BUS COMPARISON MATRIX

2002 R.A. Hulsebos (rahulsebos@cs.com)

Only for personal use vendors & publishers contact me first for other usage!

Item Profibus AS-Interface Interbus Modbus-1 Ethernet

General

Abbreviation Process Field Bus Actuator Sensor Interface - Modicon Bus -

Available since Ca. 1990 Ca. 1995 Ca. 1988 Ca. 1979. Ca. 1975
Developer Profibus Consortium AS-Interface Consortium Phoenix (Germany) Modicon / Gould / Groupe Xerox (US)
(Germany) (Germany) Schneider
Standards DIN 19245, EN 13321/1 EN 50295, IEC 62026/2, DIN 19258, EN 50254/1, No (inter)national IEEE 802.3
(FMS), EN 50254/2, EN IEC 947 IEC 61158 Type 8 standard.
50170/2, IEC 61158 Type
3, SEMI E54.8 (DP)
Website www.profibus.com www.as-interface.net www.interbusclub.com www.modbus.org
Variants FMS, PA, FDL, DP (with V1.0, V2.0, V2.10, V2.11 V1, V2, V3, V4 ASCII, RTU (Remote 10Base2 (Coax)
subversions DP/E, DP/V1 and higher Interbus/Loop Terminal Unit) 10Base5 (Coax)
and DP/V2) 10BaseT (Twisted-pair)
100BaseTX (idem)
Other protocols which MPI (Multipoint Interface) - - The French Jbus is not -
resemble it from Siemens (like FDL) officially a Modbus-1
variant, but for 99%
compatible.
Applicable for No (too complex, and Yes (especially Yes (via Interbus/Loop) No No (hardware too large)
sensor/actuator I/O? hardware too large) developed for it)
Applicable for remote Yes (DP only) Limited (can only have 4 Yes Yes Yes
I/O ? digital I/O channels or 2
analog channels per
participant)
Applicable for Yes (FMS for No. Limited. Yes, but officially only for Yes
communication communication between Modicon / Groupe
between controllers controllers, PA for field Schneider controllers,
and/or intelligent instruments) although many other
equipment? controller vendors also
support Modbus.
Most often used variant DP/V1 V2.0 V4 RTU 10BaseT, 100BaseTX
at this moment
Variants that are not FDL, FMS V1.0 V1, V2 ASCII 10Base2
used anymore or are 10Base5
seldom used
Compatibility between FMS and DP and FDL Backwards compatible. Backwards compatible. Both variants have a Compatible by using hubs or switches
variants mutually incompatible, similar command set, that support multiple variants.
but can be connected to although different in
same cable. transmission format.
Application profiles ProfiSafe, ProfiDrive, Analogue I/O, Safety Drivecom, Encom, - -
ProfiNet . MMICOM, Safety
Application areas Discrete industry (DP), Discrete industry, Discrete industry Discrete industry, process Office automation; higher levels of
Process industry (PA). Process industry partially. industry. industrial automation
Intrinsically safe variant Yes (PA). No. No. No. No
available?
Stability of system High. High. High. High. Ethernet is still in full development. No
market leader able to set a standard.
Most important DP: Interbus, CAN. None Profibus/DP None at this moment; is still very much
competitor PA: Foundation Fieldbus developing.
Availability of interface Yes, several vendors. Yes, several vendors. Yes, via Phoenix. Not needed when RS232 Most modern PCs come with an
cards for PCs is used; for RS422/485 a Ethernet integrated on the motherboard.
converter can be used or a
normal PC plug-in card.
Availability of driver Yes, comes with the PC Yes, comes with the PC Yes, comes with the PC In many cases the Comes with Windows or Linux.
software for PCs card. For DP, a network card. card. Windows or Linux support
configuration package is suffices.
also needed.
Availability of Free only for members of Only for members of the Can be downloaded from Can be downloaded from Can be downloaded from www.ieee.org .
specifications for users the user group; otherwise user group; otherwise www.interbusclub.com Groupe Schneider website
only available for a fee. only available for a fee. (www.modicon.com ) or
from the Modbus User
group (www.modbus.org ).
Books about this 12 1 8 None known. 1
system About FMS the only book Many other books, but mainly meant for
is sold out.. office automation applications.

