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What is Modbus?

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Modbus is a serial communication protocol that was developed by Modicon. It was first
published in 1979 f or use with the company’s programmable logic controllers (PLCs). In basic
terms, it is one of the methods used f or inf ormation transmission over serial lines between
electronic devices. The Modbus Master is the device that requests the inf ormation while
Modbus Slaves supply the inf ormation. In a typical Modbus network, there will be one Master
and as many as 247 Slaves, with every Slave Address being unique, f rom 1 to 247.

A Brief History Of Modbus

Bef ore we get into the particulars regarding the use of Modbus, let’s take a look at the brief
history of this platf orm. In the early days of industrial automation, f actories required an
approach f or the first Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) to communicate with each other.
The first PLC was developed in 1968 by Modicon, as per General Motors’ request. Af ter this
started to showcase ef f ectiveness at General Motors, the device was called Modicon 084, and
mass production began. This resulted in several new competitors entering the market toward
the end of the 1970s, f or example, Allen- Bradley was one of the main competitors that started
to create such solutions, and PLCs were highly common in f actories. However, inf ormation was
still not being communicated via the PLCs, and there was an arms race to find out who would
be the first to innovate their technology so that communication could take place between the Privacy - Terms
 devices. Around the same time, Modicon created Modbus while Allen- Bradley released Data
Highway. However, many viewed Modbus as the grandf ather of the industrial communication
protocol field. When it comes to connecting automated electronic devices in industrial settings,
this is the

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most ion Softmethod
common ware used. When Modbus was released by Modicon, the company did so
without their standard licensing protocol being kept. This enabled any developer to incorporate
Modbus into their products as it is a universal standard that many devices can support. It is also
very easy and straight f oward to understand and set up, even by those who do not have an
engineering background.

What Is Modbus Used For?

Modbus is an open protocol platf orm, meaning, manuf acturers can build their equipment f ree
of charge without needing to pay royalties. It has become a standard communications protocol
in the sector, and it is a common means f or connecting industrial electronic devices.
Manuf acturers across a number of industries use Modbus. It is typically utilized f or the purpose
of transmitting signals f rom control and instrumentation devices back to the chief controller or
data gathering system. For instance, this could be a system that measures humidity and
temperature, and then communicates the results back to a computer.

Understanding How Modbus Works

Modbus is generally transmitted over serial lines between devices. The most straightf orward
setup involves a single serial cable that is connected to serial ports on two devices; a Slave and
a Master. The data will be sent as a series of zeroes and ones called bits. Each bit is sent as a
voltage. Zeroes are sent as positive voltages, and ones are sent as negatives. The bits are sent
very high quality. A standard transmission speed is typically 9600 baud (bits per second).

The Modbus Organization, Inc.

The Modbus Organization has managed the development and any needed updates to Modbus
protocols in an association of users and advocates of the technology ever since Schneider
Electric bequeathed the rights to them in 2004. It is an independent, non- profit organization that
requires membership to join. Their mission is to build the inf rastructure needed f or f ull adoption
of Modbus across multiple industries by sharing inf ormation and educating users on the best
practices f or successf ul implementation.

Modbus Protocols
 Several protocols f or Modbus exist and are constantly evolving through experimentation and
innovation f rom users within the Modbus Organization. Three are most commonly used, with
Modbus TCP being the protocol that the Modbus Organization f avors in its development and
universal implementation objectives.

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▪ Modbus RTUware
Modbus RTU is a type of serial Modbus. This transmission mode encodes messages as
bytes that are sent one af ter the other without any spaces between them – though a 3-
½- character space inside acts as a delimiter between messages. For each eight- bit byte:
one start bit, eight data bits, one bit f or parity, and one stop bit are sent, f or a total of 11
bits per byte. Every Modbus RTU message is ended with an accompanying error checksum
in what is called a cyclic redundancy check (CRC).
▪ Modbus ASCII
The Modbus ASCII protocol initiates every message with a colon “:” character. An ASCII
carriage return/line f eed (CR/LF) character ends every message transmission. This
provides variability in what is being communicated with more spacing in between the bytes,
giving it the ability to transmit through certain modems. ASCII characters are used to
communicate this data. For each eight–bit byte: one start bit, seven data bits, one bit f or
parity, and one stop bit are sent, f or a total of 10 bits. Modbus ASCII messages are ended
with an error checksum called a longitudinal redundancy check (LRC).

