Allen-Bradley 2100-ENET, User Manual

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64 Rockwell Automation Publication 2100-UM006A-EN-P - July 2013
Glossary
D
Data Rate The speed at which data is transferred on the EtherNet/IP network.
Duplex Duplex describes the mode of communication. Full-duplex communication lets a
device exchange data in both directions at the same time. Half-duplex
communication lets a device exchange data only in one direction at a time. The
duplex used by the adapter depends on the type of duplex that other network
devices, such as switches, support.
E
Electronic Data Sheet (EDS) Files Simple text files that are used by network configuration tools such as RSNetWorx
for EtherNet to describe products so that you can easily commission them on a
network. EDS files describe a product device type and revision. EDS files for
many Allen-Bradley products can be found at
http://www.ab.com/networks/
eds .
EtherNet/IP Network EtherNet/IP (Industrial Protocol) is an open producer-consumer
communication network based on the Ethernet standard (IEEE 802.3), TCP/IP,
UDP/IP, and CIP. Designed for industrial communication, both I/O and
explicit messages can be transmitted over the network. Each device is assigned a
unique IP address and transmits data on the network. The number of devices that
an EtherNet/IP network can support depends on the class of IP address. For
example, a network with a Class C IP address can have 254 nodes.
General information about EtherNet/IP network and the EtherNet/IP network
specification are maintained by the Open DeviceNet Vendor’s Association
(ODVA). ODVA is online at
http://www.odva.org .
Explicit Messaging Explicit Messages are used to transfer data that does not require continuous
updates. They are typically used to configure, monitor, and diagnose devices over
the network.
G
Gateway A device on a network that connects an individual network to a system of
networks. When a node needs to communicate with a node on another network,
a gateway transfers the data between the two networks. You need to configure the
address for the gateway device in the adapter if you want the adapter to
communicate with devices that are not on its network.
H
Hardware Address Each Ethernet device has a unique hardware address (sometimes called a MAC
address) that is 48 bits. The address appears as six digits separated by colons (for
example, xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx). Each digit has a value between 0 and 255 (0x00 and
0xFF). This address is assigned in the hardware and cannot be changed. It is
required to identify the device if you are using a BOOTP utility.