Cabling
Cable 2-wire. 2- wire (yellow AS-i 4- wire. Commonly use either Coax (10Base2/5)
cable), possibly power- RS232 or RS422/485, 4- wire Twisted pair (10BaseT,
supply via extra 2-wire although this is not 100BaseTx)
cable (black). formally specified.
Cable color Purple (DP), blue(PA). Yellow (network + Green. Not specified. Yellow (coax 10Base5), black (coax
power), black (power 10Base2), usually gray for other variants.
24V), red (power 220V).
Redundant cabling Not yet (only specification No. Not yet. Depends on vendor. Yes .
possible for redundant slaves is
available)
Fiber optic possible Yes (via repeaters). No. Yes. Yes, depends on vendor. Yes.
Power supply for nodes Via separate connection Via network itself Via separate connection. Not specified. Via separate connection.
on network (FMS, DP). With PA via (30V/8A), extra power via
network itself. 24V cable (black).
Connector 9-pins sub-D connector Via vampire taps (most 9-pins sub-D connector. Not specified (often 9-pin 15-pins sub-D (10Base5)
 (most common), other
connectors possible.
Topology Bus (FMS, DP, PA)
Chicken feet(PA).
Termination 3 resistors at both ends
of cable (FMS, DP). With
PA combination of R and
C.
Vulnerability for Nodes with terminators
incorrect termination may not be switched off
or be removed from the
network.
Signal transmission According RS485 (FMS,
DP) or IEC 61158/2 (PA).
Maximum length 1200 m.
(without repeaters)
Speed (bit rate) 9.6 / 19.2 / 93.75 / 187.5 /
500 Kbit/s (FMS); DP like
FMS but also supports
45.45 Kbit/s and 1.5 / 3 /
6 and 12 Mbit/s; PA only
31.25 Kbit/s.
Stubs possible Yes, with limitations (up
to 1,5 Mbit/s).
Repeaters possible Yes, maximum 3
according standard, but
more (up to 10) possible
in practice (supplier-
dependant).
Maximum length 10 km (copper)
90 km (fiber optic).
Speed configuration Via local switches or
software-configuration;
DP-slaves sometimes
have autobaud. PA only
has 1 speed.
Nodes
Maximum number of 32 (limitation RS485).
nodes without using
repeaters
Maximum number of 126 (= maximum 125
nodes with use of slaves).
repeaters
Network address Via local switches, or
common) or screw sub-D, but the pinning is BNC (10Base2)
connector. always different). RJ45 (10BaseT, 100BaseTX).
Tree, bus, star. Bus, tree, star. Bus. Bus (10Base2/5)
Star (10BaseT, 100BaseTX).
Not necessary. Not necessary (integrated Not specified; probably 1 resistor at both ends of cable (10Base2
in equipment). one or three resistors and 10Base5 only).
when RS422/RS485 is
used.
None. None. Nodes with terminators None.
may not be switched of or
be removed from the
network.
AS-Interface specific. According RS485. According RS232, Ethernet specific.
RS422/485, or Ethernet.
100 m. Not applicable (every node According RS232 (15..60 500m (10Base5)
is automatically a m) or RS422/485 (1200m). 200m (10Base2)
repeater). 100m (10BaseT, 100BaseTx).
Always 167 Kbit/s. 500 Kbaud/s or Not specified; usually not 10 Mbit/s (10Base2/5/T)
2 Mbit/s with the new higher than 38,4 Kbit/s and 100 Mbit/s (100BaseTX).
version. most often 19,2 or 9,6
Kbit/s (lower speeds also
possible).
Yes (because of tree Yes. Yes. Yes (only 10Base5)
topology).
Yes, maximum 2. Not applicable (every node Yes, according to RS485 Yes, but nowadays usually hubs or
is automatically a specification. switches are used
repeater).
300m. 13 km (copper). Not known. Not applicable.
Not necessary. Not necessary. Via local switches or Not possible.
software-configuration.
31 (V2.0) of 62 (V2.1), 512. 2 (with RS232), 10 Practically no limits.
but less when analogue (RS422) or 32 (RS485)
or safety I/O is used.
31 (V2.0) of 62 (V2.1), 512. 2 (with RS232), 250 Practically no limits.
but less when analogue (RS422/485).
or safety I/O is used.
Via network itself or via Not necessary. Via local switches or Not necessary.
configuration sometimes via the
network itself (DP).
Network address None (FMS)
configured out of the 126 (DP,PA) in case no
box local switches are
available.
Communication Multi-master (FMS)
relations between Master/slave (DP, PA)
nodes Producer/consumer as of
DP/V2.
Message destination Point-to-point, multicast
and broadcast possible.
Broadcast Use network address
implementation 127.
Network management Via token-ring between
masters, otherwise
master/slave.
Maximum number of No limitation (in practice
masters usually no more than 1).
configuration tool. Limited
automatic reconfiguration
after swap of defective
node by similar node.
0 (zero). Not necessary.
Master/slave.
Point-to-point (between
master and slave).
Not possible.
Master/slave.
1.
software.
Not specified. Every Ethernet-node as a worldwide
unique 48-bit address (MAC-address).
Master/slave. Master/slave. Multi-master, but higher protocol layers
can limit this.
Point-to-point. Point-to-point, broadcast. Point-to-point, multicast and broadcast
possible.
Not possible. Use network address 0. Via MAC-address FFFFFF.
Note: very often this is not
implemented in a slave!
Master/slave. Master/slave. CSMA/CD for 10Base5 and 10Base2
and 10BaseT with hubs. Software may
determine additional management
strategies (such as token-bus,
master/slave, etc.).
1. 1. No limitation.

