EPICS: Allen Bradley
Driver and Device Support
Release 1-6

Table of Contents

Overview
Application Installation
Scanner Configuration
Hardware Addressing
Device Support Overview
Binary Device Support
Adapter and Card Status
Old Style Analog Input/Output
Stepper Motor Support
1791 Series Support
1771-DCM Direct Communication Module
1771-N Series Analog Modules
1771-IX (E and HR)
1771-IFE
SLC 500 DCM
drvAb: The Allen Bradley Driver

Overview

• The "blue hose" connectors on the SV1R and SV2R have the blue and silver wires reversed from the 6008-SV. The SV1R and SV2R follow the allen bradley standard.
• Rack configuration must be specified for the SV1R and SV2R. This is done with the abConfigAuto and/or abConfigScanListAscii commands:
• The setRackSize argument for abConfigScanListAscii command, must be 0 for the 6008-SV and 1 for the 6008-SV1R or 6008-SV2R

The driver provides the following features:

• Support for 8, 16, and 32 bit digital I/O modules. Inputs can be scanned such that the caller is notified whenever one or more bits of an input or output card change.
• Arbitrary Block Transfers (Input and Output) with the caller being notified when the block transfer completes or times out.
• Software scanning of analog output and input modules.

ai

ao

bi

bo

mbbi

mbbo

mbbiDirect

mbboDirect

The reader should also consult the manuals

EPICS: Allen Bradley - Hardware Reference Manual, Greg Nawrocki,

Allen Bradley manuals:

• VMEbus Scanner Remote I/O Scanner (Cat No 6008-SV1R, 6008-SV2R)
• I/O concepts
• Each I/O module has it's own documentation.

Application Installation

In <top>/config edit the files CONFIG_APP and RELEASE.

In CONFIG_APP add the lines:
 

ifdef ALLEN_BRADLEY
USR_INCLUDES += -I$(ALLEN_BRADLEY)/include
USER_DBDFLAGS += -I$(ALLEN_BRADLEY)/dbd
ALLEN_BRADLEY_BIN = $(ALLEN_BRADLEY)/bin/$(T_A)
endif

ALLEN_BRADLEY=<allenBradleyTop>

In the src directory where record/device/driver support is built.

• Make sure that base.dbd and baseLIBOBJS do not specify any allen bradley support.
• Copy allenBradley.dbd and allenBradleyLIBOBJS from <allenBradleyTop>/dbd to the local directory
• Edit each file so that  only the support desired is included. You can either delete unwanted lines or place the character # in column 1 to make the line a comment.
• In the <app>Include.dbd file add (AFTER the include for base.dbd) the line

include "allenBradley.dbd"
• In Makefile.Vx add the line

include ../allenBradleyLIBOBJS
• execute gnumake

Scanner Configuration

This section describes a number of configuration commands. They may be given in any order except:

• If the abConfigNlinks command is given it must be the first allen bradley configuration command
• All commands must be given before iocInit

abConfigNlinks

abConfigNlinks(number)

abConfigAuto

abConfigAuto(link)

where:

link   link number

SUGGESTION: When you have a new configuration use the abConfigAuto command until you are sure the associated abConfigScanListAscii file is defined correctly. Once it is defined correctly do not use the abConfigAuto command because it has extra overhead and also requires that every allenBradley chassis is powered up.

abConfigScanListAscii

Format:

abConfigScanListAscii(link,"filename",setRackSize)

Filename is a file that defines the adapter (rack) configuration for the specified link. It contains a line for each rack. In addition comment lines (any line beginning with the character #) are allowed. The definition for each rack is:

rack,group,size,logicalAddressing

An example definition is:

#Allen Bradley Scan List
0 0 Full 2
1 0 3/4 2
2 0 3/4 2
3 0 3/4 2

dbior "drvAb",4

abConfigVme

abConfigVme(link,base,vector,level)

If this routine is not called then the default base and interrupt vector for the first link are taken from module_types (AB_BASE_ADDR and AB_VEC_BASE), which are currently set to 0xc00000 and 0x60. For links other than 0, the base address is relative to that for link (each scanner uses 0x1000 bytes). The interrupt vectors are also consecutive.

For the 6008-SV1R and 6008-SV2R the base address of 0xc00000 corresponds to SW1 = 00000000 and SW2=11000000. Also SW3=00011000.

The default interrupt level is 5.

abConfigBaud

abConfigBaud(link,rate)

Hardware Addressing

Each Allen Bradley chassis can be configured, via hardware switches on the chassis, for 2 slot, 1 slot, or 1/2 slot addressing. EPICS supports all three types of addressing. Greg Nawrocki's Allen Bradley Document describes how to configure the hardware for 2 slot addressing. If you want to use 1 slot or 1/2 slot addressing his document is still valid except for the following qualifications:

1. The I/O chassis backplane switches must be configured for the addressing mode desired.
2. If 1 slot addressing is chosen then any chassis with more than 8 slots appears as multiple racks.
3. If 1/2 slot addressing is chosen then any chassis with more than 4 slots appears as multiple racks.

