Proficy iFIX

Connecting to IO

Objectives
y Explain the different types of IO Drivers and OPC Servers.
y Discuss the basics of IO Driver configuration.
y Install IO Drivers and OPC Servers.
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Overview

SCADAs use a variety of communication media to transfer data to and from control
hardware such as PLCs, RTUs and DCS systems. These media are tailored to the realities of
the industrial process, balancing cost and performance against throughput and distance.
For example, radio may be used in one area of the process where a remote location is
kilometres away, while Ethernet is used inside the plant where distances rarely exceed
several hundred metres. As a result, SCADA servers are often called on to use a variety of IO
ports to communicate to remote devices.

Serial
Radio tower cable

PLCs
Ethernet
Modem
PLC or RTU
SCADA server

Satellite dish

Figure 4-1. SCADA connections.

Most PLC, RTU and DCS vendors use their own proprietary data transfer protocols to
communicate across the media linking devices to PC-based workstations. These protocols
differ from vendor to vendor and sometimes even between products from the same
manufacturer. Without the correct protocol, the SCADA will not be able to retrieve or send
data to the control hardware.

SCADA communications
SCADA nodes need to manage these hardware connections by combining the various
available communications media with the vendor protocols. iFIX uses IO drivers and OPC
servers to continuously communicate with the plant floor devices.
IO drivers and OPC servers are software applications that are installed on the SCADA node.
These applications act as the schedulers, arbitrators, requesters and responders for all data
being exchanged between the SCADA PC and the control hardware. They pair protocols
with media in order to poll data from the various control devices. IO Drivers often support
more than one protocol and media combination, though these combinations are almost
always specific to a vendor product family (for example, Siemens, Modicon or Allen Bradley).

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IO Drivers and OPC Servers

Version Types
GE Fanuc IO Drivers and OPC Servers (also known as IO Drivers) are grouped based on two
different versions: Legacy v. 6.x IO drivers and v. 7.x OPC Servers. Structurally they are very
similar, however there are some key differences.
v.6.x drivers use a GE Fanuc proprietary protocol for data transfer to SAC. This protocol is
named NIO. These drivers will only work with FIX32 and iFIX. Further, they are only
supported on Windows operating systems prior to and including Windows 2000. By and
large, the more commonly used v. 6.x drivers have been rewritten as v. 7.x OPC servers.
v.7.x OPC servers may use NIO or OPC to provide data to iFIX. As OPC servers they can also
interoperate with any OPC client application on platforms using COM/DCOM. They provide
many advanced features within a friendly development interface called the Powertool. The
Powertool allows both configuration and run-time monitoring of the OPC v.7.x Server.
In general, it is best to use the v.7.x OPC servers if there is a choice. These applications
support almost all the latest hardware types and protocols, as well as the latest PC
operating systems. They have a richer feature set than the v.6.x drivers and can also be
controlled using VBA scripting from iFIX.
Communication Media types
IO Drivers can also be categorized by media type. Regardless of the protocol being used, IO
Drivers using common communication media look and behave similarly.
Media Type Description Advantages Disadvantages
COM Serial communications - Works with any PC serial - Slow communications.
Serial port through serial ports via port. - Limited to short
RS-232 or RS-485. - Can use a modem. distances.
- Inexpensive, easy to
configure.
RES Proprietary vendor - Generally very
- High-speed, deterministic
Resident card equipment including expensive.
communications.
cables and vendor - Usually requires extra
supplied cards. - Excellent for long distances.
software.
- Robust, built for plant floor.
- More complex to set up.
RTU or DDA RTU communications - Ideal for low-bandwidth - Very slow
through radios, communications to very communications.
telephones and distant or remote locations. - Usually requires extra
satellites. - Can report data directly to software from RTU
displays. vendor.
- Built-in alarm handling.
ETH Standard commercial or - High-speed - Requires more complex
Ethernet industrial grade communications. configuration to avoid
Ethernet equipment and - Good for long distances. overloading and to
network cards. - Inexpensive and flexible. achieve deterministic data
- Easy to support. transfer.

Table 4-1. IO driver media types.

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Installing IO Drivers
Before a SCADA can connect to control hardware, IO Drivers must be installed. The GE
Fanuc web site lists all the available IO Drivers from GE Fanuc and its partners. Once the
media type and protocol have been determined, developers can browse for the correct IO
Driver from a list of more than 400 drivers.
Navigate to http://www.gefanucautomation.com/products/fixiodrivers/ to use the IO
Driver search engine. There are fact sheets online that will help you identify the best IO
driver based on your requirements.

