Concept

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 BiSS Interface
BiSS Safety Concept

Rev A3, Page 2/4

OVERVIEW

The open source BiSS Interface (bidirectional/serial/synchronous) is based on a protocol which implements a
realtime interface. It enables a digital, serial and secure communication between controller, sensor and actuator.
The BiSS protocol is used on the lower sensor/actuator communication level in industrial applications which require
transfer rates, safety, flexibility and a minimized implementation effort. In addition to its technical advantages, two
conditions have established the current global standard: free BiSS license for applications and the stability and
continuity of the protocol since its introduction.

BiSS Safety follows the industrial trend of fully digital communication and functional safety capabilities. Safety-
critical applications targeting up to SIL3 can now be fully covered by BiSS Safety and the BiSS interface. BiSS
Safety uses the BiSS protocol-specific features of the BiSS bus structure and the CRC cyclic redundancy check
for a safe "Black Channel" transmission.

System components
The BiSS Safety system can be implemented in different ways: on the encoder side there are two independent
position words generated by one or two sensors (BiSS slaves). The drive (BiSS master) can either be a safety
drive with all needed functionality integrated or a standard drive with an additional BiSS safety monitor. This BiSS
safety monitor can supervise the BiSS communication or can access relevant data.

Certification
The safety communication level "BiSS Safety" is certified by TÜV Rheinland and follows in extracts the re-
quirements stated in DIN EN 61784-3:2011 and can be used in safety applications up to SIL3 according
IEC61508:2010.

BiSS SAFETY SYSTEM STRUCTURE

SAFETY DRIVE SAFETY SENSOR

BiSS MASTER RS-422 BUS
Control Position TRANSCEIVER BiSS SLAVE - Safety BiSS SLAVE - Control
Flags MA+
6 Bit CRC MA Safety Position
MA Flags Control Position
MA- 6 Bit LC Flags
CTRLPOS

16 Bit CRC 6 Bit CRC

SLI SLO SLI SLO
CTRLPOS

SL
SL
SL+
TRANS- MA MA

BLOCK M1 BLOCK M2
SL-
MISSION BLOCK S1 BLOCK S2

BiSS MONITOR RS-422 BUS MEDIUM RS-422 BUS

RECEIVER TRANSCEIVER
MA+
MA+ MA+ MA+
MA
MA MA
FRAMEDATA MA-
MA- MA- MA-

SL+
SL+ SL+ SL+
FRAMEDATA SL
SL SL
SL-
SL- SL- SL-
BLOCK M3 BLOCK M4
BLOCK S3
FRAME DATA CHECK 1
Control Position ... Safety Position ...
FRAMEDATA

SAFEPOS1 SAFEPOS1
Evaluate
Watchdog & CHECK1 CHECK1
Compare

BLOCK M5

FRAME DATA CHECK 2

Control Position ... Safety Position ...
FRAMEDATA

SAFEPOS2 SAFEPOS2
Evaluate
Watchdog & CHECK2 CHECK2
Compare

BLOCK M6

Figure 1: BiSS Safety structure based on a safety drive

 BiSS Interface
BiSS Safety Concept

Rev A3, Page 3/4

Figure 1 gives an overview of a possible setup of a safety system with BiSS. The position data is sent over a
single cable from the BiSS slaves on the right to the BiSS master on the left.

The standard drive consisting of the blocks "BiSS Master" and "RS-422 Bus Transceiver" is supplemented by
the safety monitor (here exemplarily shown with the blocks "RS422 Bus Receiver" and "BiSS Monitor") and two
instances of a frame data checker.
For integrated safety drives, a single chip consisting of the blocks "BiSS Master", "BiSS Monitor" and the RS422
interface can be used.

The "BiSS Monitor" translates the BiSS data into a serial data stream that can easily be read by a microprocessor.
Furthermore the monitor supervises the BiSS timeout and signals an error to a higher level safety-PLC if a slave
does not answer in a valid time frame.
The position data, the CRC values and the sign-of-life-counter are evaluated in the two independent frame
checkers. Each of them checks the data integrity by verifying the CRC values and comparing the two position
words for consistency. Furthermore they evaluate the sign-of-life counter in order to detect missing or reordered
position values. Both frame checkers signal their results and the safe position value to the safety-PLC.

The encoder in the safety application has to be able to transmit two independently generated position values.
Both words are transmitted over the same physical cable to the BiSS master. The two sensors that generate the
two position words can be two separate encoder-iCs, connected in daisy-chain as described in the BiSS Safety
Implementation Handbook, or a single chip solution that generates two independent position words.

BiSS SAFETY COMMUNICATION FORMAT

BiSS Frame
Startseq. CDS CPW SPW Further data (optional) Timeout

Control Position Word

0..24 Bit MT 16/24 Bit ST E W 6 Bit CRC
max. 56 Bit
Safety Position Word
0..24 Bit MT 12/16 Bit ST E W 6 Bit LC 16 Bit CRC
max. 64 Bit

Figure 2: BiSS Safety communication profile

The "Control Position Word" (CPW), used for motor control can be of high resolution and is protected against
transmission errors with a standard 6-bit CRC (HD = 3).

The "Safety Position Word" (SPW) is strongly protected with a safety capable 16-bit CRC (HD = 6). Additionally an
integrated 6-bit sign-of-life counter helps to detect missing or reordered position values. The resolution of the
safety word can be lower than the resolution of the control word. Its purpose is to ensure the validity of the control
word. The arrangement of the "Control Position Word" and the "Safety Position Word" within the BiSS frame may
be rearranged.

ERROR DETECTION

The following operations are required to detect an error during data transmission via BiSS.

Cyclic redundancy check

The CRCs of both the CPW and the SPW have to be checked separately. Mandatory polynomials are 0x43 for
the CPW and 0x190D9 for the SPW.
 BiSS Interface
BiSS Safety Concept

Rev A3, Page 4/4

Sign-of-life counter (LC)

The sign-of-life counter is incremented for every BiSS Safety Frame. The corresponding bits can be compared to
an expected counter value.

+/- 1 LSB comparison

The comparison of the CPW and SPW positions allows a +/- 1 LSB tolerance at the MSB bit count ACCMIN .

PRESELECTION OF CONFIGURATIONS

This preselection covers popular configurations. Those configuration represent a combination of bit length and
resulting detectabilities for required residual error rates.

Encoder Type MTCPW MTSPW STCPW STSPW ACCMIN SCTmin

Rotary Singleturn RXM 0 0 16 12 9 31.25 µs
Rotary Singleturn RXH 0 0 24 16 13 31.25 µs
Rotary Multiturn RSM 12 12 16 12 9 31.25 µs
Rotary Multiturn RSH 12 12 24 16 13 62.50 µs
Rotary Multiturn RLM 24 24 16 12 9 62.50 µs
Rotary Multiturn RLH 24 24 24 16 13 62.50 µs
Rotary Multiturn RUM 12 0 16 12 9 31.25 µs
Rotary Multiturn RUH 12 0 24 16 13 62.50 µs
Linear LMM 16 16 16 16 11 62.50 µs

Table 1: Suitable configurations for SIL3

Further configurations are possible but require individual calculations. Further SCD content needs to be considered
as a possible but modified configuration and will also require individual calculations. For linear encoder the total
bit count results by adding the MT and ST bit count each position word. The BiSS Protocol and the BiSS Safety
Profile allow short safety cycles down to 31.25 µs respectively 62.5 µs as stated in the BiSS Safety Profile.

DEFINITIONS

Abbr. Description
CPW Control Position Word
SPW Safety Position Word
ACCmin Minimum required accuracy for the bit comparison
SCTmin Minimum Safety Cycle Time
SCD Single Cycle Data
MT Multiturn position
ST Singleturn position
E Error status bit, part of status
W Warning status bit, part of status
LC Sign-of-life counter, part of status
CRC Cyclic redundancy check sum
HD Hamming distance

Table 2: Explanations