Terminology

Some definitions:

• Scanner Module - An Allen Bradley VME I/O Scanner module. Each IOC crate can contain an arbitrary number of scanner modules. Each scanner module is linked, via "blue hose" to a set of Allen Bradley Chassis.
• Chassis - A physical chassis that can hold Allen Bradley modules and power supplies. Chassis come in different sizes such as 8 slot, 12 slot, and 16 slot. Each slot can hold one module.
• Module - A physical module that is placed in a slot. Typical module types include Digital I/O, Analog I/O, etc.
• Adapter - A remote I/O adapter module, which is placed in the left most slot of a chassis, is the interface between a scanner and remote I/O modules. The blue hose connects each adapter with it's associated scanner.
• Rack- The way of addressing a particular adapter or other device attacked to the "blue hose". It is a number starting with 0. Depending on logical addressing mode a physical chassis appears as one or more racks. Other  devices, e.g. a dcm are also assigned a rack number and several such devices can be configured as a single rack.

INP/OUT definitions

• link - Chooses a particular Scanner.
• rack - Chooses a rack.
• adapter - EXACTLY the same as rack.
• slot - Chooses a module within a rack.
• card - EXACTLY the same as slot.
• signal - Module dependent
  • Binary - The signal is always specified as 0,1,...n-1, where n is the number of bits the card contains
  • Analog - The channel. Allen bradley numbers channels starting with 1. Signals starts with 0. Thus signal 0 is channel 1.
• plc_flag - No longer used, i.e. obsolete.
• parm - Only used for special purposes.

The binary and old analog support uses the AB_IO link type which has the format

#Llink Aadapter Ccard Ssignal @parm

2 slot addressing

• Block transfer modules, for example analog modules, must not be paired with binary modules. NOTE: Sometimes everything works if an 8 bit module is paired with a block transfer device. Don't do it. It is not guaranteed.
• 16 bit input modules must be placed in even slots, 16 bit output modules must be placed in odd slots
• If a 16 bit module is present then its partner must be opposite type, e.g. an 8 bit input module can not be paired with a 16 bit input module.
• 32 bit modules are not supported

1 slot addressing

• Block transfer devices can not be paired with 32 bit binary modules.
• 32 bit input modules must be placed in even slots. 32 bit output modules must be placed in odd slots.
• If a 32 bit (input,output) module is present then its partner must be an (output,input) binary module.

1/2 slot addressing

EPICS addresses each I/O module via the slot number. Each 4 modules is addressed as a rack. For example if a chassis has 12 slots and it's physical adapter has been configured to start with rack 3 then the first 4 modules are addressed as rack=3 and slot = 0,1,2,3 the second 4 modules as rack=4 and slot= 0,1,2,3 and the last four modules are addressed as rack=5 and slot = 0,1,2,3.

Device Support Overview

1. Digital devices that are addressed via the I/O image table
2. Block Transfer Devices, e.g. Analog I/O, stepper motor, etc

Until Allen Bradley support was unbundled from base the only block transfer devices supported were 1771IFE, 1771IL, 1771IXE, 1771IR, and 1771OFE. These were supported via device support attached to appropriate record types. This support did not allow complete configuration of the devices. This support is now called Old Analog Support.

The new method of supporting block transfer devices is to provide a record support module for each different device. This type of record is refered to as a device record. Module configuration is done via configuration fields. Device support is also provided to allow appropriate record types to link to the device record.

As each device record (or the old style device support) is initialized the first step is to register the card. The registration call includes the module type (analog input, analog output, binary input, binary output, arbitrary block transfer) and well as a module type name. The first call for a particular link, adapter, card determines the card type. Other calls for the same card are checked for compatibility. The following rules are enforced:

• If the card type is block transfer then any other calls for the same card must specify block transfer and exactly the same type name.
• If the card is an analog input or output then any other calls for that card must exactly match in module type and name.
• If the card type is binary then an additional call is made to specify the number of bits. Subsequent calls cause an error if the number of bits does not match. Even in this case a warning message is issued but initialization is allowed to proceed. The reason for no further checks is compatibility with the previous EPICS Allen Bradley support and  for support for devices like the Allen Bradley rediPanel.

Binary Device Support

I/O Interrupt processing is supported for Binary Inputs. Every 1/10 of a second the driver checks for changes in the input image table. If a word changes the device support is notified and requests I/O interrupt processing for the corresponding card. Note that all records attached to the card and with SCAN=I/O Intr will be processed, i.e. no attempt is made to look at individual bits.

When the device support finds that it has just registered a new card, it waits for the driver to have a chance to obtain the current values from the card. These are used to initialize the record, i.e. it restores values when the ioc is rebooted.

The binary device support also works for special Allen Bradley digital devices. It has been tested on the Allen Bradley rediPanel and also on the 1791 Series digital I/O (discused below).

The Allen Bradley rediPanel looks like a single logical adapter that contains one 16 bit digital input card and one 16 bit digital output card each addressed as card 0.