Sourcing and Licensing

Once the required driver has been identified it must be individually licensed for all
Development SCADAs using it at site. Most drivers do not require licensing keys though
exceptions like the IGS server and the ROC driver exist.
Some drivers can be installed from the IO Driver and OPC Servers CD that is included with
iFIX. This CD contains only the most common drivers.
IO drivers can also be downloaded from the GE Fanuc GlobalCare web site:
http://globalcare.gefanuc.com
The GlobalCare web site is the most reliable source for IO Drivers, as recent revisions will
always be available on the download site. It also contains every IO Driver supported by GE
Fanuc, including the older v.6.x versions.

Driver pre-requisites.
Some drivers require third-party software in order to communicate with the specific
hardware devices. Examples include RS Linx to communicate to AB PLCs via the ABR driver,
or Bristol Babcock OpenBSI to communicate to Bristol Babcock RTUs. Naturally, if resident
cards are present, they must be installed and configured correctly.
v.7.x OPC servers require COM compliant operating systems such as Windows NT, 2000, XP,
or 2003. If using OPC over the network, DCOM will have to be enabled, proper security
enabled and appropriate firewall considerations satisfied.

Installation Steps
1. Determine which IO driver to use according to your protocol and media requirements.
2. Download the IO driver from the GlobalCare web site, or use the IO Driver CD if it is
available.
3. Install the IO driver to the iFIX Base directory. It is best to keep the driver executable and
resource files in the same directory as the other iFIX applications.
4. To install the full driver indicate “Server” when prompted. It installs all the driver
components. If you only need the Powertool configuration interface, choose “Client”.

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Basic IO Driver Structure

v.6.x IO Drivers and v.7.x OPC Servers are built
similarly and use many of the same tasks to SAC
accomplish their polling duties.
IO Drivers are divided into five main parts:
iFIX interface (***STSR.DLL): This resource iFIX Interface
facilitates transfer of data from the DIT to SAC (and ***STSR.DLL
vice versa).
Common Memory (DIT): This is a temporary, real-
Common
time holding area for data collected from and sent Memory
to the PLC registers. This table contains only IO ( DIT )
addresses and current values.
IO Polling component (***SPOLL.EXE): This
component uses the poll records (also known as IO Polling Component
Data Blocks) and poll time information from the IO ***SPOLL.EXE
Driver configuration to communicate to the PLC
and its registers.
Driver executable (***DRV.EXE): This coordinates
driver start-up, polling and data transfer. It also
works with iFIX to create a DIT.
Configuration interface (***DIDW.EXE): This is the
user interface for the driver. For v. 7.x servers this
is the Powertool.
PLC

Figure 4-2. IO Driver components.

NOTE:
In the above file names, *** represents the three letter driver name. (ex. Modbus
Ethernet = MBE, Allen Bradley RS Linx = ABR, GE Ethernet = GE9)

NOTE:
Some of the troubleshooting tools available in iFIX and Windows are able to
track and investigate activity with these tasks and components. Task Manager
and Performance Monitor are two Windows examples. The Powertool and
Mission Control are two iFIX examples.

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IO Driver Configuration Basics

IO Driver Hierarchy
IO drivers are organized into a three level hierarchy: Channels, Devices and Poll Records.
Channels are the top tier. A channel definition includes the important information about
which IO port to use (eg. NIC #1, NIC #2, COM port 1, etc). The IO port is the “door” to the
device network for the SCADA and must be explicitly defined. For drivers that support more
than one protocol, the channel definition also includes the choice of protocol.
For most drivers, there is no theoretical limit to the number of channels.
Device definitions comprise the second tier of the driver hierarchy. For each Channel, there
can be multiple device definitions. Each device will have its own entry, along with a specific
device ID such as an IP address, station number or logical name. This will instruct the IO
driver how to find the PLC or RTU on the device network. The developer can also supply
parameters for things like address modes and connection recovery.
The maximum number of devices per channel will depend on the individual driver. Consult
the driver fact sheet or help files for this information.
Poll records (also known as data blocks) constitute the third tier. For each device there will
be unique poll records that indicate which IO addresses to poll from the PLC registers. Each
poll record will have a poll time that governs how often polling will occur.
There are no theoretical limits to the number of poll records that can be created.

