Communications Boards
The communications boards are used to provide point-to-point communications to other devices (PLCs, operator interfaces, etc) or to network multiple M4500 modules together. In point-to-point applications, either RS-232 or RS-422 can be used along with a number of third party protocols (Allen-Bradley DF1, Modicon Modbus, Siemens TI, etc).
In networked applications, up to 32 M4500 (or SEG S3000 or M4000) modules can be networked together using the S3000C network to pass information between nodes. This network is generally configured as a hierarchic network with one master and the remainder slaves but can also be configured for a peer-to-peer network as well.
These boards can be installed in any vacant slot in the M4500 chassis and are slot addressed by a dip switch on the board. The following communications boards are currently available: