Specifications

7 – Configuring Controllers
98 R400
About Controllers and Channels
In PlantScape, the term “controller” is the generic term for devices such as loop
controllers, and so on, which are used to monitor and control one or more
processes and items of field equipment.
In a PlantScape system, controllers are connected to the server so that the server
can co-ordinate the monitoring and supervising of all your plant processes.
The communication links that connect controllers to the server are known as
“channels.” Every controller in your system (other than the PlantScape Control
Processors) must be associated with a channel. Depending on the type of
controllers and the type of communications line you used to connect them to the
server, you may have more than one controller on a channel. This is known as
“multi-dropping.”
After installing the server software and connecting and setting up your
controllers, as described in the installation guide, you need to:
1 Define your channels with Quick Builder.
2 Define your controllers with Quick Builder.
3 Download the channel and controller configuration data from Quick Builder
to the PlantScape database.
4 Test the communications, as described in “Testing Communications” on
page 108.
5 Enable each channel as described in “Enabling and Disabling Channels and
Controllers” on page 109.
Connecting Controllers to the Server
Depending on the capability of controllers, they connect to the server in one or
more of the following ways.
• LAN (Ethernet)/vendor proprietary network
• Serial line (RS-232, RS-422, and RS-485)
• Serial line to LAN using a terminal server
Details of these connections are given in the Installation Guide and the
Controller Configuration Reference accessible via the Quick Builder online help.
plscpcg.book Page 98 Monday, May 28, 2001 10:11 AM