- What diagnostic systems are in place to verify proper drop and node connections.
a.) Master Controller - front panel display indicates bus status and enables user to switch devices on one at a time during startup
b.) Slave device - RC LED indicates if incoming bus connection is good
c.) Configuration, Monitoring, and Diagnostics (CMD) software - The INTERBUS system can be monitored (via the master's RS 232 port) while the application program is running to evaluate the bus system quality. Any bus segment with transmission errors is identified individually. Fault data is written to a file with a date/time stamp that indicates when the anomaly occurred.
- Can the Bus be enabled in segments to minimize troubleshooting requirements?
Yes, using bus terminals to form branches in the network. Each branch can be switched on/off individually in response to commands from the master.
- What high level tools are available for network diagnostics?
Configuration, Monitoring, and Diagnostics (CMD) software from Phoenix Contact.
- Can a network configuration be restored remotely?
Yes, using CMD
- Does the Bus provide tools for throughput monitoring enabling the user to check the validity of various node configurations?
Yes, CMD can display the exact scan time, or the application program can access it in memory.
- Are diagnostic counters local to a node or are they a distributed function?
They reside in the master
- With the standard diagnostic tools what kind of MTTD (mean time to diagnose) for network faults should the user expect to see using this bus? Elaborate on any special capabilities.
Fault is displayed in plain text on front panel display of controller or in CMD software (front panel emulation for controllers without a display). Remote bus, Local Bus, and Peripheral Faults (I/O faults) are displayed immediately. If an EMI problem occurs, it can be located on the front panel display by accessing the top ten CRC module error history, or by using the CMD diagnostics utility. Intermittent EMI noise problems are the most difficult to locate, but can always be assigned to one segment of cabling or one device. Time to diagnose will depend on skill and training of personnel, but will typically be a matter of minutes.
- Does the bus support any kind of hot swap capability?
I/O modules can be swapped with power on if the bus terminal they are connected to has switched its branch segment off. The branch segment is switched off by the master sending the switch off command to the bus terminal. This functionality can be integrated into the MMI or can be executed from CMD, thus allowing maintenance personnel to disable segments to change a module with I/O stage faults and not stop the remainder of the bus from running. When segments are switched off all segment input data is set to 0 and a bit in the status register (BSA) is set to indicate a segment is switched off.
- Can nodes be exercised to verify the field device connections with a hand held programmer or personal computer?
A notebook PC with an INTERBUS PCMCIA card or a PC with an ISA connection can be used to run the IBS CMD software. The monitoring functionality of the CMD software allows individual inputs to be monitored and outputs to be forced.
- Can nodes be configured to auto restart after the removal of a node or network fault?
The nodes of an INTERBUS system are not configured. The master can be programmed to continuously run ID scans, and start the bus when the configuration matches a predefined configuration, that the application program was written for.
Installation, Diagnostics and Commissioning