Channel Definition
(eg. NIC or COM port).

SCADA Server

Ethernet

PLC A PLC B
Device Definition
(eg. IP address, Station #).

Poll Records - Data Blocks

(eg. IO addresses, data
types, poll times).

Figure 4-3. IO Driver configuration hierarchy.

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The SIM Driver

iFIX is delivered with two drivers that can be used for testing and simulation. (We will be
using these in our Lab Exercises to generate simulated data for our water plant). These
simulation drivers are built differently than other GE Fanuc IO Drivers. They do not have a
configuration interface, nor can they be monitored using troubleshooting tools. The user
does not need to create channel, device or poll record definitions as the values are coming
from an internal software process.
These simulation drivers also provide limited system information to PDB tags such as alarm
and system counts.

Static Addresses
The SIM driver provides 2,000 16-bit registers (0 to 1999 words, 0-15 bits) that can be used
for both analog and digital values. Addressing is simple. Analog and text tags use whole
number addressing representing 16 bit words (eg. 1, 25, 250, etc). Digital tags will use a
Word:Bit combination to specify a two-state value (eg. 1:0, 25:2, 250:15). These registers are
a single set of read-write addresses shared between digital and analog values.
The SM2 driver provides two independent sets of 20,000 registers. The set for analog
addresses stores values in 32-bit words, whereas the separate set for digital addresses holds
values in 16-bit words. The addressing conventions are the same as with the SIM tag.

Signal Generation Addresses

Read-Only Registers
Register Description
RA Ramp from 0 to 100% of EGU
range.
Rate controlled by RY register.
RB Count from 0 – 65535 at 20 counts
per second.
RC Shift one bit through a 16-bit word.
Rate controlled by RZ register
RD Sine wave from 0 to 100% of EGU.
Rate controlled by RY register.
RE Sine wave from 0 to 100% of EGU,
delayed 90 degrees from RD.
Rate controlled by RY register.
RF Sine wave from 0 to 100% of EGU,
delayed 180 degrees from RD.
Rate controlled by RY register.
RG Random values from 25% to 75% of
EGU range.
RH Ramp from 0 to 100 to 0% of EGU.
Rate controlled by RJ register.
Table 4-2. The signal generation registers for the SIM and SM2 drivers.
Read-Write Registers
Register Description
RI Control Ramp direction of RH register.
(0 = down, 1 = up).
RJ Control RH ramp speed in cycles/hr.
(1 to 3600, default = 60 = 1
cycle/min).
RK Start or pause RH ramp register.
(0 = pause, 1 = start).
RX Start or pause all other registers.
(0 = pause, 1 = start).
RY Control RA, RD, RE, RF register
speeds in cycles/hr. (1 to 3600,
default = 60 = 1 cycle/min).
RZ Controls the speed of RC in bits per
minute. (2 to 1200, default = 180 = 3
bit shifts per second).
S Simulates COMM alarms on all
(SM2 registers when set to 1.
only)

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Lab Exercises
Lab Objectives: At the end of these exercises, the student will be able to:
y Install the v.7.x MBE driver (Modbus Ethernet).
y Install the v.7.x MB1 driver (Modbus Serial).
y Install the IGS server (Industrial Gateway Server for Allen Bradley protocols).
y Set drivers for default startup.
When you are finished with these exercises, answer the Summary Questions at the end of
the module.

Lab Exercise 1: Installing Drivers from CD (optional)

Introduction
Each SCADA license for iFIX ships with an “IO Drivers and OPC Servers” CD for installing
common IO drivers. The list or drivers included on the CD is a subset of the full list of drivers
available on the GE Fanuc Globalcare support site (http://globalcare.gefanuc.com). We will
be installing four of the most popular IO drivers in this exercise.
If you have an IO drivers and OPC Servers CD, continue with this exercise. Otherwise,
proceed to Lab Exercise 2.

1. Insert the IO Drivers and OPC Servers CD into the PC’s CD or DVD drive. You should be
presented with the following installation interface.

2. Click the Install Driver button.

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3. The IO Driver list appears in a new form.

Start with the IGS driver. Scroll down the list until you reach a selection that starts with
the three letter acronym IGS (Industrial Gateway Server). Click Install Now.
You will be faced with two steps to review information, such as licensing details; click
Next twice in succession.

4. The installation Wizard prompts you for a installation folder. By default, it supplies the
iFIX BASE path as the destination… Keep it as it is and continue with Next.

5. You will be prompted for your node name. Verify that this is SCADA## (substituting ##
with your assigned number). Click Next.

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6. Provide a location for the IGS driver shortcuts (browse to the iFIX program group if
necessary).

7. Bypass the Release Notes, unless you have plenty of free time… Sit back and watch the
installation… When the process is finished, you should receive a notification that the
installation was successful. Clear the message and move on to the next driver.

8. Repeat the installation steps for the MBE driver. Early in the process, you will be
prompted to choose between SERVER and CLIENT. Choose SERVER and continue.
SERVER will install both the Powertool for configuration and the Driver engine. CLIENT
only installs the Powertool, not the Driver engine.

9. Repeat the installation steps for the MB1 driver and GE9 driver.

10. When completed, remove the IO Driver CD. If the drivers installed successfully, proceed
to Lab Exercise 3.

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Lab Exercise 2: Installing Drivers from ClassFiles Folder

(optional)
Introduction
A complete list of drivers is available on the GE Fanuc Globalcare support site
(http://globalcare.gefanuc.com). We will be installing four of the most popular IO drivers in
this exercise.
If you have already completed Lab Exercise 1, skip this Lab and proceed to Lab Exercise 3.

1. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the C:\Classfiles\Drivers folder. There should
be four sub-directories: GE9, IGS, MB1 and MBE.

2. Start with the IGS driver. Scroll down the directories until you reach a selection that
starts with the three-letter acronym IGS (Industrial Gateway Server). Inside the folder is
a file called Setup.EXE. Double-click it to launch the installation program.
You will be faced with two steps to review information, such as licensing details; click
Next twice in succession.

3. The installation Wizard prompts you for a installation folder. By default, it supplies the
iFIX BASE path as the destination… Keep it as it is and continue with Next.

4. You will be prompted for your node name. Verify that this is SCADA## (substituting ##
with your assigned number). Click Next.

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5. Provide a location for the IGS driver shortcuts (browse to the iFIX program group if
necessary).

6. Bypass the Release Notes, unless you have plenty of free time… Sit back and watch the
installation… When the process is finished, you should receive a notification that the
installation was successful. Clear the message and move on to the next driver.

7. Repeat the installation steps for the MBE driver. Early in the process, you will be
prompted to choose between SERVER and CLIENT. Choose SERVER and continue.
SERVER will install both the Powertool for configuration and the Driver engine. CLIENT
only installs the Powertool, not the Driver engine.

8. Repeat the installation steps for the MB1 driver and GE9 driver.

9. When completed, close Windows Explorer. If the drivers installed successfully, proceed
to Lab Exercise 3.

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Lab Exercise 3: Inspect Powertool and create default

configuration file.
Introduction
Once the IO drivers have been installed, they can be started without starting iFIX. If you
correctly assigned the shortcuts to the iFIX program group you should be able to launch the
Powertool from there.

1. Launch the MBE Powertool from the iFIX program group.

2. Open the Options menu and select Setup.

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3. Select the Default Path tab and fill it in to look like the figure shown below.

NOTE!
Use your SCADA node name as the file name. The driver acronym is used as
the file extension (eg. .MBE or .MB1, etc.).

4. Click OK. Save the empty configuration file to the default path using these default
settings. You should see the new file name and path in the Title Bar of the Powertool.
Close the Powertool.

5. Repeat these steps for the MB1 Powertool and the GE9 Powertool, making sure to use
the appropriate driver acronym as the file extension.

6. When finished, double-check that these files are present in the C:\iFIX\154Water\PDB
directory using Windows Explorer.

NOTE!
These files must be present in the project PDB location before iFIX can create a
DIT for the IO driver.

-- End of Lab Exercises --

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Review Questions
1. Name three different types of communication media used by SCADA nodes to transfer
data to and from control devices.

2. Name two different ways to install IO drivers.

3. What are the main differences between v.6.x and v.7.x IO Drivers?

4. What are the three main components of any IO driver configuration hierarchy?

5. How are digital values addressed in the SIM driver? How are analog values addressed in
the SIM driver?

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Review
Now that you have completed this module, you should be able to:
y Explain the different types of IO Drivers and OPC Servers.
y Discuss the basics of IO Driver configuration.
y Install IO Drivers and OPC Servers.

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