Messaging
Maximum data in one 241 bytes (FMS),
message 244 bytes (DP,PA) but
sometimes limited to 32.
Minimum data in one 0 bytes.
message
Overhead per message 9 bytes, plus 3 bits per
byte. Also short transmit
pause between
messages.
Number of messages 2 * n (for inputs and for
needed for handling n outputs).
remote I/O modules
Fault detection Balanced transmission
per bit, parity bit per byte,
8 bits checksum per
message, Hamming
distance 4 coding on first
4 bits for inputs; 4 bits for
outputs (V2.0), as of V2.1
3 bits outputs.
4 bits.
24 bits minus number of
inputs (max. 4) and
minus number of outputs
(max. 4).
2 * n (for inputs and for
outputs).
Manchester coding per
bit, parity bit per
message.
8192 bits.
4 bits.
48 bits, plus 5 bits per
byte.
1 (all inputs and all outputs
are handled
simultaneously).
Balanced transmission, 16
bit CRC per message.
250 bytes (= 125 registers 1500 bytes.
or 2000 single bits).
0 bytes. 46 bytes.
38 bytes, plus minimal 46 bytes in the
data field. For small amounts of data a
minimum message is thus 672 bits long.
4 * n (for inpuits and for 2 * n (for inputs and for outputs).
outputs, which must be
handled via two separate
commands since Modbus
has no combined
read/write command).
Paritybit per byte 32 bit CRC per message.
(optional), 8 bit checksum
per message (ASCII), or
16 bit CRC per message
(RTU).
 and last byte per
message.
Number of retries after Configurable 1..8. 2. 3. Not specified; vendor None (to be handled by higher protocol
fault detected specific (usually 0, layers).
meaning that the
application software must
handle the retries itself).