Adapter and Card Status

At the present time I/O Intr scanning is not supported by these device support modules, i.e. the record should be set to periodic scanning.

Old Style Analog Input/Output

Old analog support does not provide the ability to configure individual signals of analog modules. Thus all channels on a card are configured identically. The configurations options for a card are determined by the first record that is attached to the card during ioc initialization.

1771 IFE

The basic scan rate is every 1/10 second.

Several configurations are allowed. The choices are provided via a combination of jumper settings on the module and software configuration, The software configurations supported are:.

• AB-1771IFE
  • -10 to 10 volts differential (8 channels)
• AB-1771IFE-SE
  • 0 to 10 volts single ended (16 channels)
• AB-1771IFE-4to20MA
  • 1 to 5 volts differential(8 channels)
  • 4 to 20 milliAmps differential(8 channels)

Jumper settings determine the mode.

• AB-1771IFE-0to5Volt
  • 0 to 5 volts differential(8 channels)
  • 0 to 20 milliAmps differential(8 channels)

Jumper settings determine the mode.

1771 IL

The only configuration allowed is -10 to +10 volts differential;.

1771 IXE

The basic scan rate is every .5 seconds

The configuration options provide for millivolt input (+- 100 millivolt), and for type K, J, E, T, R, and S thermocouples. For thermocouple inputs conversion to degC and degF can be chosen.

The IXE module is chosen by specifying DTYP as "AB-1771IXE-Millivolt In". The configuration option is chosen via the field "LINR", i.e. the conversion type. If the conversion type is "NO_CONVERSION" or "LINEAR" then millivolt conversion is selected. If any of the types typeKdegF to typeSdegC is chosen then the IXE module is configured accordingly. If one of the thermocouple types is chosen device support sets the value of LINR to no conversion so that record support does not attempt any conversions.

NOTE: This method should NOT have been used to choose configuration options. Users are strongly encouraged to use the new 1771-IX(E and HR) support describes below.

1771 IR

The module can be configured, via the field DTYP, for Platinum or for Copper.

• AB-1771RTD-Platinum
• AB-1771RTD-Copper

• blank - Units are degF
• C - Units are degC
• O - Units are in Ohms

The field LINR is set to NO_CONVERSION so that record support does not attempt any conversions.

1771 OFE

When the device support finds that it has just registered a new card, it waits for the driver to have a chance to obtain the current values from the OFE. These are used to initialize the record, i.e. it restores values when the ioc is rebooted. The software always uses the default software configuration.

Whenever device support is called to write a new value it asks the EPICS driver to write the new value. It is the scan task of the driver that does the actual transfer. the transfer will be requested during the next scan, which happens at 1/10 second intervals.

New block transfer writes to the OFE are requested every 10 seconds even if no new values are requested by record support
 

Stepper Motor Support (Ric Claus SLAC)

The basic modification was to move the implementation of the initialization algorithm (supplied through the IALG field in a stepper motor record) from the record support code (recSteppermotor.c) to the device or driver support code. This allows the specific device to determine how to move the stepper motor to the positive or negative limit. Both of the stepper motor drivers standardly supplied with EPICS (drvCompuSm.c and drvOms.c) were modified to accommodate this change. Other nonstandard stepper motor support codes will need modification to handle the new SM_FIND_LIMIT (defined in steppermotor.h) command (see the CompuMotor or OMS codes for examples).

In addition, two new algorithms have been added to the list of initialization algorithm choices. These are "Move to Positive Home" and "Move to Negative Home", which are implemented through the new SM_FIND_HOME command. These were added in accommodation of the new device support for the Allen Bradley 1746-HSTP1 stepper motor controller (devSmAB1746HSTP1.c), which allows the use of a home limit switch in addition to the standard end point limit switches. Nonstandard device and driver support for stepper motor controllers which do not have this capability should be modified to ignore or complain when they receive the SM_FIND_HOME command (cf, drvCompuSm.c or drvOms.c).

The new device support code for the Allen Bradley 1746-HSTP1 stepper motor controller requires the EPICS standard issue Allen Bradley driver (drvAb.c).

From the comments at the top of devSmAB1746HSTP1.c [perhaps good for inclusion into the "EPICS: AllenBradley Driver and Device Support" manual?]:

Device support for the 1746-HSTP1 module was written assuming that there are no wiring errors. Consequently, if your apparatus does not agree throughout itself which direction is clockwise (+) and which direction is counterclockwise (-), unexpected things may happen.

The 1746-HSTP1 device support code was written from the perspective of the Allen Bradley 1746-HSTP1 module. Clockwise (+) is therefore defined to be the direction in which the stepper motor axis turns when it is viewed from the shaft end of the motor, as per page 4-18 of the 1746-HSTP1 User's Manual (AB Pub No. 1746-999-121, March 1995).

