can be used in Master/Slave, Peer-to-Peer, or Multimaster
environments

PLC
#1
#2
#3
I/O 1 I/O 2 I/O 3
 Network Models -
Cyclic Data Production
• Devices report data on a user-configured time
increment basis (input or output)
• Cyclic Data Production is more efficient for
applications with slowly changing I/O (analog)
– Network traffic is reduced
– Performance is repeatable
• Can be used in Master/Slave, Peer-to-Peer, or
Multimaster environments

PLC
every 500 ms
every 25 ms I/O 1 I/O 2 I/O 3
every 2000 ms
 DeviceNet COS/Cyclic
• COS / Cyclic Scan Model
– Network bandwidth and CPU load both reduced
dramatically from Poll/Strobe scheme
– Note: Hybrid systems are allowed (any mix of
COS, Cyclic, Poll/Strobe)
Change

Cy Co Co Cy
2 6 1 2 .......

COS / Cyclic Model

P R P R P P R P R R P R I
S S S .......
1 1 2 2 3 4 3 5 4 5 6 6
D

Poll / Strobe Model

 Network Models
Multimaster
• PLC 1 “owns” Drive 1, Drive 2 and Drive 3.
• PLC2 “owns” I/O 1 and MMI.
• A device can only be owned by 1 master on the network.

PLC1 PLC2 MMI

DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE

I/O 1 1 2 3
 Click on the underlined text to

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