Control System

Architecture and
Operational
Fundamentals
UPON COMPLETION OF THIS MODULE, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO:

 Describe the basic components used to develop a

complete factory automation solution;
 Identify the “controllers” in this architecture and
define their roles;
 List and briefly describe the major components of
a controller;
 Describe controller operating concepts like scan,
logic solution and communication;
 Differentiate between the different numbering
system terms (bit, byte, word) data types and what
they represent.
Control System Architecture and Operational Fundamentals

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 Control System Architecture and Operational Fundamentals

Overview
This module is an overview of typical control system architecture and of
the PLC system in particular. A presentation on the basics of
“Programmable Logic Controllers” follows to ensure the students
understand the basic terminology.

Proficy
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Proficy Machine Edition is a development environment. This

environment is covered in Module 6.
Logic Developer PLC is one of the products available that uses the
Machine Edition environment. This course is designed to introduce you
to control systems in general, the Series 90/30, 90/70, VersaMax, RX7i
and RX3i PLC systems, the Machine Edition environment and basic
programming concepts. In addition, the last module briefly describes
some of the other components of Machine Edition and some of the more
advanced features of the Series 90/30, 09/70, VersaMax PLC, RX7i and
RX3i systems.

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Control System Architecture and Operational Fundamentals

Complete Factory Automation

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A complete factory automation solution requires many components to

make this all work. However, none of this would be possible without the
factory floor controller. Although there are PC based controllers in use in
today’s factories, for more than 30 years, this role has been traditionally
filled by PLCs.

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 Control System Architecture and Operational Fundamentals

It All Starts with Sensors

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At the lowest level of the factory floor are the various types of sensors.
Discrete or on/off devices such as pushbuttons, limit switches, proximity
switches, photo-eyes, pressure switches, and temperature switches all
provide either AC or DC voltage signals. These signals are brought into
PLC discrete input modules. Higher end sensors such as flow meters,
differential pressure transmitters, RTD’s and thermocouples, and
ultrasonic level transmitters provide changing analog signals of either
current or voltage. These signals are brought into analog PLC modules.

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Control System Architecture and Operational Fundamentals

What Do Sensors Connect To?

The Old Way
Relays and Single Purpose Circuit Boards

The Current Way

Programmable Logic Controllers…

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The various types of sensing devices get wired to PLC systems. This
allows for much more than simple on/off control like the relays of the
past. Both discrete and analog signals can be received and processed by
PLC systems.

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 Control System Architecture and Operational Fundamentals

Types of Devices Controlled by the PLC

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For PLCs, the most often-controlled end device is a motor. This can be
simple on/off control with the PLC controlling the signal to the motor
starter. However, PLCs can also send signals to variable speed drives to
control motors. This can be an analog signal from an analog output
module or direct communication via a network connection to the drive.
The manner in which this control is achieved will vary by manufacturer.
Analog signals to control valves are also a very common end device
controlled by PLCs to maintain levels, flow rates and/or temperatures.
Other devices controlled by PLCs are relays and contactors. Interposing
relays and contactors are often used because the load that needs to be
controlled requires more power than a standard output module is
capable of supplying. Some examples of this are lighting contactors,
inductive heating contactors and large size motor starters.

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Control System Architecture and Operational Fundamentals

Where Does the PLC Fit?

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In modern factories, the enterprise systems are connected to the plant

floor via networks. At the bottom of this networking scheme sits the PLC
controlling all of the plant floor machinery and processes. The PLC is the
workhorse of the factory environment and is able to pass data up to or
receive data from the enterprise system via various types of personal
computers (PC’s) and software packages such as Proficy HMI/SCADA -
CIMPLICITY and Proficy Machine Edition.

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 Control System Architecture and Operational Fundamentals

What Can PLCs Do?

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PLCs can be used for a large variety of applications. A few are

Distributed Motion Control, Controlling and Interfacing with Energy
management Systems and controlling various types of Distributed I/O.

