When you purchase this item, you receive a license for use of the GE Fanuc Ethernet Global Data protocol driver described on this page, but also licenses to use our
GE Fanuc TCP/IP Ethernet,
GE Fanuc CCM Serial Master,
GE Fanuc SNP-X Serial Master, and
GE Fanuc SNP Serial Master drivers on the same machine. You may order using this item number or the GE Fanuc Suite Item #41233135 - you will receive the GE Fanuc Suite either way.This driver Includes support for Wonderware FastDDE AND Suitelink making it easy to use with Wonderware InTouch- More
This driver is a special type of driver that is used for specific applications involving Ethernet communications to GE Fanuc Series 90 Family PLCs. This driver uses the Ethernet Global Data protocol from GE Fanuc. Ethernet Global Data is a form of unsolicited messaging in which a GE Fanuc Series 90 PLC with an Ethernet interface can "broadcast" a block of data on Ethernet and ANY application on the network interested in the data can pickup the data block and read it.
For example, if you have 100 PLCs and you need a large block of data from all of them at regular intervals, you can configure the PLCs to broadcast the block of data on a regular interval - then using this driver your PC can pickup the data as needed. This eliminates inefficient polling from the PC to the PLCs - the PC gets the data when the PLC wants to send it. This driver also supports our NIC Selectability feature that lets you control and specify which network card to use in your PC when multiple cards are present.
Significant performance gains can be seen if you have multiple PCs that need the same block of data from one PLC - rather than have for example 10 PCs asking the PLC for the same block of data, you let the PLC send the block of data ONE time and all 10 PCs get that block of data because it is broadcast.
Ethernet Global Data is very useful also when you have a large number of PLCs that need to talk to each other. For example, if you had 100 PLCs that needed to talk to each other and share a block of data - rather than coordinate communications between the PLCs with a standard polled scheme or master/slave scheme, the GE Ethernet Global Data solution they offer lets each of the 100 PLCs send the block of data they wish to share ONE time and then each of the other 99 PLCs can pick it up. This generates huge savings in bandwidth utilization when multiple PLCs need to talk over ethernet to each other.
This driver allows your PC to both receive and SEND GE Ethernet Global Data broadcasts and should only be used in those applications. If your application requires the more traditional setup where the PC polls the PLCs for specific data or goes and requests data from the PLC based on operator input on the PC, you should use our standard GE Ethernet OPC server. If you have applications that involve both types of data you may elect to use both drivers at the same time on the same computer.
This driver does require that your GE Fanuc PLC have firmware in the CPU and on the PLC ethernet module that supports GE´s Ethernet Global Data protocol. If you are familiar with Ethernet Global Data then you likely have this capability in your hardware, particularly if you purchased your hardware since 1999. If you are not sure if your GE hardware can support Ethernet Global Data protocols you should gather your PLC hardware information and contact your local GE Fanuc office.
In addition to being a powerful GE Ethernet Global Data device driver, this software product supports Automatic Tag Database Generation, a powerful feature that is unique to this product.
The automatic OPC tag database generation features of KEPServerEX have been designed to make the setup of your OPC application a Plug and Play operation. For communication drivers that support this feature, you can configure them to automatically build a list of OPC tags within KEPServerEX that correspond to device specific data. The automatically generated OPC tags are then browsable from your OPC client. The OPC tags that are generated are dependent upon the nature of the supporting driver.
If the target device supports its own local tag database the driver will read the device´s tag information and use this data to generate OPC tags within KEPServerEX. If the device does not natively support its own named tags, the driver will create a list of tags based on information specific to the driver.
This communications driver is a member of the TOP Server family of products and shares a number of powerful features in common with all of the products in the TOP Server family. The TOP Server family represents the latest in client-server communications technology for connecting HMI, Historian, Database, and other applications to plant floor equipment.
Broad OPC Support
The TOP Server implements both the OPC 1.0a, 2.0, and 3.0 Data Access Specifications giving you the choice of the widest range of OPC client applications. The TOP Server is continuously tested with the most popular OPC client applications on the market to insure ease of use, integration, and reliability, including popular names as Wonderware, Siemens WinCC, Intellution, Iconics, Cimplicity, RSView and more.
