Technical Bulletin

EtherNet/IP On-Board Communications
50 PowerXL DG1 Series VFD MN040010EN—May 2014 www.eaton.com
EtherNet/IP
Overview
EtherNet/IP (Ethernet/Industrial Protocol) is a communication
system suitable for use in industrial environments. EtherNet/IP
allows industrial devices to exchange time-critical application
information. These devices include simple I/O devices such
as sensors/actuators, as well as complex control devices
such as robots, programmable logic controllers, welders, and
process controllers. EtherNet/IP uses CIP (Control and
Information Protocol), the common network, transport, and
application layers also shared by ControlNet and EtherNet/IP.
EtherNet/IP then makes use of standard Ethernet and TCP/IP
technology to transport CIP communications packets. The
result is a common, open application layer on top of open
and highly popular Ethernet and TCP/IP protocols.
EtherNet/IP messaging forms.
●
Unconnected messaging is used for connection
establishment and for infrequent, low-priority messages
●
Connected messaging uses resources that are dedicated
in advance to a particular purpose such as real-time I/O
data transfer
EtherNet/IP messaging connections.
●
Explicit messaging connections are general purpose
point-to-point connections. Messages are sent through
TCP protocol
●
Implicit (I/O data) connections are established to move
application-specific I/O data at regular intervals. They are
often set up as one-to-many relationships in order to take
full advantage of the producer-consumer multicast model.
Implicit messages are sent through UDP protocol
AC/DC Drive Profile
In order to provide compatibility between similar devices
from different manufacturers, there a defined “standard” in
which those devices.
●
Exhibit the same behavior
●
Produce and/or consume the same basic set of I/O data
●
Contain the same basic set of configurable attributes. The
formal definition of this information is known as a device
profile.
EDS File
EDS—Is the abbreviation for Electronic Data Sheet, a file on
disk that contains configuration data for specific device types.
You can provide configuration support for your device by
using a specially formatted ASCII file, referred to as the EDS.
The information in an EDS allows configuration tools to
provide informative screens that guide a user through the
steps necessary to configure a device. An EDS provides all of
the information necessary to access and alter the
configurable parameters of a device. This information
matches the information provided by instances of the
parameter object class. The CIP object library describes the
parameter object class in detail.
Explicit Messaging
Explicit Messaging is used in commissioning and
parameterizing of the EtherNet/IP board. Explicit messages
provide multipurpose, point-to-point communication paths
between two devices. They provide the typical request/
response-oriented network communication used to perform
node configuration and problem diagnosis. Explicit messages
typically use low priority identifiers and contain the specific
meaning of the message right in the data field. This includes
the service to be performed and the specific object attribute
address.
Note: If Class 1 connection (cyclic data) has been
established, then explicit messages cannot be used to
control output data. However, this restriction doesn’t
apply for IO Data reading.
List of Object Classes
The communication interface supports the following object
classes.
Table 69. List of Object Classes
Class Object Remark
0x01 Identity Objects CIP Required Object
0x04 Assembly Object CIP object for Drive Device
0x06 Connection Manager Object Communication Object
0x28 Motor Data Object CIP object for Drive Device
0x29 Control Supervisor Object CIP object for Drive Device
0x2A AC/DC Drive Object CIP object for Drive Device
0xA0 Vendor Parameters Object CIP object for Drive Device—
Vendor Specific
0xA1
0xA2
0xA3
0xA4
0xF5 TCP/IP Interface Object CIP Required Object
0x02 Message Router Object Communication Object
0xF4 Port Object Communication Object
0xF6 Ethernet Link Object CIP Required Object