Isochrone mode 

Reliable control over high-speed events

Product Brief · April 2003

Introduction
Mode of operation yesterday  without isochrone mode

Decentralization has become more and Without isochrone mode: The response time is the time that
more important in recent years in the Unsynchronized execution cycles elapses between the occurrence of an
design of modern automation systems. In the distributed automation configu- event and the output of a response from
This is driven, in particular, by cost con- rations implemented until now, many an output module. This response time
siderations thanks to less cabling and execution cycles run in non-isochrone can lie between the sum of all single cy-
easier installation. mode (see Figure below): cles and the double cycle.
Users today also demand distributed so- · Read in input signal (T1)
lutions for controlling high-speed ma- · Cycle for backplane bus of ET 200
chines. Production and machining pro- (T2, T6)
cesses are becoming faster and faster.
Demands on precision in production are
· DP cycle time (T3, T5)
also becoming more and more strin- · CPU program execution (T4)
gent. · Output of output signal (T7)
In this context, short, reproducible, de-
fined process response times are re-
quired, also in the case of distributed
I/O. This means that I/O signals must be
read in and output at intervals in an
equidistant time frame and synchro-
nized with the user program.
The time from acquisition of a signal by
the distributed I/O to the appropriate re-
sponse from the actuator must be as
short as possible and precisely repro-
ducible.
Applications that are subject to require-
ments of this type include:
· Motion Control
· Synchronous operation
· Closed-loop controls
· Software-based cam controls
· Measuring at several measuring
points
· Speed and flowrate measurement
This requirement is solved by establish-
ing a direct interface between the equi-
distant DP cycle, the I/O modules and Distributed automation structure with many mutually unsynchronized execution cycles
the user program. T1 to T7
Synchronous coupling of a SIMATIC
automation solution to the equidis-
tant PROFIBUS is called "isochrone
mode" and offers the following ad-
vantages:
· High-speed, time-specific procedures
in which reproducibility (strict re-
al-time requirements) plays a decisive
role can also be automated using dis-
tributed I/O
· Isochrone mode opens up a wide
range of application possibilities that
are not restricted to drive applications
alone. Isochrone mode is well suited
to applications whose sensors and ac-
tuators are distributed throughout
the machine in a decentralized man-
ner.

2
Mode of operation today  with isochrone mode

With isochrone mode: Technical background

Synchronized execution cycles With clock synchronism, these sequenc-
The equidistant PROFIBUS was intro- es are embedded in a fixed time grid,
duced several years ago. It guarantees the so-called system cycle. PROFIBUS
that data is transmitted at consistently CPU marks time for the clock and generates
equidistant time intervals. the clock signal. All modules execute in
The system characteristic of isochrone accordance with this clock signal, from
mode allows a SIMATIC® automation the CPU to the ET 200® head modules
solution to be coupled to the equidis- through to the signal or function mod-
tant PROFIBUS. Isochrone mode has the ule.
following properties (see Figure on the ET 200 The point in time at which the inputs are
right): acquired is configured by the user. This
System clock time Ti is the same for all clock-synchro-
· The user program is synchronized
with I/O processing. Synchronism nized modules.
means that all procedures are syn- The system clock applies throughout the The point in time at which the outputs
chronized in time with each other; all automation configuration are switched is called To.
input data are acquired at a defined To is also configured by the user.
point in time. Similarly, the output
data are activated at a defined point
in time. The input and output data are
synchronized to the system clock
right through to the terminal. The
data from one cycle is always pro- System clock
cessed in the subsequent cycle.
· The input and output data are pro-
cessed in equidistant mode. Equidis-
tance means that input data are
always read in at equal intervals and
output data is always read out at
equal intervals.
· All input data and output data are
transferred consistently. Consistency
means that all data of the process im-
age are logically connected and valid
for the same point in time.
Distributed automation structure with isochronous, deterministic dynamic response

