COMLI en

COMLI
System Description
COMLI
System Description
Copyright © 1998 ABB Satt AB.
The contents of this document can be changed by ABB Satt AB without prior notice and do not
constitute any binding undertakings from ABB Satt AB. ABB Satt AB is not responsible under
any circumstances for direct, indirect, unexpected damage or consequent damage that is caused
by this document.
All rights reserved.
Release: 9903 Document version: 3-2
Document number: 493-0192-11
Printed in Sweden
Foreword
Since the first edition of the COMLI system description was published,
significant changes have taken place both on ABB Automation’s control
systems and the COMLI protocol. New systems have been launched and
old systems have become obsolete. This has produced new demands on
COMLI resulting in new messages emerging and old messages disap-
pearing.
In this new version, the chapters related to individual control systems
have been omitted to facilitate future updating. Instead, the reader is
referred to the COMLI description for the relevant system. Major sec-
tions of the description have also been restructured.
We hope that these changes will provide a description that is easier to
use and which is updated with all the message types currently in use.
ABB Automation reserves the right to make changes to the documenta-
tion without prior notice.
If readers discover any errors, unclear information or have other sugges-
tions related to the contents, ABB Automation will be grateful to receive
their comments.
Contents
1 COMLI .....................................................................................1
1.1 Introduction .................................................................................1
1.2 COMLI - principle of operation .................................................2
1.3 Communication interfaces ..........................................................7
1.4 COMLI message format .............................................................9
1.5 Capacity ....................................................................................14
1.6 Procedure for linking control systems with COMLI ................15
2 Message types .........................................................................17
2.1 General ......................................................................................17
2.2 List of COMLI messages ..........................................................18
2.3 Status of I/O-bits .......................................................................19
2.4 Register .....................................................................................24
2.5 Controller data ..........................................................................30
2.6 Limiter modules ........................................................................41
2.7 Analogue input signals .............................................................45
2.8 Alarm text .................................................................................48
2.9 Measuring ranges and units ......................................................59
2.10 Date and time ............................................................................62
2.11 Floating point register ...............................................................65
2.12 Trend curve data .......................................................................67
2.13 Timers .......................................................................................74
2.14 Data and program areas ............................................................76
2.15 Time marked events ..................................................................84
2.16 Mixed data types .......................................................................89
2.17 Terminal mode ..........................................................................91
2.18 Acknowledge ............................................................................92
3 Supplement .............................................................................93
3.1 Calculation of checksum BCC ..................................................93
3.2 STAMP function .......................................................................93
3.3 Flow chart - communication between Master and Slave ..........94
3.4 Old message types ....................................................................95
3.5 ASCII table .............................................................................108
COMLI 1
1 COMLI
1.1 Introduction
COMLI (COMmunication LInk) is a ABB Automation data transmission sys-
tem for communication between control systems and between control systems
and computers. COMLI is a conventional communication link using serial,
asynchronous data transmission in half duplex mode, i.e. one direction at a
time, and according to the master/slave principle.
This document provides detailed information on COMLI for personnel requir-
ing a thorough understanding of the system in order to implement COMLI in
a particular application or locate faults on a system.
The description assumes a knowledge of ABB Automation’s control systems
and the terminology used in the control system descriptions.
COMLI is the most common data communication system used with the ABB
Automation family of control systems. Latest generation installations provid-
ing operator presentation as well as PLC facilities may use new data transmis-
sion systems such as MMS. When COMLI is also used in these new systems,
implementation is slightly different to when COMLI is used for data commu-
nication between SattCon systems only. Throughout this description it is
assumed that only SattCon systems are used.
Definitions
Master and Slave
The terms master and slave are used frequently throughout this handbook.
Master in a communications context means the controlling station which
always initiates the message transmission sequence. Slave means a reply sta-
tion which cannot start a communication sequence but simply responds to calls
from the Master station.
Hexadecimal notation and ASCII format
When communication via COMLI is used 2-digit hexadecimal notation is used
to described a byte. This is indicated by the suffix H after the hexadecimal
characters. The data in the last byte of the message is coded in hexadecimal
format, other bytes are coded in ASCII-hexadecimal format.
I/O-bit
ABB Automation’s control systems include a memory area called I/O RAM
containing the I/O rack’s digital input and output signal statuses. In addition to
I/O RAM, storage for memory cells, timer indications, limiter modules etc. is
also included. An advantage with I/O RAM is that unused channels on the
input and output cards can be used as working memory cells for temporary
storage of intermediate results. Throughout the remainder of this description
the term I/O bit refers to a location in this I/O RAM.
2 COMLI
Letter codes
The following letters are used to identify the various types of address:
P = an address of 16 contiguous I/O-bits in I/O-RAM.
AI = analogue input signal address.
A = analogue output signal address.
R = 16-bit register address.
1.2 COMLI - principle of operation

ABB Automation’s systems communicate with each other and with other com-
puters using COMLI (COMmunication LInk). COMLI is one of ABB Auto-
mation’s communication networks using serial, asynchronous data
transmission in half duplex mode (one direction at a time) and in accordance
with the Master/Slave principle (the Slave does not reply if there is an error in
the message received).
Master and Slave can be linked together in different ways to achieve the
desired function, i.e. Point-to-Point, Multipoint (Multidrop) or radial configu-
ration (see the section on Network configuration). Up to 32 Slave systems can
be connected to a Master system in a multipoint configuration. Master and
Slave are linked via the serial channels on the different systems which are to
communicate with each other. Master and Slave need not use the same physi-
cal channel numbers in both the systems. They must however have the same
character format, transmission speed etc.
Communication is controlled by the PLC programs in the different control sys-
tems. By activating a predetermined memory cell, the PLC program in the
control system acting as Master transmits a message. When the Slave receives
the message, it responds either by sending the requested information or by
acknowledging the information received. The memory cell is reset when the
Master receives the information or an acknowledgement from the Slave.
The information in ABB Automation's control systems is stored in the differ-
ent memory modules. About 50 different message types are defined for the
various types of information to be transferred.
When the master starts a communication sequence, a communication area
determines the type of data to be transferred. The data is transmitted and
received via a serial channel defined using a channel definition area.
Network configurations
There are two network configurations for a COMLI serial communication net-
work:
• Multipoint communication
• Point to point communication
COMLI 3
Multipoint communication
Several Slave systems are connected to a master in multipoint communication.
Communication takes place between Master and one Slave at a time. Direct
communication between Slave systems is not possible. A particular message
from the Master is applied to all Slaves but only the slave whose unique iden-
tity corresponds to the identity contained in the message accepts the data. The
number of Slaves which can be connected to each Master is limited by the
communication interface. The RS485 interface must be used in multipoint
communication. The Master transmit line is connected to all Slave receive
lines and all Slave transmit lines are commoned and connected to the Master
receive line. RS485 permits 32 Slave systems to be connected to a Master. The
COMLI communications software can handle a maximum of 247 Slaves.
MASTER
Channel n
SLAVE 1 SLAVE 2 SLAVE 3 SLAVE 247
Example of multipoint communication
Point to point - communication

In point to point communication, only one Slave system is connected to the
Master via one communication interface. Several Slaves can be connected to
the Master but this must take place via different communication interfaces.
This form of point to point configuration is called a radial (star) network and
can provide a higher capacity than multipoint communication.
The electrical interface can be either RS232/V24 or RS485. A current loop can
also be used in certain special cases. This is stated in the relevant system
description.
Channel n Channel m
SLAVE 1 MASTER SLAVE 2
Example of point-to-point communication
Master
The Master always initiates the message transmission sequence, whether
transmitting data to a slave or requesting data from a slave. The main functions
of the Master are:
• To transmit data to the Slaves and receive the data transmitted by the Slaves.
• To process the messages received from the Slave.
• To repeat a message transmission if errors occur.
4 COMLI
The processing of messages consists of checking that they are valid, determin-
ing the message type and taking the action appropriate to that message type
(e.g. entering the status of an I/O bit when a message requesting the status of
an I/O bit is transmitted and a valid reply is received).
Since the Slave never replies with an “error message”, the Master always
knows how many characters it should receive in a message. If the Master
requests a certain quantity of data, the Slave replies with the stated number of
bytes or not at all.
Up to 10 retransmissions can be attempted if any errors are detected (the actual
number permitted is system dependent). This is followed by automatic error
message printouts in earlier SattCon systems. In other systems, alarm supervi-
sion must be connected to a memory cell in the I/O RAM for an error message
to be printed out.
Start
Transmit
message
YES No.of
No. Start
transmissions
transmissions timeout
> >=10
max.* monitoring
Transmission YES Timeout

failure elapsed
NO
NO Reply
received
YES
Error check
YES Error
detected
NO
Transmission
complete
*max. = the maximum number of retransmissions
Master transmit/receive sequence

COMLI 5
Master timeout
Master timeout is the period the master waits to receive a reply before assum-
ing an error and retransmitting the message.
To avoid timing problems during COMLI communication between systems,
the recommendation is that the following timeout periods are used for Masters
operating at the various transmission speeds:
Transmission speed Master timeout
50 baud 25 s
110 baud 13 s
150 baud 10 s
300 baud 7s
600 baud 5s
1200 baud 4s
2400 baud 3s
4800 baud 3s
9600 baud 3s
19200 baud 3s
38400 baud 3s
Slave
The Slave is the passive unit in the communication. A Slave unit waits contin-
uously, listening to its receive line. The functions of the Slave are as follows:
• To receive messages from the Master.
• To process the message received.
• To reply to the Master when the processing is complete.
The processing of the message consists of checking the contents, and taking
the necessary action according to the message type (e.g. store the status of an
I/O bit when a message containing the status is received and sending a reply
indicating the request has been implemented).
The following are examples of errors which prevent the Slave from replying:
• Characters in the message received have parity errors.
• The BCC (Block Check Count, see COMLI message format later in this
chapter) in the message does not agree with the BCC calculated by the
Slave.
• The incoming data cannot be processed, e.g. if there is no program for this
type of message.
If any of the above errors occur the Master automatically retransmits the mes-
sage after the timeout period has elapsed.
6 COMLI
NO
Message
received
YES
Error control
YES
Error
detected
NO
Send reply
message
Slave receive/transmit sequence
Slave timeout
The Slave timeout period is the maximum time the Slave waits for a complete
message after STX (Start of TeXt) is received by the Slave.
To avoid timing problems during COMLI communication between systems, it
is recommended that the following timeout periods are used for the different
transmission speeds:
Transmission speed Slave timeout
50 baud 24 s
110 baud 12 s
150 baud 9s
300 baud 6s
600 baud 4s
1200 baud 3s
2400 baud 2s
4800 baud 2s
9600 baud 2s
19200 baud 2s
38400 baud 2s
COMLI 7
1.3 Communication interfaces

One of the following standard communication interfaces is used for serial
communication with COMLI:
• RS485.
• RS232C/V24.
• Current loop.
RS-485 interface
This is the most usual interface used for communications with COMLI since
it is less sensitive to interference than RS232C. This communication interface
should be used where possible.
The RS485 is a standard communications interface from EIA (Electronic
Industries Association, USA) and is a voltage driven interface which operates
with voltages between 0 and +5V. The interface is differential, i.e. for every
logic state it sends two signals where one signal is inverted in relation to the
other. By detecting differences between these two signals, a more interference
tolerant transfer is achieved compared with RS232C. RS485 is a later version
of RS422 which can handle a greater load but is otherwise identical to the ear-
lier standard. RS485 can handle a maximum of 32 units.
Unlike RS232C, RS-485 defines only the electrical parameters. RS485 per-
mits a maximum transmission speed of 10 Mbits/s and can operate over a long-
er transmission distance than RS232C. The maximum transmission distance is
1200 metres at 9600 baud.
RS-232C/V24 interface
RS232C/V24 is used primarily for connections to terminals but can also be
used for COMLI communication in point to point configuration. RS232 can-
not be used for multidrop configurations.
The RS232C communications interface is a standard from EIA (Electronics
Industries Association, USA). The standard specifies serial, asynchronous
communication up to 20 kbit/s with a maximum distance between communi-
cating units of 15 metres. Under various circumstances it is however possible
to communicate over much longer distances via RS232C. The standard speci-
fies signal levels, driver circuits and mechanical structure, i.e. the connector
device and the pin configuration.
The communication interface is an international standard which merely spec-
ifies signal levels. RS232C and V24 have the same signal levels and the volt-
age levels +15V/+5V mean logic zero whereas voltage levels -5V/-15V mean
logic 1. Handshaking takes place with XON-XOFF or with the signals RTS-
CTS.
Current loop
A current loop employs switched current to represent data on the line. Usually,
a closed circuit, current flow, means a logic one and an open circuit (no current
flow) a logic zero. A current loop is used in less demanding applications or
where electrical isolation of linked units is required. A current loop usually
operates with a current of 20 mA.
8 COMLI
The transmission distance depends on the transmission speed and varies

between 75 m/9600 baud and 1000 m/110 baud. Most ABB Automation con-
trol systems do not permit a speed higher than 600 baud in a current loop.
Check the relevant system description. This type of communications link is
seldom used nowadays.
Interface signals
The signals in the communication interfaces are listed in the table below; a
particular application may employ all or only some of the signals.
Reference Name Remarks
SG (GNDE) Signal Ground

TD (EIAT) Transmitted Data
RD (EIAR) Received Data
RTS Request To Send Indicates that the channel
transmitter is active.
CTS Clear To Send Indicates that a channel
is ready to receive data.
DCD Data Carrier Detect Output signal indicating
that the connection is
established.
DSR Data Set Ready Output signal indicating
that the station is ready
to transmit or receive.
Distance – speed
The maximum transmission distance depends on the interface used and the
transmission speed. The table below provides guidelines for the different inter-
faces and speeds.
Speed1 Distance2 RS-232C/V24 Distance2 RS-485 Distance2 Current loop
110 600 1 200 1 000

150 600 1 200 1 000
300 600 1 200 1 000
600 600 1 200 1 000
1200 300 1 200 600
2400 150 1 200 300
4800 75 1 200 150
9600 40 1 200 75
The values stipulated are for screened twisted-pair cable, type Belden 8723 or
Belden 9502.
Longer distances require a short range modem.
1. Bits per second

2. Metres
COMLI 9
1.4 COMLI message format

General
COMLI is a protocol which defines the format used to transmit the data
between two computers. Examples of the characteristics defined are the hand-
shaking procedure, message start and stop characters used, if the message has
a header, contents of the acknowledgement message etc.
The formats for different types of messages are similar. Each message starts
with a start character (STX) followed by characters for destination, stamp,
message type and data. The message ends with an end character (ETX) and a
check character (BCC). The number of characters in a message can vary
between 8 to 77. A maximum of 64 bytes of data can be transferred in one mes-
sage. E.g. I/O-status for 512 bits or register values for 32 16-bit registers. All
the characters in a message are transferred in an uninterrupted sequence.
COMLI message layout:
START BLOCK FUNCTION BLOCK END BLOCK
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. START ADDRESS QUANTITY DATA ETX BCC
TYPE ASCII/BINARY
Messages can be divided into three categories:

• Requests for data from Master to Slave. 13 characters.
• Transfer of data from Master to Slave or Slave to Master. 13–77 characters.
• Acknowledge message (transfer OK) from Slave to Master. 8 characters.
A request is only transmitted by a Master when the Master requires data from
a Slave. If the Slave can’t carry out the request or an error occurs in the request
message, no reply is sent by the Slave.
A transfer message can be transmitted by a Master or a Slave. When a Master
needs to change data in a Slave, a message is transmitted by the Master which
results in an acknowledgement by the Slave. The Slave does not respond if the
message is not received correctly or if the data transmitted cannot be proc-
essed. A transfer can also be transmitted from a Slave to a Master as a reply to
a request for data. In this case, the reply containing the data is also an acknowl-
edgement that the request was received and processed correctly.
An acknowledgement can be sent from a Slave only when data from the master
is received correctly.
The following figures illustrate the interchange between host and Slave sys-
tems in the above cases.
10 COMLI
Request for data
Master Slave
Transfer of data
or no reply
Transfer of data
Master Slave
Acknowledge to confirm
transfer or no reply
Message format
Irrespective of whether a message is a request, a data transfer or an acknowl-
edgement, a message is made up of three blocks - start block, information
block and end block. The start block and the end block have the same format
in all types of messages but the information block varies for the different types
of message. The characters in the start block and the end block are always in
ASCII format. The contents of the information block can be in binary format
or ASCII format.
Start block
The start block comprises three parts:
• STX
• Identity
• Stamp
The functions of the three parts are as follows:
STX
Start of TeXt start character which indicates the start of the block. The content
of this byte is always 02H.
Identity
Indicates which station the message is intended for. Comprises two characters
which can assume values between 30H–39H, 41H–46H. The Master always
has the identity 0. A Slave can have an identity between 1–247. Always coded
in ASCII.
STAMP
The transmission mark, STAMP, indicates if the message is being sent for the
first time or if it is a retransmission. The stamp value changes for each new
message. A retry is not treated as a new message. A reply message from Slave
n (n = 1–247) is given the same value as the control message from Master.
Refer to Section 3.2 for a more detailed description of the stamp function.
Always coded in ASCII.
COMLI 11
Function block
The function block contains the functional information and data as follows:
• Message type
• Start address
• Quantity
• Data block
Message type
This indicates the type of message being transmitted or received. The charac-
ters can be considered as a function code indicating how the Master or Slave
interprets the data received. The message type is included in all message cat-
egories, i.e. request, data transfer, acknowledge. The character can assume a
value between 30H and 7FH. Always coded in ASCII.
Start address, quantity and data block
The start address, quantity and data block have different meanings depending
on whether the message is a request, a data transfer or an acknowledgement.
The meanings are as follows:
Request
Start address indicates the first address from which the requested data is to be
read. In the case of data that does not have an address, e.g a controller or lim-
iter module, the number of the requested device is given, i.e. the controller
number or limiter module number. Always represented in ASCII code.
Quantity indicates the number of items requested, e.g. the number of I/Os,
number of registers, number of limiter modules etc. Always coded in ASCII.
The data block is not used in a request.
Data transfer
Start address indicates the first destination address for the data being trans-
ferred. In the case of data that does not have an address, e.g a controller or lim-
iter module, the number of the requested device is given, i.e. the controller
number or limiter module number. Always coded in ASCII.
Quantity indicates the number of bytes of data being transferred. Always cod-
ed in ASCII.
The data block contains the data being transferred. The arrangement of the
data depends on the type of message. The size of the data block can be between
1 and 64 bytes. The data can be coded in binary or coded in ASCII depending
on the chosen communication method.
Note. The data block must contain as many byte as requested. If there isn´t
enough data, then fill the block with 00H.
12 COMLI
Acknowledgement
During acknowledgement there is only one byte in addition to the character for
the message type and this character has the value 06H. This is the character for
Acknowledge according to the ASCII table. This means that an acknowledge
message comprises a total of 8 characters.
End block
The end block comprises two parts:
• ETX
• BCC
The functions of these two parts are as follows:
ETX
End of TeXt character, 03H which indicates the end of the block. Always cod-
ed in ASCII.
BCC
Block Check Count is a check sum for the complete message. The correspond-
ing check sum is calculated in the receiver and compared with the message
BCC to check if the message has been fully and correctly received. If the two
BCCs do not agree, the Slave does not send an acknowledgement to the Mas-
ter. Refer to Section 3.1 for a more detailed description of the check sum cal-
culation. Always coded in ASCII.
Examples of the 3 message categories are shown below:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. ADDRESS QUANTITY ETX BCC
TYPE
Request message
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. ADDRESS QUANTITY DATA ETX BCC
TYPE ASCII/BINARY
Data transfer message
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
STX DESTINATION STAMP 31 06 ETX BCC
Acknowledgement message (Destination always 30/30)

COMLI 13
Character format
Asynchronous data transfer
The simplest way to transmit data (characters) between two computers is in
parallel with 8 conductors – one for each bit plus a special conductor to indi-
cate when data on the data conductors is valid. This is called parallel transfer.
For serial asynchronous transmission, which is the most common, one bit at a
time is transmitted on a conductor. Synchronization is achieved by enclosing
each character between a start bit and a stop bit and transmitting the bits at a
given speed (baud rate). This is the method used by COMLI.
A character consists of the following:
Start bit Data Parity Stop bit
1 bit 8 bits 1 bit 1 bit
Each character starts with a start bit. This is followed by the data bits, 7 or 8
depending on the format selected, and a parity bit which is inserted to ensure
the number of 1s is either always even or odd (even or odd parity). A character
bit changed during a transmission is thus detected as a parity error. The Block
Check Character (BCC) is a further check that no characters have changed. It
is always sent at the end of the message.
The standard format for COMLI is asynchronous transmission with 1 start bit,
8 data bits, 1 parity bit (odd parity) and one stop bit.
ASCII and binary communication
The character format during communication is either ASCII or binary. The
choice of type, either ASCII or binary, only affects encoding of the data for
transmission. Binary communication is the most common form of communi-
cation between control systems. Only half as many binary characters are
required compared with ASCII characters when sending the same information.
Communication with ASCII characters is used primarily when linking com-
puters that cannot communicate using binary characters (8 bits).
In ASCII communication, the characters used are those in the character set for
7 bits (Swedish Standard 85 02 00). In binary communication on the other
hand, any combination of 8 bits can be used. Thus the 8 bits representing a
character can assume any value between 00–FFH. The complete set of ASCII
characters is given in a table at the end of this handbook.
ASCII communication
In ASCII communication, each character has 7 or 8 data bits. The start char-
acter (STX) and the stop character (ETX) have unique codes which can be
used as data characters in the message. Each byte in binary is represented by
two bytes in ASCII. A binary byte is divided into two 4-bit parts which are rep-
resented as a 2-digit hexadecimal value and an ASCII byte is used to represent
each hexadecimal digits using the ASCII codes 0–9, A-F. See the following
example:
14 COMLI
1 byte
1001 1111
1 byte
9 F
ASCII code for 9 is 39
1 byte 1 byte
ASCII code for F is 46
39 46
Binary represented using ASCII characters
Binary communication
In binary communication each byte occupies one byte, thereby doubling the
packing density of the data block. As a result, fewer bytes are required to trans-
fer a given quantity of data compared with ASCII communication and data
transfer times are considerably reduced.
1.5 Capacity
The following must be considered in order to calculate how many messages
can be transmitted and received during a given period:
• Communication speed.
• Length of the messages.
• Processing times in the systems served.
This can be represented as shown below:
Master to Slave Slave to Master
Request for Transfer of

data data
time
13 characters Slave processing period Master processing period

77 characters at
9600 Baud
9600 Baud
13 ms approx. 77 ms approx.
Example
Assume that a Master requests the transmission of the status of 512 I/O bits
from a Slave. Communication is in binary format and takes place at 9600 baud.
The actual request, which is 13 characters long, takes approximately 13 ms to
transmit over the channel. The data transferred is 77 characters and takes
approximately 77 ms to transmit over the channel.
This means that, if the processing time in the Master and Slave can be neglect-
ed, it will take approximately 90 ms to request and transfer 512 I/O bits over
the channel. Thus 5120 I/O bits can be transmitted in one second. However,
processing times in the different systems cannot be neglected. These times
must also be added to the time it takes to transmit the characters over the chan-
nel. The processing time depends on the system being used and the load on the
system.
COMLI 15
1.6 Procedure for linking control systems with

COMLI
The procedure for connecting different control systems to a common COMLI
communication network can be summarised as follows:
• Select the message types by establishing the type of information to be trans-
mitted between systems.
• Select the network configuration. Choose either multipoint or point to point
and at the same time which communication interface is to be used, i.e.
RS232, RS485 or current loop.
• Select the channel(channels) to be used. The selection depends on which
channels are available and whether the channel can transfer the required in-
formation at the required speed.
• Decide which system is to be Master and which is to be Slave. The Master
controls the data transmission operations since only the master can initiate
a message transmission sequence.
• Connect the data transmission cables between the various systems on the
network.
When the above operations are completed, the various communication param-
eters can be defined in a number of data fields.
Communication area
Each message is defined in a series of data fields which together are called a
communication area.
There may be many such definitions programmed to produce a collection of
communication areas which are stored in a data array.
Each individual message is controlled from a PLC bit which, when set, causes
the master to transmit the message.
Within the data array a special area for messages containing mixed signal
types must be included.
Channel definition
Each channel to be used for communication must then be defined so that the
channels used in the different systems are set up in the same manner. This set-
ting up is performed in each system’s channel definition program.
Channel definition also includes selecting which system is to control the net-
work, i.e. the Master station. Each network contains only one Master but sev-
eral Slaves can be included. When more than one Slave is included, the
channel definition for each slave must stipulate the identity of the Slave. This
identity must be unique in each communication network.
With all systems connected to the network and all data fields defined, the Mas-
ter commences communications when the communication area memory cell is
activated by the PLC program.
16 COMLI
Message types 17
2 Message types
2.1 General
This chapter describes the various COMLI messages currently used in the dif-
ferent control systems. The chapter is arranged so that messages related logi-
cally are described together. E.g. all messages associated with controllers are
described in one section.
Only message parts which are unique for the message are described. Parts
common to all messages, i.e. start and end blocks, are described in Section 1.4,
“Message format”. Binary communication is used unless it is stated otherwise.
18 Message types
2.2 List of COMLI messages

A complete list1 of the COMLI messages described is given below:
0 30H Transfer I/O bits or a register
1 31H Acknowledge
2 32H Request several I/O bits or registers
3 33H Transfer individual I/O-bits
4 34H Request individual I/O-bits
5 35H Request controller static data
6 36H Transfer controller static data
7 37H Request limiter modules
8 38H Transfer limiter modules
9 39H Request analogue signals
: 3AH Request alarm text (new alarm text function)
; 3BH Transfer alarm text (new alarm text function)
< 3CH Request high registers
= 3DH Transfer high registers
A 41H Transfer analogue signals
B 42H Request controller dynamic data
C 43H Transfer controller dynamic data
D 44H Change to terminal mode
E 45H Request alarm text (old alarm function)
F 46H Transfer alarm text (old alarm function)
G 47H Request measuring range and type
H 48H Transfer measuring range and type
I 49H Request date and time
J 4AH Transfer date and time
K 4BH Request RAM memory in address range
0–64 Kbyte (see Section 3.4)
L 4CH Request RAM memory in address range
M 4DH Transfer RAM memory in address range
N 4EH Transfer RAM memory in address range
O 4FH Request floating point register
P 50H Transfer floating point register
Q 51H Request trend curve data
R 52H Transfer trend curve data
S 53H Request timer
T 54H Transfer timer
U 55H Request PLC-RAM (see Section 3.4)
V 56H Transfer PLC-RAM (see Section 3.4)
W 57H Request memory area
X 58H Transfer memory area
Y 59H Transfer memory area after verifying
Z 5AH Request mixed data types
Ä 5BH Transfer time marked events (English keyboard key [)
Ö 5CH Transfer mixed data types (English keyboard key \)
Å 5DH Request time marked events (English keyboard key ])
Ü 5EH Request system information (English keyboard key ^)
_ 5FH Transfer system information
1. Note that this is a complete list containing all kinds of COMLI messages. Not all of
ABB Automations systems has all of these message types implemented.

Message types 19
2.3 Status of I/O-bits

Request the status of individual I/O-bits (Message type 4)
Application
Used to request the status of a single I/O bit. Note that there is a special mes-
sage to request several I/O bits. Any I/O bit in the address range 0000 (octal)
to 37777 (octal) can be requested. The upper limit in different systems can be
larger or smaller than the message allows. For systems containing addresses
above 37777 (octal), bits in the out of range addresses must first be moved to
addresses under 40000 (octal) before they can be transferred via COMLI.
Message structure
The message structure is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. I/O-BIT ADDRESS QUANTITY ETX BCC
TYPE OF I/O-BITS
Message type (byte 4)

The message type is “4”, i.e. ASCII code 34H.
Address (bytes 5–8)
Address of the I/O bit whose status is to be transferred.
Quantity of bytes requested (bytes 9–10)
Not used since only one I/O bit is requested. Both bytes are set to zero, i.e.
ASCII code 30H.
Example
To request the status of the digital input or output with address 4567(octal) the
message contents are as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP 34 30 39 37 37 30 30 ETX BCC
4567 (octal) = 0977H

20 Message types
Transfer the status of individual I/O-bits (Message type 3)

Application
Used to transfer the status of a single I/O bit. Note that there is a special mes-
sage to transfer several I/O bits. Any I/O bit in the address range 0000 (octal)
to 37777 (octal) can be transferred. The upper limit in different systems can be
larger or smaller than the message allows. For systems containing addresses
above 37777 (octal), bits in the out of range addresses must first be moved to
addresses under 40000 (octal) before they can be transferred via COMLI.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. I/O-BIT ADDRESS QUANTITY I/O- ETX BCC
TYPE OF I/O BITS STATUS

Address (bytes 5–8)
Address of the I/O bit whose status is to be transferred.
Number of I/O bits (bytes 9–10)
Since the same quantity of data is always transferred with this message, i.e.
one byte, these bytes are always set to 01.
Data block (byte 11)
The data block consists of one byte indicating the status of the I/O bit, i.e. ’0’
ASCII code 30H, ’1’ ASCII code 31H.
Example
To request the status of the digital input or output with address 4567 (octal) the
message contents are as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
STX DESTINATION STAMP 33 30 39 37 37 30 31 31 ETX BCC
4567 (octal) = 0977H

Message types 21
Request the status of several I/O bits (Message type 2)

Application
Used to request the status of up to 512 I/O bits using binary communication
(256 using ASCII communication). Note that there is a special message to
request the status of a single I/O bit. I/O bits starting at any address divisible
by 8 in the address range 0000 (octal) to 37770 (octal) can be requested. The
upper limit in different systems can be larger or smaller than the message
allows. For systems containing addresses above 37770 (octal), bits in the out
of range addresses must first be moved to addresses under 40000 (octal) before
they can be transferred via COMLI.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. I/O-BIT ADDRESS QUANTITY ETX BCC
TYPE OF I/O BITS