The 1746-HSTP1 devices have no hardware configuration switches or jumpers to be concerned with. However, "HSTP1 CONFIG OUTPUT WORDs" (Pages 4-4 and A-1 of the User's Manual) must be passed to the device support layer in the parm section of the stepper motor record .OUT field. The string is parsed with the format string "%hi%hi%i" and is allowed to be a maximum of AB_PARAM_SZ (currently #defined to be 26 in include/link.h) characters long. Use only whitespace to separate the values. The three values that must be supplied are:

     Hstp1CfgCsr[0] - Configuration word
     Hstp1CfgCsr[1] - Active level word
     Hstp1StartSpd  - Starting speed word (1 - 250000 pulses/sec)

  An example param string is:    0x8413 0x0010 500

Due to the way in which the HSTP1 handles limit switch conditions, it is best to avoid them. If a limit switch has been activated, one can either issue a Find Home command to the HSTP1 to make it hunt for the home switch, or issue single step (Jog) commands to bump the jig off the switch. The jogging procedure is very slow since it requires a reading the HSTP1 registers to get the current state of the limit switches, a clearing of the HSTP1 command register to make the appropriate jog bit sensitive to transition and a setting of the appropriate jog bit in the command register. A 25 MHz NI VXIcpu-030 operating with an AB 6008-SV1R scanning module can thus achieve a jog rate of about 3 Hz. If a position request causes the jig to run into one of the switches, the only motion requests that are accepted by this code are those that move the jig in the direction of getting off of the switch, again, presuming no wiring errors.

One of the rules of writing EPICS device support code is that the process routine must complete as fast as possible since any delays in it cause other records to be held up. For this reason all commands to this device support layer issued by the record support process routine are queued onto a message queue. The reason it is done this way rather than processing the commands directly is that there are sometimes delays in getting access to the hard- ware, either the VME scanner, or the controller itself. Because it is easy to set up a situation in which EPICS sends commands to this code faster than they can be processed, one must handle the case where the queue fills up. When the queue is full, we break the rules and wait for up to HSTP1_K_EPICSQDLY seconds for previously entered commands to be taken off the queue in an attempt to throttle EPICS. If the timeout expires, bad status is returned to indicate that the command could not be handled at the time. Typically, the queue is configured to be deep enough that this situation never arises.

In order to reduce the chance of a knobbed .VAL field from overflowing the command queue, the motor is declared to be moving as soon as a motion request is recognized, even though it is not necessarily moving yet. This prevents the record support layer from sending out corrections until the motor arrives at the requested spot. However, there is a problem because if the position request is changed while the motor is still moving, it will be ignored by the record support. To prevent this, supply a non-zero retry count and an appropriate deadband when setting up your database. Additionally, always put knobs and sliders in "release" mode rather than in "motion" mode.

The basic scan rate when there are active stepper motors is 1/3 second. When there are no active stepper motors, this code sleeps. Consequently, any manual motion of the stepper motor axes is not accounted for.

This code can, in principle, handle an arbitrary number of 1746-HSTP1 stepper motor controller modules. However, limitations are provided by memory, semaphore, and message queue resources, and bus and "blue hose" bandwidths. Note that this code spawns only two tasks, both of which are terminated with corresponding resources freed if no stepper motor records are found in the system.

1791 Series Support

1791 Analog Block I/O

EPICS support consists of a device record ab1791Record and device support for the ai and ao record.

In addition to dbCommon, ab1791Record  contains the following fields:

VAL

Not used.

TYPE

Menu field specifying Voltage or Current

RANG

Menu field specifying range.

FILT

Menu field specifying filter option

LKST

Character string giving status. NOTE: The VAL field should have been used for this purpose.

LOCA

Loss Of Communication Acknowledgement. If yes then a scanIoRequest will be issued for all DCM words. Thus any records attached to the record and declared I/O Intr scanned will be processed.

LINK

RACK

SLOT

The allen bradley scanner, rack, and slot.

NFAI

Number of failures.

INPi (i=0,...,3)

Raw value of channel 0

OUTi (i=0,1)

Raw value of channel 0

The process routine processes according to field SCAN. It keeps internal state that determines what is done each time it processes, i.e. initialize, write, read. It make block transfer requests to the driver. It follows the asynchronous record processing model, with the completion phase being triggered when a block transfer request completes. It honors I/O interrupt scanning for attached device support.

It provides device support for ai and ao record. Device support links to a particular ab1791Record via the INP or OUT field. The bus type is specified as INST_IO, which specifies only a parm for the link. Parm is set equal to the <record_name>.<field_name> of the input or output channel desired.

1791 Digital Block I/O

1771-DCM Direct Communication Module

In addition control messages can be sent from an IOC to the PLC via the DCM.

The following is expected of the PLC. The PLC must contain one or more AB 1771-DCM modules. Communication via each DCM is modeled as follows:

1. The dcm resides in the PLC.
2. The PLC continuously sends a set of messages. A message is just 64 short words. Word TOFF is the message number. Thus the PLC does the following:

       1) Send message with message(toff) = 0
       2) Send message with message(toff) = 1
          ...
       n) Send message with message(toff) = n-1
       go to step 1)

The dcm is strapped so that the PLC can not send a message until the IOC has read the previous message. The number of messages must be between 1 and 10.
• The PLC must assume that the EPICS system may be down and thus is not currently reading.
• The PLC developer and the EPICS developer must agree on the what the messages mean. Normally message words are just words transfered from the PLC's I/O Image tables.
• Word 0 of each message is used by the dcm for status. Thus TOFF must be >0.
• The PLC system must also read dcm mesages sent from the ioc if output to the PLC is desired. The messages have the format:

   word 0 - dcm status word
   word 1 - Tag number, i.e. message tag.

All other DCM words are data words. For data see output device support given below. The PLC developer and the EPICS developer must agree on the what the tag values mean.

Bank    Switch  Setting
0       1       OFF     115.2 baud (scanner must be configured)
0       2       OFF     Not Used
0       3       OFF     Last Rack
0       4       ON      Block Transfer (DONT CHANGE THIS)
0       5       OFF     Not Used
0       6       OFF     Protected Data (DONT CHANGE THIS)
0       7-8     OFF     Rack Size

1       1-6     (Determines adapter(rack) number
1       7-8     ON ON   First Module Group Number

EPICS support consists of a device record abDcmRecord and device support for the ai, bi, li, and mbbi records.

For each physical DCM, the application will create an abDcmRecord instance. Thus the rest of this note explains things from the point of view of a single dcm.

Each time the abDcmRecord is processed (by normal scan mechanisms such as periodically), it reads one set of messages. The dcm record has fields T0, T1, ... T9. Each is an array of 64 shorts. Each holds one of the messages of the set. Note that when it starts it does not look for message 0 first. Instead it just takes the messages as they come until n messages are received.

The complete set of fields (not including dbCommon) of abDcm are as follows:

VAL

This is a character string field that gives the status of the link to the dcm. It can be used by Channel Access Clients to monitor the link status.

DCMT

DCM type. This specifies if the DCM is a real DCM or a PLC adapter port.

Ti

(i=0,...9) Field containing message i. Each field is array of 64 shorts.

NT

Number of tables, i.e. messages, to use.

TOFF

The offset in each table that contains the table number.

DLY

Delay in seconds before sending block transfer request. This is provided in case the PLC is not executing BT writes quickly enough. Suggestion: Start with this field set to 0. If LKST reports extra messages then specify this field. The actual delay will be in clock ticks. If DLY>0 then at least one clock tick will be forced. Fractions of a second are permitted.

LOCA

Loss Of Communication Acknowledgement. If yes then a scanIoRequest will be issued for all DCM words. Thus any records attached to dcm record and declared I/O Intr scanned will be processed. Note that this will cause alarm storms.

LINK

RACK
SLOT

These fields identify the location of the dcm module. LINK is the allen bradley scanner number, RACK the rack (EPICS calls this adapter). SLOT is the location within the rack. See the EPICS Allen Bradley documentation for details.

MCW

Maximum consecutive writes before switching to read. This prevents write storms from stopping input.

        dcmrec.Ti[word]
or
        dcmrec.Ti[word,bit]

dcmrec

The name of the dcm record containing the data of interest.

Ti

The table containing the data for message i.

word

The word containing the data (4 to 63)

bit

The bit within the word (0 to 15 starting from low order bit)

bi,mbbi, and li

always refer to 16 bit words. ai must reference a double word that is in IEEE floating point format. In addition ai records MUST reference even words.

The remainder of this message describes output capability.

Device support for the record types is provided:

• ao
• bo
• longout
• mbbo

dcmrec[tag]

The data values are:

ao

- IEE float format

bo, mbbo, longout

- unsigned short value

int dcmpt(char *name,int first,int last)

dcmpt("dcmrec.T0",0,10)

1771-N Series Analog Modules

EPICS support consists of a device record ab1771NRecord and device support for the ai and bo records.

The ab1771NRecord can be scanned at up to a 10 Hz rate. Each time it is processed it reads the associated 1771-N module. It provides I/O interrupt support for ai records. When associated ao records are processed, the ab1771NRecord is notified of the change and when the next process occurs, the 1771-N module is updated.

ab1771NRecord has the following fields:

VAL

A string field showing status of the ab1771N module.

CMD

A command field. It currently has the values "None" and "Initialize". When the Initialize command is issued, the module is reinitialized. Several configuration fields can be dynamically changed. Until the Initialize command is given, however, the new values have no effect. The command field allows the user to change several configuration fields before the module is reinitialized. The following configuration fields can be changed after iocInit: CJAE, FILi, RALi, OHMi.

LOCA

Loss Of Communication Acknowledgement. If yes then a scanIoRequest will be issued for all inputs. Thus any records attached to the record and declared I/O Intr scanned will be processed.

LINK

RACK

SLOT

The allen bradley scanner, rack, and slot containing the 1771-N module.

OUTM

INPM

These are array fields that hold the raw output and input messages sent to the 1771-N module.

IAI1

IAO1

Fields that hold the address on the interfaces for device support.

MTYP

A menu field which specifies the module type.

SCAL

A menu field which specifies the temperature scale. The choices are degF, degC, and Ohms (for RTD devices).

CJAE

Should the Cold Junction Alarm feature be enabled

CJS

Cold Junction Status

CJT

Cold Junction temperature.

Each channel has the following fields (i =1,...8).

TYPi

The channel type. Record support checks that the type chosen is valid for the module type. An error message is issued if a mismatch occurs.

FILi

Filter time constant.

RALi

Channel rate alarm.

OHMi

If TYPi is RTD Copper this is the 10 ohm offset.

STAi

Status for channel.

RAWi

Raw value for channel.

 

Print I/O messages

The following routine prints the last input and output messages:

ab1771Npm("record name")

Device Support

device(ai,INST_IO,devInterfaceAI1,"InterfaceAI1")
device(ao,INST_IO,devInterfaceAO1,"InterfaceAO1")

    field(INP,"record_name[signal]")

    record_name - The name of the 1771N record instance

    signal - signal number. signals are numbered 0,...7.

1771-IX (E and HR)

The ab1771IXRecord can be scanned at up to a 5 Hz rate for an IXHR module and 2 Hz for an IXE module. Each time it is processed it reads the associated module. It provides I/O interrupt support for ai records.

The ab1771IXRecord has the following fields.

VAL

A string field showing status of the module.

CMD

A command field. It currently has the values "None" and "Initialize". When the Initialize command is issued, the module is reinitialized.

LOCA

Loss Of Communication Acknowledgement. If yes then a scanIoRequest will be issued for all inputs. Thus any records attached to the record and declared I/O Intr scanned will be processed.

LINK

RACK

SLOT

The allen bradley scanner, rack, and slot containing the  module.

OUTM

INPM

These are array fields that hold the raw output and input messages sent to the module.

IAI1

Field that hold the address on the interfaces for device support.

MTYP

A menu field which specifies the module type. It specifies either an IXE or anIXHR module.

TYPA

Type for channels 1-4.

TYPB

Type for channels 5-8.

SCAL

A menu field which specifies the temperature scale. The choices are degF or degC.

STIM

Sample Time. See Allen Bradley Documentation for details

ZOOM (IXHR only)

Should zoom be enabled

ZCA

Zoom center for channels 1-4

ZCB

Zoom center for channels 5-8

FILA (IXHR only)

Filter value channels 1-4

FILB (IXHR only)

Filter value channels 5-8

CJT

Cold Junction temperature.

STAi

Status for channel.

RAWi

Raw value for channel.

 

Print I/O messages

The following routine prints the last input and output messages:

ab1771IXpm("record name")

Device Support

1771-IFE

The ab1771IFEecord can be scanned at up to a 10 Hz rate. Each time it is processed it reads the associated module. It provides I/O interrupt support for ai records.

The ab1771IFERecord has the following fields.

VAL

A string field showing status of the module.

CMD

A command field. It currently has the values "None" and "Initialize". When the Initialize command is issued, the module is reinitialized.

LOCA

Loss Of Communication Acknowledgement. If yes then a scanIoRequest will be issued for all inputs. Thus any records attached to the record and declared I/O Intr scanned will be processed.

LINK

RACK

SLOT

The allen bradley scanner, rack, and slot containing the  module.

OUTM

INPM

These are array fields that hold the raw output and input messages sent to the module.

IAI1

Field that hold the address on the interfaces for device support.

SEDI

A menu field to choose between single an double ended.

FILT

The filter time constant. The value is an integer between 0 and 99, which represents 0 to .99 seconds.

STIM

Real Time Sample Mode (0 to 0x1f). See the Allen Bradley 1771-IFE manual for the meaning on this field.

Ri

Range for signal i.  I is 0 to 7 id SEDI is double ended and 0 to 15 if SEDI is single ended.

 

Print I/O messages

The following routine prints the last input and output messages:

ab1771IFEpm("record name")

Device Support

SLC 500 DCM

Support consists of device support (module devABSLCDCM.c) for the following:

device(ai,AB_IO,devAiAbSlcDcm,"AB-SLC500DCM")
device(ai,AB_IO,devAiAbSlcDcmSigned,"AB-SLC500DCM-Signed")
device(ao,AB_IO,devAoAbSlcDcm,"AB-SLC500DCM")
device(longin,AB_IO,devLiAbSlcDcm,"AB-SLC500DCM")
device(longout,AB_IO,devLoAbSlcDcm,"AB-SLC500DCM")

Binary and multibit binary device support is the same as the general 16 bit binary support (AB-16 bit BI and BO). For diagnostic purposes, it is good practice to have a multibit input record defined for the DCM status word (Success = 0x0000, mode error = 0x0300, and invalid data = 0x0500 and 0x0700).

Longin and analog device support is also provided (AB-SLC500DCM). The underlying logic is very similar to the binary device support with extra processing added depending on the specific record type. Linear conversion is available for analog records. Analog output linear conversion assumes only positive values and the raw value (RVAL) will range from 0 and 0x7FFF, corresponding to low and high engineering units (EGUL and EGUF). Two different types of device support is provided for analog inputs (AB-SLC500DCM and AB-SLC500DCM-Signed). Signed analog input device support is meant to be used by records with EGUL set to -EGUF that need linear conversion.

