
MAGB2 User Guide
23
V1.7 2021-10-01
11. MODBUS
This manual describes the MAGB2 Modbus-RTU communication protocol.
11.1. General Modbus RTU
Definitions and Abbreviations
CRC
Cyclic Redundancy Check, Used for error-checking in Modbus
RTU. See appendix
Modbus master
A Modbus device, which is able to access data in one or more
connected Modbus slaves
Modbus slave
A Modbus device, which is able to respond to requests from a
single Modbus master
Modbus address
Throughout this document the following notation is used to
address Modbus RTU registers:
1234 - Holding register 1234 (addressed in messages by 1233)
USB
Refers to the USB Specification usb.org
RTU
Remote Terminal Unit - Standard Modbus transmission mode
References
Reference 1
Modbus over Serial Line Specification & Implementation guide
v. 1.0 modbus.org 12/02/02
Reference 2
Modbus Application Protocol Specification v. 1.1 modbus.org
12/06/02
Technical data
ARKON Flowmeter Modbus RTU specification
Device type
Slave
Baud rates
4800, 9600, 19200, 38400 bits/sec.
Number of stations Recommended:
max. 31 per segment without repeaters
Device address range
1-247
Protocol
Modbus RTU (Other Modbus protocols like ASCII, Plus or
TCP/IP are not supported)
Electrical interface
USB
Supported function code
3 read holding registers
16 write multiple registers
Broadcast
No
Maximum cable length
USB Specification limits, RS485 up to 500mts
The communication module complies with the Modbus serial line protocol [Reference 1].
Among other things, this implies a master-slave protocol at level 2 of the OSI model. One node, (the
master), issues explicit commands to one of the „slave“-nodes and processes responses. Slave nodes will
not transmit data without a request from the master node, and do not communicate with other slaves.
Modbus is a mono master system, which means that only one master can be connected at any single point
in time. Two modes of communication are possible, Unicast and Broadcast. Unicast mode is where the
master sends a request to one slave device, and waits a specified time for a response. In Broadcast mode
the master sends out a request to address „0“, which means that the information is for all slave devices on
the network. In Broadcast mode there is no response from the slave devices.