The Simatic Net software, which communicates with different Siemens’s networks, can implement communication with Elipse’s supervisory systems in two different ways:
- Via S7-Functions functions library: this is the more conventional way, which uses MPI driver for implementing the data to be read. These procedures are described in this article.
- Via OPC: the supervisory (SCADA or E3) connects to Siemens software via OPC interface. Then Simatic Net can work as an OPC Server, providing data to the OPC client, so that data can be accessed and handled properly by the system.
The required settings for executing the Siemens’s system are basically the same ones used with S7-Functions. The main difference is the type of resource to be created: an application or an OPC Server. To use a driver (first option), you must create an Application item. To use OPC (second option), you must create an OPC Server item. From then on, the communication’s settings procedure is roughly the same:
- Configure Connections item, which relates to the installed hardware.
- Download or import the XDB file to the PC Station where Simatic Net will be executed.
- Configure the OPC Client (Elipse SCADA or E3).
- Run the final project.
If you have any difficulty configuring a Siemens network, please check its documentation.
2) Station Configuration Editor
The final setting needed by a PC station to communicate via OPC is seen on Figure 1. You can access this screen by double-clicking Station Configuration Editor item, available on Windows taskbar after Simatic net has been installed in the computer.
Figure 1: Using Simatic Net as an OPC Server
3) Configuring the OPC Client
To set up Elipse’s products to communicate via OPC, please refer to the related articles below.