The general adapter and card status device support may be used for monitoring the SLC 500 DCM (AB-Adapter Status and AB-Card Status). One adapter status may be defined for the DCM and one card status mbbi record may be defined for each word in the table.

drvAb: The Allen Bradley Driver

This section first discusses initialization, then the I/O report, and finally the software interface to the driver.

Initialization

NOTE: Chassis switch #1

If this switch is off then the output image table is set to all zeros whenever the scanner is initialized or a hard reboot is performed. Thus is the switch is off then only a ctl/x reboot preserves the output image table. Note that a ab_reset reinitializes the scanner.

If this switch is on then only a VME power cycle will cause the output image table to be reset. Thus a hard reboot or ab_reset can be issued without causing the output image table to be set to zeros.

Binary output and analog output device support both attempt to initialize their associated records with values obtained from the I/O modules.

I/O Report

dbior "drvAb",3

Driver: drvAb
AB-6008SV link: 0 osw 00ec vme: 0xf0c00000

    AB-6008SV link: 0 osw 00ac vme: 0xf0c00000
    6008SV2R Scanner  Series A Revision B Copyright (c) 1995,96  Allen-Bradley Company

         Mailbox lock timeouts 0
              Command timeouts 6
               Command Failure 0
         Interrupts per second 79
    Block Transfers per second 39

• Mailbox lock time-outs - This is the number of times a time-out occurred while trying to obtain the mailbox lock. This should ALWAYS be 0.
• Command Time-outs - In theory this should always be zero. However there seems to be a problem that causes the scanner to miss command requests. This is true on the scanner version shown above.
• Interrupts per second and Block Transfers per second. These statistics are recomputed every 10 seconds.

    Adapter Status Words
    1f20 0000 0000 0000 1e20 0000 0000 0000 
    1e20 0000 0000 0000 1e20 0000 0000 0000 
    1c00 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 
    0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 
    scan list
    00 04 08 0c 10

• in scan list
• the adapter is attached
• the rack is a full rack
• the rack is on-line.

  Adapter 0 ONLINE 2 slot addressing
    CARD 0: BIBO  8_Bit Scanning in 0x0 out 0x0
    CARD 1: BIBO  8_Bit Scanning in 0x0 out 0x0
  Adapter 1 ONLINE
    CARD 0: AI  Scanning IFEDIFF initialized 1 times
  Write
  ffff ffff 0700 ffff 0000 0000 4095 0000 4095 0000 
  4095 0000 4095 0000 4095 0000 4095 0000 4095 0000 
  4095 0000 4095 0000 4095 0000 4095 0000 4095 0000 
  4095 0000 4095 0000 4095 0000 4095 
  Read
  0000 0000 0000 0000 064f 064e 04c4 04c4 0d0c 0d0d 
  0e08 0e08 
    CARD 1: AO  Scanning OFE initialized 1 times
  Write
  0650 04c5 0d0d 0e08 8000 
  Read
  0bcd 08b3 0698 086b 0040 
    CARD 2: BI  8_Bit Scanning 0x81
    CARD 3: BO 16_Bit Scanning 0x81
    CARD 4: BI 16_Bit Scanning 0x8001
    CARD 5: BO 16_Bit Scanning 0x8001
    CARD 6: BI  8_Bit Scanning 0x0
    CARD 7: BO  8_Bit Scanning 0x0
    CARD 8: BI 16_Bit Scanning 0x0
    CARD 9: BO 16_Bit Scanning 0x0
 (Many more lines left out)

• Adapter number, on-line status, and addressing mode. This information is present for any adapter that has at least one card registered.
• Card information, for each registered card, which consists of the following:
  • Card number, type, scanning status, card name,
  • For Binary cards the current value
  • For Analog cards
    • How many times initialized.
    • If analog input
      • If level >=1 the last read message
      • If level >=2 the initialization message
    • If analog output
      • If level>=1 the last write message
      • If level >=2 the message obtained at initialization.

Include File

/* drvAb.h */
/* interface types */
typedef enum {
    typeNotAssigned,typeBi,typeBo,typeBiBo,typeAi,typeAo,typeBt
} cardType;

/* status values*/
typedef enum{
    abSuccess,abNewCard,abCardConflict,abNoCard,abNotInitialized,
    abBtqueued,abBusy,abTimeout,abAdapterDown,abFailure
} abStatus;

extern char **abStatusMessage;
typedef enum{
    abBitNotdefined,abBit8,abBit16,abBit32
} abNumBits;

extern char **abNumBitsMessage;

• cardType - specifies the card types recognized by the driver.
• abStatus - The status associated with a card.
• abStatusMessage - A message associated with a status.
• abNumBits - Number of bits for a binary module.
• abNumBitsMessage - A message for each binary type.