Features Application At the configured point in time Ti all the

input signals are "frozen" simultaneous-
Actual-value sens- · Synchronous applications are more precise, because the ly. The data are transferred to the slave
ing and setpoint out- respective positions are measured simultaneously (e.g. IM 153 interface module) and sup-
put are · Signals closely synchronized in time can also be physically plied to PROFIBUS (In).
synchronous, i.e. separated using distributed I/O, e.g. start signals on several
concurrent for all equipment units for which the chronological order is rele- With the clock signal, the data are trans-
inputs or all out- vant ferred to the CPU. When the data are
puts, to generate · Time-synchronized acquisition and synchronous transfer
supplied to the CPU, a special organiza-
process images ensures that the I/O image is internally consistent. This en- tion block (OB6x) processes the data
consistently
ables, for example, relationships to be established be- (OB).
tween several analog values (e.g. several printing The next clock signal starts the next sys-
variables in a press) or several linear scales in the "cam- tem cycle and the calculated output
shaft" application example (see Page 5) data are transferred to the slaves via
Actual value acquisi- · Calculations from the difference of actual values, e.g. in PROFIBUS. The data are then transferred
tion and setpoint speed measurement or flowrate measurement to the output modules in the stations
output are per- · Proportioning procedures and are available on the outputs simul-
formed equidis- taneously at the time To (Out).
tant, i.e. at constant
· Control loops can also be closed via distributed I/O
time intervals

2 3
Configuration

Support provided in STEP 7

Configuration of the isochrone mode
function is fully supported by STEP® 7.
In addition to simple activation of the
isochrone mode function in STEP 7, the
parameters for system clock (TDP), read
in time (Ti) and output time (To) are
configured. These parameters can ei-
ther be set centrally for all bus stations
or each slave can be configured individ-
ually. For this purpose, STEP 7 suggests
suitable values that can then be opti-
mized by the user as required. The pa-
rameters differ with regard to the actual
configuration of connected modules
and their properties (filter execution
times, conversion times, cycle times).
Apart from the facility for activating the
parameters in the respective screen
forms for the individual modules, a con- Configuration overview of isochrone mode in STEP 7
figuration overview is also provided for
the user (see Figure on the right).
This overview is arranged hierarchically Notes on the Figure above
and shows the contributions of the indi-
vidual modules and slaves to the time "Isochrone mode" The "isochrone mode" window is subdivided hierarchically to
parameters. The time-consuming com- window give the sub-windows Master - Slave - Module. This window
provides an overview of the timing in the system clock and
ponents can therefore be identified
allows the user to jump directly to the relevant components
quickly for the purpose of optimizing for optimization purposes.
the system clock (e.g. by reducing filter
execution times). From this overview, Ti Time of acquisition of input data.
the user can navigate to the corre- To Time of output of output data.
sponding position in the hardware con-
figuration with a click of the mouse but- TDP System clock.
ton. TWA TWA and TWE are the conversion times of the inputs and
The minimal system clock is determined outputs.
TWE
by STEP 7 taking into account the rele-
vant parameters and degree of expan-
sion of the individual stations and lines
as well as the OPs and PGs connected to
the bus. Configuration rules
For each isochronous PROFIBUS · For configuring the isochrone mode · Full synchronism through to the ter-
line, a new organization block system function, STEP 7 Version 5.2 minal is only available when all com-
(OB61-64) is available. It is activated upwards is required. ponents participating in the chain
synchronously in each cycle and exe- · Isochronous modules and non-isoch- explicitly support this characteristic
cutes with an isochronous partial pro- ronous modules can be used in mixed (see table on the final page).
cess image. operation. · Isochrone mode is only available for
· Each PROFIBUS line forms a self-con- electrical networks.
tained unit with regard to isochrone · The maximum configuration of a par-
mode. tial process image that can be trans-
· Isochrone mode over several DP mas- ferred consistently depends on the
ter systems cannot be configured. type of CPU.
· F components can be used with isoch- · Depending on the hardware expan-
rone mode. sion and program execution time, cy-
cle times of r 5 ms are achieved.
· H systems do not support isochrone
mode.

4
Application example
Speed measurement, camshaft

Example 1:
Speed measurement

Difference of measured values in increments

A frequency generator outputs a signal
at 80 Hz which simulates an incremen-
tal encoder with constant speed. This
ensures that for all measurement se-
quences, identical constant initial con-
ditions apply. For all measurement se-
quences, a count is read out every 32
ms.
The task is to determine the speed by
means of a counter module. The count
is acquired using a counter module. The
speed is calculated from the difference
between two counts. Time