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Control System Architecture and Operational Fundamentals

I/O Buses Supported by Today’s

PLCs

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There are many types of I/O buses (communication networks for I/O)
available today. PLCs typically support more than one type and often
will offer support for several types. In the past, these were all-proprietary
to the manufacturer and could only be used with that manufacturer’s
PLCs. However, the trend has changed in recent years and more I/O
buses have emerged that are non-proprietary and open to use by all
manufacturers. This allows for interfacing plant floor devices of various
brands to one common PLC system throughout the factory.

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 Control System Architecture and Operational Fundamentals

Components of a Control System

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Some components are common to all control systems whether they are
PLC systems or PC based systems.
Each system requires a central processing unit (CPU) as the “brains” of
the system. Memory is required for data storage and for storing the user
provided program. Connections for input devices are needed to get
information into the system and for output devices so that the system can
provide some form of control and/or feedback to the user. Finally, a
connection for a programming device is required to allow a user program
to be entered into the memory.

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Control System Architecture and Operational Fundamentals

Components of a PLC System

• Power Supply
• Baseplate (Rack)
• Processor (CPU)
• Input & Output Modules (I/O)
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All PLC control systems have basic components that are required to make
a complete system.
The Power Supply converts the AC power to the DC power that is
required by solid-state electronics.
The baseplate or rack provides power to the processor and the IO
modules and serves as the receptacle within which they reside.
The processor contains the CPU and the storage memory for the user
program and IO status tables.
The IO modules act as the connections to the real world devices on the
plant floor and convert the signals to and from the processor.

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 Control System Architecture and Operational Fundamentals

Basic Scan Sequence

SERVICE
COMMUNICATIONS HOUSEKEEPING

OUTPUT SCAN INPUT SCAN

LOGIC SCAN

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Most PLC systems execute a scan sequence. This slide depicts a basic scan
sequence that applies to most PLCs.
Housekeeping consists of internal checksums and diagnostics that the
processor executes every scan cycle. These can be done at the beginning
or the end of the scan cycle or both depending upon the PLC
manufacturer.
Input Scan consists of reading the current state for each input connected
to the PLC system and updating the input memory tables.
Logic scan consists of reading the user program that has been stored in
the PLC memory. These programs can be written in Ladder Logic,
Instruction List, Sequential Function Charts, Function Block, Structured
Text, C Code or State Logic depending upon the manufacturer of the
system. Some systems support programming using a combination of
languages within the same program.
Output Scan consists of adjusting the values of the outputs connected to
the system based upon the status of inputs and the execution of the logic.
Service Communications consists of opening a window of time for the
processor to communicate to other devices. These can be programming
devices, operator interface devices, remote IO controllers, other PLCs or
any other devices having communication capability that is compatible
with the PLC system. The types of devices that can be communicated
with varies by manufacturer.

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Control System Architecture and Operational Fundamentals

Numbering Systems
BINA RY

163 84 8192 4096 204 8 1024 512 256 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

BIT

NIBB LE

0 - 0000
1 - 0001
BC D

9 - 1001
HEX A - 1010
B - 1011

F - 1111

B YTE

WORD
9001 5

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Various numbering systems are used with microprocessor-based devices.

Binary – At its most basic level, any microprocessor-based device
understands only binary logic. This incorporates the base two numbering
system and has only two digits that can be used when counting, zero and
one. This also provides the acronym bit, which stands for binary digit.
The bit is the smallest piece of information that a PLC system can
recognize. A bit can have a value of either zero or one and can denote the
state of discrete input and output devices. Discrete devices are devices
that only have two states, on or off.
Different groupings of bits are required in order to work with larger
groups of data and to be able to recognize the status of analog type
devices. Analog devices are devices that have a range of values. These
values can range anywhere from zero to one hundred percent of the
device’s full span capability.
A grouping of 4 bits is called a nibble and can be used to denote a binary
coded decimal value or BCD. A grouping of 4 bits can also be used to
represent a single character of a hexadecimal number. The hexadecimal
numbering system is base sixteen and uses the numbers zero to nine and
the letters A to F for counting. This allows a sixteen bit value to be
expressed using only four characters.
A grouping of eight bits is called a byte.
A group of sixteen bits is called a word.
A group of thirty-two bits is called a double word.