Remote I/O
Cycle time calculation Calculate number of bits Per slave it takes 0,15 Calculate size of the only Modbus has no standard Per remote I/O node this costs 672 bits
transmission for inputs of msec. Multiply this with message, which depends for it, therefore it is per message. Multiply this by twice the
slave, and also for the (amount of slaves + 2). on the number of nodes impossible to calculate in number of slaves, divide by 10 or 100
outputs. Add overhead: and the I/O per node. advance. Basically one Mbit/s. This is the theoretical best cycle
twice 9 bytes, and master Divide this by the bit rate. can cycle I/O with separate time. In practice software can cause
+ slave pause which are commands for read and much slower cycle times.
bit rate dependent. Note: write of I/O, or with one
Profibus has 11 bits per command for combined
byte! Do this for all reading and writing. This
slaves, sum the totals. can either be done in
Divide by the bit rate. ASCII or RTU, giving 4
This is the theoretical different ways of
best cycle time. calculating the cycle time.
Analogue I/O possible Yes. Yes. As of V2.1 standard, Yes. Yes. Yes.
but about 8 times as slow
as digital I/O. As of V2.0
and earlier analogue I/O
must be programmed in
the application, and the
speed is thus application-
dependent.
Maximum I/O per node 244 bytes for inputs and 4 bits digital inputs en 4 16 bytes for inputs and 16 250 bytes for inputs and 1500 bytes for inputs en 1500 bytes for
244 bytes for outputs in bits digital outputs (V2.0), bytes for outputs, in any 250 bytes for outputs in outputs, in any combination analogue /
any combination as of V2.1 only 3 bits combination analogue / any combination analogue digital.
analogue / digital. digital outputs. Maximum digital. / digital.
2 analogue channels per
slave.
Configuration FMS is not standardized. Via hand-held Via CMD software- No standard known. No standard known.
DP via GSD files and configurator or master. package.
network configurator. PA Master can automatically
idem. detect defect slaves, and
its replacement which
does not have to be
configured.
Diagnostics at the Which nodes are present, Which nodes are present, Several bus errors, and Not specified (vendor None (handled by higher protocol
network level and of what type (master and are they configured their physical location. specific). layers).
or slave). Counters for or not.
transmission errors etc.
Diagnostics at the node Part standard diagnostics
level bits (specified by DP),
remainder is supplier-
specific or profile-specific.
Vulnerabilities Nodes with terminators
that are removed or
switched off; short-circuit
on the bus; dual use of
network addresses.
Can I/O nodes be Yes; this is detected.
removed from running
network?
Can I/O nodes be Yes. If node was
connected to a running configured earlier, it is
system? activated again.
What happens when a Ignored.
node is connected that
is not configured?
Synchronous reading Yes; but only if supported
of inputs possible? by supplier (is an option
in DP, not possible in
FMS).
Synchronous activation Yes; but only if supported
of outputs possible? by supplier (is an option
in DP, not possible in
FMS).
16-May-2002
Presence; configured; in Periphery error. A diagnostic command is None (handled by higher protocol
use. specified, although very layers).
often it is not implemented.
Failure power-supply; Ring broken. Nodes with terminators Failure of hub/switch (10BaseT,
dual use of network that are removed or 100BaseTX). Failure of power supply of
addresses (especially switched off; short-circuit hub/switch.
address 0). on the bus; dual use of
network addresses.
Yes; this is detected. Yes; after switching off Yes; this is detected if the Yes. Detection depends on capabilities
node. master regularly of higher protocol layers.
communicates with that
node (a timeout is the
result).
Yes. If node was Yes. If node was Yes. Is possible when supported by higher
configured earlier, it is configured earlier, it is protocol layers.
activated again. activated again.
Ignored, after being Reported to application. Ignored. Depends on higher protocol layers.
reported to application.
No. Yes (standard). - Is possible when supported by higher
protocol layers
No. Yes (standard). - Is possible when supported by higher
protocol layers