There are pros and cons to be weighed when using either of these two types – Modbus
RTU and Modbus ASCII – as Modbus ASCII is much simpler to read by just looking at the
message, but the RTU messages are much smaller, allowing f or an enormous amount of
data to be communicated in the same amount of time. Modbus RTU is used most
commonly.
▪ Modbus TCP
Modbus TCP is dif f erent in that it does not require a checksum, but is basically the RTU
protocol running on Ethernet and a TCP interf ace. The TCP port 502 is reserved f or
Modbus, while the new Modbus/TCP Security uses Port 802. Much more on this can be
f ound at Modbus.org.

Modbus Protocols and IoT

The Modbus Protocols may be older than most people reading this article, but its simplicity and
efficiency at powering many sectors of the manuf acturing industry is still transitioning along
with new advancements and innovations like the Internet of Things. Programmable Logic
Controllers (PLC), Industrial Control Systems (ICS), Distributed Control Systems (DCS), and/or
Variable Frequency Drivers (VFD) are all f requently seen in f actories around the world. They
perf orm actions and transmit data in real- time to manuf acture many of the common
household items you possess, f rom vehicles to breakf ast cereals, and it is all communicated
with Modbus Protocols. Essentially, Modbus, being by now so pervasive and adopted into
millions of devices – and not just on the f actory floor, but in millions of products f rom absolute
encoders to zero- point thermometers – has already been doing what the Internet of Things
(IoT) and IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) is only now doing. The dif f erence between them is
 that IoT is f aster, more efficient, and more accurate at communicating inf ormation, which leads
to more productivity, more cost- ef f ectiveness, and more profits.

But this does not mean that Modbus is heading to the trash heap as IoT takes over – not f or a
while, anyway. Its wide adoption across so many industries all over the world cannot be
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ware
quickly, or so easily. There are now several sof tware companies providing
solutions f or Modbus and IoT integration, but only one of them has the experience and
reliability to liberate your data with unparalleled connectivity, Open Automation Sof tware.

Open Automat ion Soft ware Modbus IoT Dat a Connector

The OAS Modbus IoT Data Connector provides a direct connection to Modbus slave
devices and the ability to host data to Modbus masters with the built in Modbus Driver
Interf ace. The Modbus Driver Interf ace supports communications over Ethernet and
Serial interf aces with Modbus TCP, Modbus RTU, and Modbus ASCII protocols.

With Modbus Automation Sof tware f rom OAS, businesses will find the easiest process
f or adding Modbus communications in Real- Time Automation on the market – with one
 click of a button! Three of the most widely used Modbus Protocols can then be
seamlessly implemented – Modbus TCP, Modbus RTU, and Modbus ASCII protocol – onto
both Ethernet and Serial Port interf aces with the Modbus Master connection. Modbus
TCP over Ethernet and Modbus RTU and ASCII over Serial Ports with the Modbus Slave
connection.
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Af ter a quick and easy setup, the communication speeds you experience while running
multiple Ethernet connections are at the f astest possible, with update rates averaging 15
milliseconds per packet. Data f rom anywhere, to anywhere, are sent in real- time with
direct access to Modbus compatible devices. A PC and standard internet connection are
all that is required to host live Modbus data. Remote data logging is also made highly
secure, and backup devices can be optionally defined with Automated Communications
Failover.

The ease of access f or Modbus IoT Data Connector isn’t limited to only a f ew operating
systems, either. Supported systems include Windows PC/Server, Windows Embedded,
Windows IoT, Linux Server, Virtual Machines (Win/Linux), Raspberry Pi 4, and Docker
Containers (Win/Linux).

The OAS Plat form: Full Connect ivit y

Open Automation Sof tware began 28 years ago with the philosophy that user interf aces
and database archiving sof tware should be open, f ar- reaching, and provide easy
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systems integration. The built- in compatibility with other developer tools and APIs give
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The full range of product s include:

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