Engineering Documentation

Table Of Contents
Chapter 2 Network Electrical Systems
RS-485 MS/TP Communications
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RS-485 MS/TP Communications
Inter-node protocol communications on P1, P2 and BACnet MS/TP networks take
place over RS-485 physical media.
This media is defined as a 2-wire half-duplex, differential multipoint serial
connection.
The EIA standard also specifies a third wire interconnection.
This third wire connection is important to maintaining signal integrity in
systems encompassing large networks in electrically noisy environments.
In some cases, the third wire reference is earth ground. In other cases, an
actual third reference wire is run between all nodes.
Isolation may also be provided between the controller main electronics (earth
referenced side) and the network. Interoperability between nodes with different
grounding schemes and isolated versus non-isolated can be maintained by using
guidelines discussed in this section.
Operating in Electrically Noisy Environments
Non-isolated network interfaces that are referenced to earth at each node are much
more susceptible to noise due to differences in the earth ground potential. Large
equipment often injects noise into the earth grounding system when starting, stopping,
or changing speeds. (VFDs, with their carrier frequencies of 3 to 10 KHz and high
harmonics, are right in the RS-485 communications baud rate band.)
Fig. 11: PWM Waveform Phase A to B.
Local surges from lighting and power grid switching cause more noise. If this noise is
over the common mode voltage acceptable by the RS-485 interface circuits, it causes
interruptions in communications.
3-wire RS-485 Network Interfaces
In order to provide higher noise immunity and high data reliability, the network
interfaces for Siemens Industry RS-485 interfaces now provide the RS-485 common
reference signal in the network interface connector. Older 2-wire interfaces provided
the +/- signal lines and Earth (or in some cases just a convenient tie point (FLN
devices)). By providing the RS-485 circuit common reference signal, all 3-wire nodes
wired using a new 1.5-pair shielded cable are referenced together.
The older 2-wire circuit uses a capacitive connection to earth as the reference, which
is more susceptible to earth ground noise. 2-wire connections are still supported per
the Network Wiring Requirements Decision Tree, but 3-wire connections are highly
recommended, especially for all new interfaces that provide a true 3-wire connection.
The use of 1-pair or 1.5-pair cabling is not a requirement of the RS-485 protocol. It is a
result of the electrical interface, which was changed starting with the PXC Compact,
PXC Modular, and P1-BIM.