Full Support for Wonderware FastDDE and Suitelink
The TOP Server's support of Wonderware Corporation's FastDDE and SuiteLink simplifies the task of connecting the server with FactorySuite applications such as InTouch. By using the Wonderware connectivity toolkit, our TOP Server can simultaneously provide OPC and FastDDE/SuiteLink connectivity to address your communications needs. With built-in support of these Client/Server technologies, the TOP Server allows you to quickly access device data without the need to use an intermediary software bridge (i.e. OPC Link) as is done when using a strictly OPC only communications server. For Wonderware users the familiar look and feel of FastDDE/SuiteLink tag database setup is maintained. Backwards compatibility for legacy DDE is also supported.
Intellution NIO native interface supported - no OPC Power Tool needed!
Direct connection to the iFix Process Database allows you to skip the OPC Power Tool. Enabling the iFix PDB interface on the TOP Server Tools->Options menus causes the TOP server to appear as a native Intellution driver named "IDS". Never before has connecting TOP Server to Intellution iFix been easier.
Legacy Support for DDE
While OPC has become the defacto format of choice for communications drivers in the automation market, we realize that not everyone can replace their client software with the latest OPC client versions. For this reason, the TOP Server is one of the few OPC servers on the market to also simulataneously support Wonderware's FastDDE and Suitelink interfaces, Rockwell's AdvanceDDE and Microsoft's standard DDE interfaces for connecting the TOP Server to your client application. With the TOP Server you can connect to your legacy DDE clients today and move smoothly to the world of OPC when you are ready and not have to worry about replacing or re-configuring the communications driver connecting you to your production machinery.
Other Key Features in the TOP Server
Runtime Configuration Changes A very unique feature to this product is the ability to change your configuration while the server is running and has clients connected. The connected client application has access to a group of system tags that allow the client to request the TOP Server to change which network card it is using, change which com port it is using, change the IP address of the target device, change the Device ID of a target serial device, change serial communications parameters including RTS line control and flow control, and change diagnostic settings. This capability enables you to do Redundancy at the network media, serial connection media, and device levels -- your client application makes the determination that the target device is no longer operable by any means you choose, including monitoring our _Error system tag for communications errors, and when the client application wants the TOP Server to switch, it simply writes to the appropriate system level tag to change network connection, com port, or target device ID/IP address. Redundancy is just one of the powerful types of complex applications that these runtime-configurable features can enable.
Import Tag Databases from KEPServer Your existing KEPServer version 3.x/4.x tag databases are readable by the new TOP Server so you can migrate your existing application seamlessly to the TOP Server.
Online Full Time The TOP Server allows you to make changes to your tag database configuration at any time. In older versions, you could be online, but not add tags, or be offline to add tags but not read data. With the TOP Server you make changes when you need to, on the fly.
User Management With powerful features such as online changes, you want to make sure you manage who is allowed to make what changes. The User Manager in the TOP Server lets you define what different people can change and update in the servers' configuration.
Tag Management You want to organize your tag database around your process. With the TOP Server we've taken full advantage of OPC grouping capabilities to let you segregate and organize your tags the way you want them. Drag and Drop configuration lets you quickly move, add, copy large numbers of tags quickly and easily. CSV (Ascii comma-delimited) format import and export lets you bring in your tags from an Excel worksheet or export them, edit them in bulk and bring them back in.
Tag Scaling Display your data in units that are meaningful to you. The TOP Server supports Linear and Square Root tag scaling. You define the display format and the engineering units display string to meet your needs.
Diagnostics The TOP Server family of communications products provide real time diagnostics on all tag read/write operations that can be viewed in your OPC client to keep tabs on what is going on in the server. For those tough to debug communications problems, you can turn on our diagnostic window and capture protocol packets off to disk to find out what is really happening between the computer and the hardware device.
Other Powerful Features in the TOP Server include:
- Tag Browsing
- Modem support built in for serial drivers
- Extensive help files and examples of how to use the TOP Server with popular OPC clients
- Visual Basic OPC client sample code
- 32-bit high performance multi-threaded drivers
- Auto-Start for unattended operation
- Works with any OPC client or DDE, AdvancedDDE client application
- Works with Wonderware's FastDDE and SuiteLink interfaces
Devices Supported:
- Unicast
and MultiCast UDP Ethernet Connections
- Series
90-30s with EGD Support
- Series
90-70s with EGD Support
- Memory
Types Supported: I, Q, G, M, T, S, R, AI, AQ
- All data
types are supported.
Operating System Support:
- Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and Server
- Windows 2000 Pro & Server
- Windows 2000 Advanced Server Editions
- Windows XP Pro, XP SP2, Windows XP Embedded (provided DCOM installed)
- Windows 2003 Server including RC1, RC2.
- For support for Windows 95/98/Me, we can provide a version of TOP Server, please contact us for details.
