Using the existing Ethernet communications port available on the GE Fanuc family of PLC’s and the HMS Anybus X-Gateway, it is possible to create a transparent bridge between the PLC and any commonly used industrial network via Modbus/TCP.
The Anybus X-Gateway family is product line aimed to connect almost every possible combination of two industrial networks. The product family supports 17 different fieldbus networks such as PROFIBUS, DeviceNet, CANopen and CC Link allowing the GE Fanuc PLC family easy data transfer via Modbus/TCP. The X-Gateways are designed for use in industrial automation plants where increasingly many different networks are used. The X-Gateways help system integrator to easily interconnect any GE Fanuc PLC, enabling consistent information flow throughout the entire plant.
The X-Gateways primarily focus on the transfer of cyclic I/O data between two networks. This can either be a slave-slave combination or a master-slave combination. During the set up of the gateways, the users simply select the amount of I/O to be transferred between the GE Fanuc PLC and the foreign network. Since all industrial networks support a different amount of I/O data, the network with the least amount of I/O data determines how much data can be transferred in each case.