Now that we're familiar with these terms, let's see how they are used in describing the available PLC network options.
PLC network options
PLC networks provide you with a variety of networking options to meet specific control and communications requirements. Typical options include remote I/O, peer-to-peer, and host computer communications, as well as LANs. These networks can provide reliable and cost-effective communications between as few as two or as many as several hundred PLCs, computers, and other intelligent devices.
Many PLC vendors offer proprietary networking systems that are unique and will not communicate with another make of PLC. This is because of the different communications protocols, command sequences, error-checking schemes, and communications media used by each manufacturer.
However, it is possible to make different PLCs "talk" to one another; what's required is an ASCII interface for the connection(s), along with considerable work with software.
Remote I/0 systems
A remote I/O configuration, as shown in Fig. 4A, has the actual inputs and outputs at some distance from the controller and CPU. This type of system, which can be described as a "master-and-slave" configuration, allows many distant digital and analog points to be controlled by a single PLC. Typically, remote I/Os are connected to the CPU via twisted pair or fiber optic cables.
Remote I/O configurations can be extremely cost-effective control solutions where only a few I/O points are needed in widely separated areas. In this situation, it's not always necessary, or practical for that matter, to have a controller at each site. Nor is it practical to inpidually hard wire each I/O point over long distances back to the CPU. For example, remote I/O systems can be used in acquiring data from remote plant or facility locations. Information such as cycle times, counts, duration or events, etc. then can be sent back to the PLC for maintenance and management reporting.
In a remote I/O configuration, the master controller polls the slaved I/O for its current I/O status. The remote I/O system responds, and the master PLC then signals the remote I/O to change the state of outputs as dictated by the control program in the PLC's memory. This entire cycle occurs hundreds of times per second.
Peer-to-peer networks
Peer-to-peer networks, as shown in Fig. 4B, enhance reliability by decentralizing the control functions without sacrificing coordinated control. In this type of network, numerous PLCs are connected to one another in a daisy-chain fashion, and a common memory table is duplicated in the memory of each. In this way, when any PLC writes data to this memory area, the information is automatically transferred to all other PLCs in the network. They then can use this information in their own operating programs.
With peer-to-peer networks, each PLC in the network is responsible for its own control site and only needs to be programmed for its own area of responsibility. This aspect of the network significantly reduces programming and debugging complexity; because all communications occur transparently to the user, communications programming is reduced to simple read-and-write statements.
In a peer-to-peer system, there's no master PLC. However, it's possible to designate one of the PLCs as a master for use as a type of group controller. This PLC then can be used to accept input information from an operator input terminal, for example, sending all the necessary parameters to other PLCs and coordinating the sequencing of various events.
Host computer links
PLCs also can be connected with computers or other intelligent devices. In fact, most PLCs, from the small to the very large, can be directly connected to a computer or part of a multi drop host computer network via RS232C or RS422 ports. This combination of computer and controller maximizes the capabilities of the PLC, for control and data acquisition, as well as the computer, for data processing, documentation, and operator interface. PLC可编程控制器技术英文文献和中文翻译(6):http://www.751com.cn/fanyi/lunwen_7395.html