Maxiflex P3 PAC User Manual
60
-© Omniflex
UMM126XR18.pdf
10. Modbus Master Operation Explained
10.1 Introduction to Modbus Master Driver
The Modbus Master Driver supports up to 32 Queries to read and write data from third party
devices. The same driver is able to send queries using the serial port (i.e. Modbus ASCII and RTU
serial protocol) and the Ethernet port (i.e. Modbus TCP protocol) in the case of the M1262F and
M1267B. The other CPUs only provide support for the serial protocol. These queries can be any
combination of One-shot Queries and Cyclic Queries. In order to use the Modbus Master Driver
over the serial port, the serial port must be configured for this use; otherwise none of the Modbus
Master configuration changes for the serial port will take effect. Please refer to Section 11.9.2,
MODBUS Master Protocol to set up the serial port in this way. In the case of Modbus TCP, no
special protocol setting is required for the Ethernet port.
The Modbus Master Driver is extremely flexible to adapt to the many variances found in the
Modbus Slave protocols found in third party devices. These variances include query response
times and general performance i.e. how often a device can be polled for data. It is possible to
adjust the poll rate per query, the delay between queries as well as the delay between the entire
polling cycle.
The Modbus Master Driver is also easily adaptable to application demands as it is possible to
interleave One-shot and Cyclic queries as desired. One-shot queries are triggered by setting a bit
in the DIT table, which is easily achieved from the local application program or remotely through
any of the network ports. This remote device could, for example, be a PC running a SCADA
application or another Omniflex device.
Data throughput can be controlled by setting the Update Times for Cyclic queries on a per query
basis. This allows users to prioritise faster changing data over slower or less important data by
setting a larger update time for less important data while keeping the fast data on a shorter update
time. This will refresh the fast data more frequently than the slow.
The status of each query is stored in the DIT in bit format, 1 bit for each query, thereby providing
open diagnostics to both application program and any remotely connected devices.
10.2 Modbus Master Parameters
These are some general parameters that control the manner in which queries are processed. They
are configured via Omniset in the "Modbus Master" group as shown below: