Integration Techniques of the Embedded Distributed

Systems Using Programming Environments and

Industrial Standard Communication Protocols
Abstract-The dispatching process and operative management of and control systems and distributed I/O at the device level,
the hydro-power plants complex it is based on hierarchically RS485 or fiber optic physical layer [1].
structured distributed automation architectures hierarchically The paper continues with the description of the OPC and
structured. The plant floor level – technological process interface DataSocket mechanisms showing their benefits in the
for data acquisition is represented by programmable logic
controllers (PLC) and intelligent measuring devices (embedded
communication control.
systems). The above- mentioned devices communicate on OPC (Object Linking and Embedding – OLE for Process
industrial data buses with high-performance computers as logging Control) is a series of standardss specifications. Originally
devices. The data processing and storage create the possibility of based on Microsoft's OLE COM (Component Object Model)
decisions support for the energy production management and the and DCOM (Distributed Component Object Model)
optimization of the resources exploitation. The data technologies, the specification defined a standard set of objects,
communication between physical resources and structured interfaces and methods for to be used in process control and
hierarchical levels is implemented on standard communication manufacturing automation applications to in order to facilitate
protocols) (Profibus, and Modbus, and others) logically driven by
interoperability.
OPC mechanisms for data source access.
The information architecture for the process industry
involves the following levels, as in [2]:
I. INTRODUCTION
 Field Management - information can be provided
This paper starts with the description of the two most concerning field devices that were not previously
important industrial standard communication protocols which available. This information provides data on the health of a
we used to develop the embedded distributed systems: Modbus device, its configuration parameters, construction materials
and Profibus. of construction, etc. All this information must be
The Modbus communications protocol is a widely-used consistently presented to the user in a consistent manner.
serial communications standard for many Programmable Logic  Process Management - the installation of distributed,
Controllers (PLC) and other industrial control devices. Modbus supervisory control and data acquisition systems, designed
can function in full-duplex RS232 mode or half-duplex RS485 to monitor and control manufacturing processes, makes
mode, as well as newer implementation variants such as data available electronically.
TCP/IP. The communication is master-slave / server-client  Business Management - The information collected from
driven. We can select the desired mode, along with the serial the process is integrated ion the business systems, which
port communication parameters (baud rate, parity mode, etc.) manage the financial aspects of the manufacturing process.
during the configuration of each controller. The mode and The information is provided in a consistent manner to
serial parameters must be the same for all devices ion a client applications to minimize the effort required by data
Modbus network. Each message must be transmitted in a process integration.
continuous stream. Manufacturers need to access data from the plant floor and
Profibus is a broadcast bus protocol that operates as a multi- integrate it into their existing business systems. Manufacturers
master / slave system. Profibus has a linear bus architecture must be able to utilize off- the -shelf tools (dDatabases,
with an active bus termination at both ends. There are two spreadsheets, etc.) to assemble a system, which meets their
types of devices in a Profibus network, master and slave. A needs. The key is an open and effective communication
master can send a message without an external request when it architecture concentrating focused on data access, and not on
holds the access rights to the bus. Master devices are called their types.
active stations because they control the fieldbus. Slave devices There are many client applications that require data from a
are peripherals such as I/O devices, valves, drives, etc. Slave developed data source, which have been developed and access
devices can only acknowledge received messages or send these data by independently developing drivers for their own
messages to the master when requested to do so. Slave devices packages.
are called passive stations. This leads to the following problems that follow:
There are three distinct versions of Profibus which have been 1 • Much duplication of effort
tailored for different applications. The three versions of 1 • Inconsistencies between vendors drivers
Profibus are: Profibus – DP, Profibus – PA, Profibus – FMS. 1 • Support for hardware feature changes
Profibus DP is optimized for speed and low cost. The DP 1 • Access conflicts.
version of Profibus is for communication between automation
 OPC draws a line between hardware providers and software There are two types of groups, public and local. Public is for
developers. It provides a mechanism to access data from a sharing across multiple clients, local is local to a client. Within
source and to communicate it in a standard way to any client each group the client can define one or more OPC items.
application. A vendor can now develop a reusable, highly The OPC items represent connections to data sources within
optimized server to communicate to the data source, and the server. An OPC item, from the custom interface
maintain the mechanism to access data from the data perspective, is not accessible as an object by an OPC client.
source/device efficiently. Providing the server with an OPC Therefore, there is no external interface defined for an OPC
interface allows any client to access their devices. item. All access to OPC items is via an OPC group object that
Figure 1 shows how the communication between plant floor “contains” the OPC item. Associated with each item are a
(process management and field management) and the decision Value, Quality and Timestamp. The Value, the Quality and the
level (business management) can be structured based on OPC Timestamp are associated with each item.
Solution. Value - The value is transferred in the VARIANT structure.
With wide industry acceptance OPC will provide many Quality -OPC specifications define three basic types of quality
benefits: value: BAD, UNCERTAIN, GOOD. All types have a few
1 • Hardware manufacturers only have to make one set subtypes, which more precisely specify the causes leading to a
of software components for customized applications. given quality. The quality is transferred as a WORD data type.
2 • Software developers will not have to rewrite drivers Timestamp - The timestamp expresses a typical moment when
because of feature changes or additions in a new hardware the system obtains an appropriate item. The timestamp is stored
release. in the structure FILETIME which is a 64-bit value presenting
• Customers will have more choices to develop World Class the number of multiples 100ns from January 1, 1601.
integrated manufacturing systems. Note that the items are not the data sources - they are just
So far OPC Foundation has released the following connections to them. The OPC item should be thought of as
specifications: OPC-DA (Data Access), OPC-HDA (Historical simply specifying the address of the data, not as the actual
Data Access), OPC-AE (Alarms & Events), OPC-DX (Data physical source of the data that the address references.
eXchange), and OPC-XML (XML Data Access). SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)
There were several efforts to put onto - OPC Security, OPC deployment can effectively use OPC; the driver’s SCADA
Batch, OPC Commands, and OPC for ERP. engine properly handles the unique SCADA communication
At a high level, a data access OPC server includes several requirements [4]. Traditionally, SCADA deployment has
objects: the server, the group, and the item [3]. The OPC server always used proprietary software applications and drivers to
object contains information about the server and serves as a enable control centers to effectively manage the large amount
container for OPC group objects. of data collected. With the introduction of OPC, there have
been various attempts applying industrial standards to SCADA
based implementations.
SCADA applications cover very large geographical regions.
SCADA applications usually prefer satellite, radio, or modem
communication, and typically rely on PLC and RTUs for their
control. Due to their large coverage area, SCADA enterprises
rely on noisy telemetry (wireless) or telephone (leased) line
communication. Consequently, they also use lower
communication speeds (300 – 9600 bps), and a very large
number of RTUs.
OPC servers for SCADA applications must take these factors
into account. They must optimize their communication to allow
for extra noise, low bandwidth and a large device count.
In SCADA operations the communications are noisy. It is
important for SCADA servers to identify the invalid data
packet as indicated by a bad CRC.
Figure 1. OPC Solution SCADA server must be very efficient in their connection and
The OPC group object contains information about itself and disconnection procedures due to the large number of control
provides the mechanism for containing and logically RTUs .controllers? SCADA servers must usually share a single
organizing OPC items. connection amongst many RTUs,. As well, they must adhere to
The OPC groups provide a way for clients to organize their a dynamic polling sequence that enables them to read data from
data. Data can be read and written. Exception based all the devices, and alsoand be able to interrupt the sequence
connections? can also be created between the client and the with a higher priority write operation. To reduce the number of
items in the group and can be enabled/disabled as needed. An interruptions to the SCADA server, OPC uses a timestamp to
OPC client can configure the rate that an OPC server should indicate the last time that a given value was read. This enables
provide the data changes to the OPC client.
users to easily tell if they should interrupt the polling sequence hardware configuration based on SIEMENS PLC - the
to refresh their data, or if their data is at an acceptable age. SIMATIC S7- 300 series includes:
Low Bandwidth communication plagues SCADA operations. o CPU 315-2DP
Communication between the SCADA Master and the o SM321 digital inputs modules with 32 digital inputs
associated RTUs must be reduced to minimum levels. It is o SM322 digital outputs modules with 32 digital
extremely important that the OPC server be able to differentiate outputs
between the two OPC read types: cache and device read o SM331 analog inputs modules with 8 analog inputs
requests. This differentiation will save the SCADA system o 24V/5A power supply for all modules
from resource-hogging reads and will enable the OPC server to o Rack distribution elements
implement priority of operations, which are of interest when o The Profibus CP5316 communication processor,
timely data is required.
which is installed in the HMI process computer.
DataSocket allows to read data from multiple types of data
The configuration based on Simatic S7-200 PLC includes:
sources and to transfer rich data between applications. We can
o CPU 226XM AC/DC/Relay with 24 digital inputs
use the DataSocket to read data from HTTP servers, FTP
and 16 digital outputs
servers, OPC servers, files, and DataSocket Transfer Protocol
o EM223 module with 16 digital inputs and 16 digital
(DSTP) servers, and/or to write data to files and DSTP servers
[5]. DataSocket greatly simplifies this task by providing a outputs
unified API for these low-level communication protocols. o EM277 Profibus DP module
We can specify DataSocket sources and targets (connections) o EM231 modules with 4 analog inputs
using uniform resource locators (URLs) that adhere to the o 24V power supply
familiar URL model. For example, to read data from an OPC o Local display TD200.
server using the Profibus-DP communication protocol, we For the measurement of the electrical parameters (voltage,
would specify the following URL: current, active and reactive power, consumed or produced
opc://localhost/OPC.SimaticNET.DP/DP: energies, frequency and power factor) we use RTUs intelligent
[CP5613]Slave003_QB0,128. measuring equipments interfaced on the serial bus (RS485) –
The DataSocket also encapsulates data information about the UPM 215.
data for certain data sources such as the timestamp and quality The technical features of the equipments are presented
of the data. bellow, as in [8]:
o Communication port can be supplied on
II. HARDWARE ARCHITECTURE AND SOFTWARE FUNCTIONS
request as RS232 or RS485 standard
In a SCADA system developed for a hydro-power plants o Up to 4 digital outputs
cascade on the plant floor level there are many PLCs Profibus o Connect the voltage inputs by means of the
connected, intelligent measuring devices Modbus connected 4-pin connector. For current inputs is used the 6-pin
and the process computers network. The plant computer connector.
network LAN consists in a process interface computer – o Input voltage: 600 (750) VAC max L-L;
Human Machine Interface (HMI), a database server (DBS) input impedance: > 1.3 MOhm
and a communication one (CC) managing the communication o Rated input current: 5A or 1A,
with the dispatching level. At the dispatching level there is a programmable; input impedance: 0.02 Ohm
computer network LAN, which ensures the global cascade o Power supply: 185-260 VAC 50/60 Hz
dispatching, the resources management and the data visibility o Accept three phrases or one phase
to the different functional departments. connections
The connection between the plant floor level and the o LCD display
dispatching level is based on TCP/IP protocols, which ensure On the plant floor level there are four modular PLC
the data packages delivery without errors. The communication platforms for data acquisition and process control. Three of
channel is a telephone-leased line, using modems for data them are SIMATIC S7-315 and one is SIMATIC S7-226. The
communication. S7-315 is the best selling SIMATIC controller, which makes
For a hydro-power plant equipped with two hydro-power possible successful automation solutions possible. The
generators, the hydro-power plant data acquisition system has SIMATIC S7-315 enables integrated and low-cost system
almost 1300 digital input signals, 300 digital output signals and solutions in centralized and distributed configurations.
500 analogue signals. These signals have been distributed at to Between the HMI and the PLCs there is a communication
the following functional entities: hydro-power generators, processor Simatic 5613 (its firmware includeincludes OPC
general hydro-power plant utilities and hydro dam supervisory mechanisms) which established a full-duplex Profibus-DP
system [6]. communication.
The PLCs (embedded system), which manage these The figure 2 presents the system hardware architecture at the
input/output signals, are described bellow. The technical hydro-power plant level.
features for each component module can be seen in [7]. A The PLCs are the ones that achieve the acquisition and filter
the input signals, synthesize the output commands and save the
occurring events in their nonvolatile memory the occurring two sessions which includes all the digital channels and only a
events. If these first functions are specific to all the acquisition half of the analogue channels in each session. In the remaining
systems, the third one, which saves in a buffer the events that left- over space we read some report elements, if they exist.
occurred, is implemented at the process operator computer in The PLC writing buffer has the same size, but it is more
most of the acquisition systems. We adopted this method for a restrictive because the configuration parameters require a very
more improved process mapping even if the communication large volume of data to be transmitted. Their transmission will
between HMI and the PLCs is lost. This is the reason why in be preceded in multiple sessions.
the software application it is used a dynamic allocation of the We have developed a protocol that controls these
data resources offered by the OPC controller, the exchanges of communications; in the implementation of this protocol we
the data assuming configuration transitions of the acquisition used mechanisms based on synchronous timers.
channels.? – trebe făcută ceva schimbare de topică mă gândesc We used a timer that synchronizes the values from PLC
We send from the process computer to the PLCs the reading every 300ms and after that configures the PLC for the
following information: next reading. Other timer synchronizes different commands
 digital inputs configuration parameters sending to the PLC. The command timer duration is set to
 digital outputs configuration parameters 320ms because the commands elaboration should be not be
 analogue inputs configuration parameters simultaneous with the data readings.
The digital inputs are customized by specifying the binary III. SOFTWARE IMPLEMETATIONS REGARDING OPC AND
active status, the enable/disable status and the measurement MODBUS EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
delay. For the digital outputs we have to specify the binary
active status, the enable/disable status, pulse duration. Finally, The software application developed at the PLCs level is
for the analogue inputs there are the next parameters: the implemented in the STEP 7 environment, and the software
enable/disable status, the resolution, the offset. For the analog applications developed for the HMI computer, database server
inputs we have to define thresholds, which trigger different and communication server are implemented in
events. There are four thresholds: LabWindows/CVI 7.0 environment.
 warning Low limit In the next paragraph we will describe the application
 warning High limit program implemented atin the process interface computer –
 alert Low limit HMI, which has the following tasks:
 alert High limit  The transfer of the configurations to the PLC or
When the analogue value of the measured signal passes any RTU embedded subordinate systems
of these thresholds a warning or alarm event is triggered. A  The periodic data reading respecting the
pop-up message popup will appear on the operator screen. investigation rates imposed by the process dynamic,
monitoring and acquisition parameters evolution
 Reading the PLCs generated event reports from
PLCs
 The transfer of the data to the database server in
order to acquire the analogue and digital
information – containing the events and operations
 Data proceeding for the transfer to the dispatching
level
The diagram of the system functions is presented in figure 3.
The communication with the PLCs is achieved on the
Profibus controlled by the OPC mechanisms. In
LabWindows/CVI libraries, there are implemented functions
for data sources work managing. The DataSocket library
includes a list of functions which achieve: the connection
opening action with the specific parameters’ determination, the
connection closing action and the data sources transfer control.
A defined connection could be exploited in two manners: by
the programmers specified parameters (customized parameters)
or by the automatic parameters managing made by the
operating system.
Due to the dynamic allocation needs, we prefer the first
Figure 2- The hardware architecture at the hydro-power plant level managing manner.
The PLC’s reading buffer provided by the OPC controller is
128 bytes for the Simantic S7-315 2DP and 64 bytes for
Simantic S7-226XM. Because the acquired data volume is
larger than the dimension of the buffer the reading is done in
 start the transmission process by enabling the 320ms
synchronous timer. The timer interruption increments the
modules number when the previous module is correct received.
Besides the four PLCs for the control process interface there
are installed also 10 intelligent measuring devices, RTUs,
which measure the electric and energetic parameters of the
generators, hydro-power plant substations. These measuring
equipments are connected to the process HMI computer
through an industrial serial bus RS485 with Modbus
communication protocol. The data communication rate for
these equipments is 38400 bit/s. The measuring devices are
UPM 215 and the programming module for them is RTU38.4.
We have chosen this configuration of the equipments because it
allows the access to the parameters through a single read
command.
The developed driver for this device is created as a
LabWindows/CVI instrument which puts at user disposal
provides, eventual? the configuration functions and runs in
background the reading sequences.
The reading of the measurement equipment parameters is
achieved through interrupt routines associated to the serial
interfaces to which the specified RTU is connected.
The function from the RS-232 LabWindows/CVI library,
InstallComCallback (com_cfg, LWRS_RECEIVE, 233, 0,
int_serial, 0) is the one that associates the interrupt routine (in
this example named int_serial) to a specified COM port.
This routine can be activated in different conditions: the
reception of any character, the reception of a specified
character, the reception of a number of several characters (the
situation from the presented example is 233 chars) and the
detection of control signals on the communication port (CTS –
Figure 3. The functional diagram of the software application found on the HMI clear-to-send and DSR – data-set-ready). The read request is
computer called by a synchron timer. This manner of working frees the
computer CPU from the polling task of the RTU answer
To enable the communications with the PLCs we have to checking.
open two connections for each PLC, one for reading action and Watching the UPM 215 equipment configuration we made
the other for writing action, using the DS_Open (DataSocket the following remarks:
Open) function to access the data sources specified by their o The measuring equipment has designated a unique mask
own URLs. The DS_Open function returns the connection named “firmware no.” that it can attribute a logical
handles used in all data transfer functions. We implemented the number which is set through configuration and can be
read / write procedures using library’s functions, such as: modified at operator request.
DS_GetDataValue, DS_SetDataValue and DS_Update for o Current and voltage transformers rates - CT Ratio and
status control. Our application deals with the incidental PT Ratio can be registered under the control of the
connection lost – the incidence of a connection lost?. The developed driver.
DS_DiscardObjHandle function closes the opened connections. o The computer serial interface parameters which
Each PLC does different operations (readings, measurements,
interface the RTU can be configured under the control of
etc.) and we had to create a unique configuration (thresholds,
the same driver.
rates, etc.) for every PLC, so for each one we had to develop a
The structure of the message administrated by the Modbus
function for reading and a function for writing. The digital
protocol has the following format presented in the figure 4.
input signals configuration, the digital output signal
The data communication between the measuring equipments
configuration and the analogue input signals configuration are
and the process HMI computer is achieved through the
downloaded in PLCs, in several modules. When a module was
implementation of the communication protocol Modbus
sending to the PLCs, the sender computer waits its receiveda
functions 3 (for data uploading) and 10 (for data downloading).
confirmation to be received? (sau ceva de genul)and at
The data transfer verification is achieved through a Cyclical
correctness, steps to the next module, other way replies the
Redundancy Checking (CRC) control.
same module transmission. In the configuration user interfaces,
there are push buttons with associated callback functions which
 Data CRC CRC
Addr Func Data … Data
Count Lo Hi
Figure 4: Modbus message structure
The CRC field contains a 16-bit binary value calculated by
the transmitting device appended to the message. The remote
device calculates a CRC for the received data and compares the
calculated value with the sent one [9]. If the two values are not
equal an error occurs. The CRC algorithm calculation is
presented bellow in figure 5.
The RTUs, which measure the generators electrical
parameters (vital values in the commands synthesis), are each
one connected on distinct COM port. The all others RTUs are
connected on the same COM port.
The acquired values from PLCs as well as from RTUs will
be inserted into tables within a SQL database. The insertion of
analogue values will be done with programmable rates
specified by the operator. The hourly energies’ values recorded
by the measuring devices will be stored also in the database.
The average of daily, monthly or yearly energies values will be
computed using the stored energy values. The system
implements data archiving mechanisms to retain in the
database only the average values of the data acquired in a
certain period of time and related to certain specific values.
The database software application implemented in the database
server allows the operator to visualize the evolution of the
acquired analogue values as a graphical form. The evolution of
the acquired energies values is displayed as a tabular form.

Figure 5: The CRC 16 calculation algorithm

The communication link between the hydro-power plant
LAN and the central dispatching operator LAN is a telephone
leased line; the data communication use at both ends the
modems. The TCP/IP protocol allows the four logical
communication channels to transmit the following data
categories: the on-line visualization data at dispatching centre
level, the reports data, the dispatching unit operator commands
and the hydro-power plant operator commands.
IV. CONCLUSION
In the present paper we have presented an embedded
distributed system developed in our company. This system was
designed using some of the most advanced technologies on the
market. We decided to use the OPC standard, the industrial
standard protocols Profibus and Modbus due to the facility of
creating and managing the efficient data transfer between the
PLCs, the measuring devices and the process HMI computer.
We have presented the hardware architecture of the embedded
integrated system, specifying the hardware components and
their technical features. The hardware architecture identifies
the measuring and control equipments at the hydro-power plant
floor and their resources. All the data collected by these
equipments are transmitted, using the specified protocols and
technologies, to the central units which will store and further
processing the measurements results. At the HMI level we have
developed and implemented an effective software mechanism
to counteract the limited resources of the physical equipments.
In the functional diagram of the software application it the
functionality of the developed software programs can be easily
observed the functionality of the developed software programs.
Through this paper we have noticed how the Profibus and
Modbus industrial standard communication protocols and the
OPC standard are used for the acquisition of the measured
values at the hydro-power plant floor and their transmission to
the dispatching centre. This system is successfully
implemented with success in some hydro-power plants
complex.
 Grilă de revizie
Descriptori Tip de greșeală Minor Mediu Major
Registru Utilizare inadecvată a registrului x
Topică x
Sintaxă și Acorduri x
gramatică Conjugare/Timpuri verbale/Desinențe x
Prepoziții/Conjuncții x
Punctuație și Punctuație x
ortografie Scriere a cuvintelor x
Incoerență x
Claritate text Exprimare deficitară x
Redundanță x
Terminologie Termeni inadecvați/incorecți x

 Utilizare inadecvată a registrului:

(...) applications to facilitate interoperability.
Hardware manufacturers only have to make one set of software components (…)
The dispatching process and operative management of the hydro-power plants complex it is based on (…)
As well, they adhere (…)
(…) last time that a given value was read.
we have to specify
Besides the four (…)
(…) puts at user disposal
 Topică:
(…) distributed automation architectures hierarchically structured.
An OPC item from the custom interface perspective is not accessible as an object by an OPC client.
Associated with each item are a Value, Quality, and Timestamp.
which more precisely specify the causes leading to
(…) and save in their nonvolatile memory the occurring events.
This is why in the software application it is used a dynamic allocation of the data resources offered by the OPC
controller.
We sent from the process computer to the PLCs the following information.
runs in the background the reading sequences
will be stored also in
uses at both ends the modems.
In the functional diagram of the software application, the functionality of the developed software programs
can be easily observed.
 Acorduri:
SCADA server must be very efficient in their connection (…)
its firmware include (…)
 Conjugare/Timpuri verbale/Desinențe:
(...) design to monitor (…)
(…) we send
acquire data volume
should be not simultaneous
When a module was sending
 Prepoziții/Conjuncții:
efforts put onto
to an OPC client
(...) is integrated on the business systems (…)
(…) various attempts applying (…)
(…) to allow for extra noise (…)
(…) distributed at the following (…)
  Punctuație:
The data communication between physical resources and structured hierarchical levels is implemented on standard
communication protocols (Profibus and Modbus and others)
baud rate, parity mode, etc)
the installation of distributed, supervisory control and data acquisition systems design to monitor and control
manufacturing processes makes data available electronically.
and after that configures
In the next paragraph we will (…)
 Scriere a cuvintelor:
The above mentioned devices (…)
Off the shelf tools
(Databases, spreadsheets, etc.)
Bellow (2)
Left over space
Implementedin
Equipments (2)
period of time
 Incoerență:
DataSocket allows to read data (…)
 Exprimare deficitară:
The data processing and storage create the possibility of decisions support for the energy production management and the
optimization of the resources exploitation.
The above mentioned devices communicate on industrial data buses with high-performance computers as logging device.
Profibus has linear bus architecture with active bus termination at both ends.
(…) methods for use in process control (…)
(…) during configuration of each controller.
(…) communication architecture concentrating on data access (…)
There are many client applications that require data from a data source, which have been developed and access
these data (…)
(…) the problems that follow:
(…) Much duplication of effort
The OPC groups provide a way for clients to organize data.
Public group is for sharing across multiple clients and local is local to a client.
All access to OPC items is via an (…)
Associated with each item are a Value, Quality, and Timestamp.
It is extremely important that the OPC server be able to (…)
(…) encapsulates information about the data for certain (…)
The figure 2 presents (2) (…)
This is the reason why (…)
We have developed protocol that (…)
Other timer synchronizes (…)
Modules number
the reception of a number of characters (…)
one for reading action and other for writing action
waits its received confirmation
The all others (…)
In the present paper (…)
Implemented with success
 Redundanță:
And also be able to (…)
 Termeni inadecvați/incorecți:
decisions support
Modbus communications protocol
Materials of construction
data pack
control RTUs
priority of operations
network LAN (2)
message popup
synchron timer
connection lost