The example indicates the time repro-

Measured value acquisition to determine the speed for different configurations
ducibility in the acquisition of measured
values. It shows the measurement devi- Notes on the Figure above
ation under otherwise identical initial
Without isochrone mode, decentralized (deviations up to 10 %)
conditions for different configurations
(central/distributed configuration). Centralized, with cyclic interrupt (deviations up to 3 %)
Decentralized, with isochrone mode (deviations up to 0.1 %)
In the Figure (top right), the differences
measured in each instance (200 mea-
sured values) are plotted over time. Example 2:
Theoretically in this measurement con- Measuring a camshaft
figuration, the difference between two The task is to measure at each angular the displacement is measured at the
consecutive measured values is con- position of a camshaft, the displace- same moment in time. This simultaneity
stant. The time reproducibility of the ment of the different cams using a lin- of measurement for all measurement
measurement can be read from the de- ear scale. It is important that for each points (angle and displacement) is guar-
viation of the curves from the optimum angular position anteed by means of isochrone mode.
straight lines.
Measured value acquisition is per-
formed for the purposes of comparison
in different configurations: 0°
· ET 200S with 1 COUNT 24 V, decen- Measured value
tralized. The count is read out via the 90°
I/O image into the 32 ms time inter-
rupt OB 180°
· FM 350-1, centralized configuration.
The count is read out via I/O direct ac-
cess into the 32 ms time interrupt OB
Camshaft
· ET 200S with 1 COUNT 24 V, decen-
tralized isochrone mode. The count is With a single rotation of the camshaft, all positions of the camshaft and the associated mea-
read out every 32 ms sured values (red) are measured synchronously
(system clock = 32 ms)
Procedure without isochrone mode: Result:

Result:
· Rotate camshaft one position Measurement tasks can be solved
with much greater success by means
In isochrone mode, the maximum de- · Hold
of concurrent, synchronous measured
viation from the ideal theoretical val- · Read in position value acquisition.
ue is 0.1% of the measured differenc-
es of the counts.
· Measure all cams
· Rotate further, hold, measure, ... Reason:
Isochrone mode combines the equi-
Procedure with isochrone mode: distant scanning of the measured val-
· Rotate the cam once ues with synchronous processing.
· During one continuous rotation, read
positions and measured values syn-
chronously
· Process next camshaft
5
Technical specifications

The following components support the isochrone mode function:

Function Product Order No. group

Software
Configuration STEP 7, Version 5.2 upwards 6ES7 810-4CC06-....
PROFIBUS master
Standard CPUs All S7-400 CPUs from firmware V3.1 6ES7 41.-....
Failsafe CPUs All S7-400F CPUs from firmware V3.1 6ES7 41.-....
PC based Automation WinAC RTX, V3.1 upwards 6ES7 671-0RC...
Application module FM 458-1 DP 6DD1 607-0AA.
ET 200M
Interface module IM 153-2 High Feature 6ES7 153-2BA00-....
Digital inputs 16 DI, 24 V DC; Diagnostic/process alarm 6ES7 321-7BH01-....
Digital inputs 16 DI, 24 V DC 6ES7 321-1BH10-....
Digital outputs 16 DO, 24 V DC, 0.5 A 6ES7 322-1BH10-....
Analog inputs 8 AI, 14-bit current/voltage 6ES7 331-7HF00-....
Analog outputs 4 AO, 16-bit current/voltage 6ES7 332-7ND01-....
Counter FM 350-1 6ES7 350-1AH03-....
SSI position sensing SM 338 Pos-Input 6ES7 338-4BC01-....
ET 200S
Interface module IM 151-1 High Feature 6ES7 151-1BA00-....
Digital inputs 4 DI DC 24 V High Feature 6ES7 131-4BD00-0AB.
Digital inputs 2 DI DC 24 V High Feature 6ES7 131-4BB00-0AB.
Digital inputs 4 DI UC 24-48 V High Feature 6ES7 131-4CD00-0AB.
Digital outputs 2 DO DC 24 V/2 A High Feature 6ES7 132-4BB30-0AB.
Digital outputs 2 DO DC 24 V/0.5 A High Feature 6ES7 132-4BB00-0AB.
Analog inputs 2 AI U High Speed 6ES7 134-4FB51-....
Analog inputs 2 AI I 2 Wire High Speed 6ES7 134-4GB51-....
Analog inputs 2 AI I 4 Wire High Speed 6ES7 134-4GB61-....
Analog outputs 2 AO I High Feature 6ES7 135-4MB01-....
Analog outputs 2 AO U High Feature 6ES7 135-4LB01-....
Counter 1 COUNT 24 V/100 kHz 6ES7 138-4DA03-....
Counter 1 COUNT 5 V/500 kHz 6ES7 138-4DE01-....
SSI position sensing 1 SSI 6ES7 138-4DB01-....
Network components
Repeater Diagnostic repeater 6ES7 972-0AB01-....
All designations in this Product Brief
marked with ® are trademarks of

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