/*entry table for dev to drv routines*/
typedef struct {
    abStatus (*registerCard)
        (unsigned short link,unsigned short adapter, unsigned short card,
        cardType type, const char *card_name,
        void (*callback)(void *drvPvt),
        void  **drvPvt);
    void (*getLocation)
        (void *drvPvt,
        unsigned short *link, unsigned short *adapter,unsigned short *card);
    abStatus (*setNbits)(void *drvPvt, abNumBits nbits);
    void (*setUserPvt)(void *drvPvt, void *userPvt);
    void *(*getUserPvt)(void *drvPvt);
    abStatus (*getStatus)(void *drvPvt);
    abStatus(*startScan)
        (void *drvPvt, unsigned short update_rate,
        unsigned short *pwrite_msg, unsigned short write_msg_len,
        unsigned short *pread_msg, unsigned short read_msg_len);
    abStatus(*updateAo)(void *drvPvt);
    abStatus(*updateBo) (void *drvPvt,unsigned long value,unsigned long mask);
    abStatus(*readBo) (void *drvPvt,unsigned long *value,unsigned long mask);
    abStatus(*readBi) (void *drvPvt,unsigned long *value,unsigned long mask);
    abStatus(*btRead)(void *drvPvt,unsigned short *pread_msg,
        unsigned short read_msg_len);
    abStatus(*btWrite)(void *drvPvt,unsigned short *pwrite_msg,
        unsigned short write_msg_len);
    abStatus (*adapterStatus)
        (unsigned short link,unsigned short adapter);
    abStatus (*cardStatus)
        (unsigned short link,unsigned short adapter, unsigned short card);
}abDrv;
 
extern abDrv *pabDrv;

int ab_reset(void);
int ab_reset_link(int link);
int abConfigNlinks(int nlinks);
int abConfigVme(int link, int base, int vector, int level);
int abConfigBaud(int link, int baud);
int abConfigScanList(int link, int scan_list_len, char *scan_list);
#endif /*INCdrvAbh*/

Card Registration

abStatus        status;
unsigned short  link,adapter,card;
void            *drvPvt;
...
status = (*pabDrv->registerCard)(link,adapter,card,
  typeBi,"BINARY",userCallback,&drvPvt);
switch(status) {
case abSuccess:
  /*Success. This card was previously registered*/
  ...
case abNewCard:
  /*Success. This is the first registration call for this card*/
  ...
default:
  /*All other status values are errors*/
  printf(" error: %s\n",abStatusMessage(status);
  ...
}

• It checks that link, adapter, and card are valid and that link is initialized. If any of these checks fail, drvAb returns an error.
• If the card has been previously registered it makes the following checks:
  • If the previous card_name does not match the new card_name it returns an error.
  • A check is made that the old card type matches the new type. The first check is an exact match on types. The second type is for typeBi or typeBo. The same card can be registered as both a binary in and a binary out. If it is registered for both it is made a typeBiBo. If any of these checks fail an error status is returned.
  • If the new card type and name is compatible with the previous then drvAb returns abSuccess. The first registration call for a card that specifies a callback routine determines the callback routine for this card. If a card is registered as both typeBi and typeBo separate callbacks are maintained. The drvPvt argument provided by the caller is set equal to the address of a driver private structure that the driver allocated for the card when registerCard was first called.
• If the card is new the driver allocates and initializes a driver private structure for the card and returns abNewCard.

Type Independent Commands

getLocation

getStatus

• abSuccess - Last communication with the card is complete and was successful.
• abBtqueued - Block transfer to card has been queued to VME scanner but is not yet complete.
• abTimeout - Last block transfer request resulted in a time-out.
• abLinkDown - The adapter is not responding,
• abFailure - Other error.

setUserPvt getUserPvt

Binary I/O

setNbits

readBi

readBo

updateBo

• The card is locked. This prevents multiple callers from trying to modify the same word simultaneously.
• The current output image table is read.
• The bits specified by mask are taken from value. The other bits remain as before. The result is written to the output image table.
• The card is unlocked.
• The value returned by getStatus is returned.

Binary Scanning

Block Transfer Requests

btRead btWrite

Analog Scanning

• typeAo - When the card is initialized the first block transfer request is a read. After initialization all block transfer requests are writes. In addition whenever updateAo is called a block transfer write is issued the next time the scan task runs.
• typeAi - When the card is initialized the first block transfer is a write. After initialization all block transfer requests are reads.

It calls the callback whenever an adapter changes status or whenever a periodic block transfer completes. Note that no callback is made when the initialization block transfer completes.

After registerCard is called, startScan must be called to start scanning. This call specifies the output and input block transfer messages as well as the update rate. The update rate is in units of.1 seconds, i.e. the basic scan task rate. It should be notified that this is not a guaranteed rate. The scanner retries unsuccessful block transfer requests several times before calling the user supplied callback. Also the "blue hose" may limit the number of block transfers.

adapterStatus cardStatus

Scanner Reset

ab_reset

ab_reset_link(firstLink,lastLink)

NOTE: I have not been able to successfully reset a single link of a two port scannner. It seems to be necessay to reset both links simultaneously.