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 Control System Architecture and Operational Fundamentals

Numbering Systems (Con’t)

Binary 1111111111111111 Base 2

Octal 177777 Base 8
Decimal 65535 Base 10
Hexadecimal FFFF Base 16

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This slide shows the maximum positive number that can be expressed by
a sixteen-bit memory register in four different numbering systems. The
microprocessor device will still see this as sixteen individual binary digits
regardless of the numbering system used by the software that is
interfacing with it.

Binary – Base 2 – Uses only the numbers 0 and 1

Example: 0, 1, 10, 11, 100, 101, 110, etc.

Octal – Base 8 – Uses only numbers 0-7

Example: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, etc.

Decimal – Base 10 – Uses numbers 0-9

Example: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, etc.

Hexadecimal – Base 16 – Uses numbers 0-9 and letters A-F

Example: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,
17, 18, 19, 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 2A, 2B,
2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, 30, ETC.

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Control System Architecture and Operational Fundamentals

The next two slides show all the Data types that can be used.

Data Types

Type Name Description Data Format

R egiste r 1
INT Signed Signed integers use 16-bit memory data locations, S
Integer and are represented in 2’s complement notation. 16 1
The valid range of an INT data type is –32,768 to
(1 6 bit position)
+32,767.

DINT Double Double precision signed integers are stored in 32-

Precision bit data memory locations (actually two Re gis ter 2 Re gis ter 1
Signed consecutive 16-bit memory locations) and S
32 1 7 16 1
Integer represented in 2’s complement notation. (Bit 32 is
the sign bit.) The valid range of a DINT data type is (Two’s Com ple me nt Va lue )
–2,147,483,648 to +2,147,483,647.

BIT Bit A Bit data type is the smallest unit of memory. It

has two states, 1 or 0. A BIT string may have
length N.

BYTE Byte A Byte data type has an 8-bit value. The valid
range is 0 to 255 (0 to FF in hexadecimal).

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Data Types con’t

Type Name Description Data Format
WORD Word A Word data type uses 16 consecutive bits of
data memory; but, instead of the bits in the
data location representing a number, the bits Re gis ter 1

are independent of each other. Each bit 16 1

represents its own binary state (1 or 0), and
(16 bit pos ition)
the bits are not looked at together to represent
an integer number. The valid range of word
values is 0 to FFFF.
R egister 2 Re gis ter 1
DW ORD Double A Double Word data type has the same S
Word characteristics as a single word data type, 32 17 16 1
except that it uses 32 consecutive bits in data (32 B it S tate s)
memory instead of 16 bits.
BCD- 4 Four- Four-digit BCD numbers use 16-bit data
Digit memory locations. Each BCD digit uses four R egiste r 1
4 3 2 1
Bina ry bits and can represent numbers between 0
16 1
Coded and 9. This BCD coding of the 16 bits has a
Decimal legal valuerange of 0 to 9999. (4 B CD D igits )

REAL Floating Real numbers use 32 consecutive bits Re gis ter 2 Registe r 1
Poin t (actually two consecutive 16-bit memory S
32 1 7 16 1
locations). The range of numbers that can be
stored in this format is from ± 1.401298E-45 (Two’s Com plem ent Va lue )

to ± 3.402823E+38.
S = Sign bit ( 0 = positive, 1 = neg ative ).

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 Control System Architecture and Operational Fundamentals

Review
In this module, we have discussed the following:
 The many types of sensors that are required in a factory automation
environment
 The role of the PLC within this environment
 Types of devices controlled by the PLC
 Basic networking architecture in a factory
 Types of I/O buses
 Control system components
 PLC system components
 Scan sequence
 Numbering systems
 Data Types

In the next five modules we will be taking a closer look at the GE Fanuc
Series 90/30, 90/70, VersaMax, RX7i and RX3i PLC systems.

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