All power supplies now offer physical layer diagnosis
02 September 2010
Extensive capabilities for physical layer diagnosis are now a standard integrated feature for all ISbus series Fieldbus Power Supplies from R. Stahl. This integrated functionality enables complete and continuous plant monitoring across Foundation fieldbus H1 segments at nearly no extra expense.
Besides ensuring overload and short circuit detection, this solution facilitates continuous monitoring of all quality-relevant physical parameters of the fieldbus: trunk voltage and current, signal and noise levels, line unbalance, and especially jitter. Diagnostic functions can already be used in the installation phase, and they can also be employed during regular operation, e.g. for trouble shooting. A serial interface on the front side of the fieldbus power supply ensures connectivity for readouts from any standard PC, with no need for special drivers or DTMs. With the "Advanced" version of the module, alarm thresholds for the detection of the deterioration of the signal transmission quality can be individually adjusted. Alarming is done via a potential-free relay contact, and is displayed at the module itself by colour LEDs using the traffic light scheme.
Moreover, an add-on Diagnosis Communication Module is available for online access. Featuring enhanced EDD support, this option allows for physical layer information from up to eight FF H1 bus segments to be cyclically routed to an asset management system for further analysis.
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