Instructions

Doc: HMSI-27-306, Rev. 3.11Anybus Communicator PROFIBUS User Manual
Chapter 2
2. Basic Operation
2.1 General
The Anybus Communicator gateway is designed to exchange data between a serial sub-network and a
higher level network. Unlike most other gateway devices of similar kind, it does not have a fixed protocol
for the sub-network, and can be configured to handle almost any form of serial communication.
The gateway can issue serial telegrams cyclically, on change of state, or based on trigger events issued by
the control system of the higher level network (i.e. the fieldbus master or PLC). It can also monitor
certain aspects of the sub-network communication and notify the higher level network when data has
changed.
An essential part of the Anybus Communicator package is Anybus Configuration Manager (ACM), a
Windows®-based application used to supply the gateway with a description of the sub-network proto-
col. No programming skills are required; instead, a visual protocol description-system is used to specify
the different parts of the serial communication.