The message type is “2”, i.e. ASCII code 32H. Note that a request for a register
and a request for I/O bits share the same message type. The address determines
if the request is for I/O bits or for a register. An address less than 4000H indi-
cates that the request is for I/O bits, an address 4000H or above indicates reg-
isters.
Start address (bytes 5–8)
Indicates the first address of the group of input or output I/O bits being request-
ed. The address must always be exactly divisible by 8, i.e. the octal address
must always end with a zero. Requests for bits in the address range 00000
(octal) to 37770 (octal) are permitted.
Number of I/O bits requested (bytes 9–10)
The number of bits which can be requested depends on whether binary or
ASCII communication is being used. Every byte can contain the status of 8
I/O bits in binary communication (4 I/O bits in ASCII communication). A data
block can contain a maximum of 64 bytes. Thus the minimum and maximum
quantities of data which can be requested are as follows:
Min. 1 byte = 8 I/O bits using binary communication.
Min. 1 byte = 4 I/O bits using ASCII communication.
Max. 64 byte (64x8) = 512 I/O bits using binary communication.
Max. 64 byte (64x4) = 256 I/O bits using ASCII communication.
Example
A request for 512 I/O bits beginning at address 4770(octal). Binary communi-
cation is assumed.The message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
4770(octal) = 09F8H
64(dec)= 40H
22 Message types
Transfer the status of several I/O-bits (Message type 0)

Application
Used to transfer the status of up to 512 I/O bits in one message. Note that there
is a special message to request the status of a single I/O bit. I/O bits starting at
any address divisible by 8 in the address range 0000 (octal) to 37770 (octal)
can be transferred. The upper limit in different systems can be larger or smaller
than the message allows. For systems containing addresses above 37770
(octal), bits in the out of range addresses must first be moved to addresses
under 40000 (octal) before they can be transferred via COMLI.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. I/O-BIT ADDRESS BYTES IN THE I/O-STATUS ETX BCC
TYPE DATA BLOCK ASCII/BINARY
Message type (byte) 4)

The message type is “0”, i.e. ASCII code 30H. Note that transfer of registers
and transfer of I/O bits share the same message type. The address determines
if I/O bits or registers are transferred. An address less than 4000H indicates
that I/O bits are to be transferred, an address 4000H or above indicates regis-
ters.
Indicates the first address of the group of input or output I/O bits to be trans-
ferred. The address must be exactly divisible by 8, i.e. the octal address must
end with a zero. Requests for bits in the address range 00000 (octal) to 37770
(octal) are permitted.
Number of bytes in the data block (bytes 9–10)
A minimum of 1 byte and a maximum of 64 bytes can be transferred in a data
block. The number of I/O bits which can be transferred depends on whether
binary or ASCII communication is being used. Every byte can contain the sta-
tus of 8 I/O bits in binary communication (4 I/O bits in ASCII communication)
Thus the minimum and maximum quantities of data that can be requested are
as follows:
Min. 1 byte = 8 I/O bits using binary communication.
Min. 1 byte = 4 I/O bits using ASCII communication.
Max. 64 byte (64x8) = 512 I/O bits using binary communication.
Max. 64 byte (64x4) = 256 I/O bits using ASCII communication.
Message types 23
Data block using binary communication (byte 11 onwards)

Contains the status of the I/O bits to be transferred. Each byte has space for 8
I/O bits. The least significant bit position in the data block contains the I/O bit
with the lowest address. Thus, transfer of I/O bits from addresses 4770–4777
(octal) occupies byte 11 of the data block as shown below:
1 0 Least significant bit
Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
4777 4771 4770 I/O-address octal
Data block using ASCII communication (byte 11 onwards)

Contains the status of the I/O bits to be transferred. Each byte has space for
one I/O bit. The least significant bit position in the data block contains the I/O
bit with the lowest address.
Note that ASCII communication requires 8 times as many message bits as
binary communication to transfer the same quantity of data.
Example
Assume that addresses 4770 to 5067 octally are to be transferred, the I/O bit in
address 4770 has the status zero, all remaining I/O bits have the status ’1’ and
ASCII communication is being used. The message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
STX DESTINATION STAMP 30 30 39 46 38 34 30
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
30 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31
51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31
61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76
31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 ETX BCC
24 Message types
2.4 Register
Request register (Message type 2)
See also “Request the status of several I/O bits”.
Application
Used to request transfer of up to 32 16-bit registers. Registers numbered from
0 to 3071 (dec) can be requested. The upper limit in different systems can be
larger or smaller than the message allows. For registers with numbers greater
than 3071(dec) message type ”<” can be used.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. REGISTER ADDRESS QUANTITY OF ETX BCC
TYPE BYTES

The message type is “2”, i.e. ASCII code 32H. Note that a request for a register
and a request for I/O bits share the same message type. The address determines
if the request is for I/O bits or for a register. An address less than 4000H indi-
cates that the request is for I/O bits, an address 4000H or above indicates reg-
isters.
Contains the address for the register or the first of the registers requested. An
address is calculated by multiplying the register number by 16 and adding the
offset 4000H. The lowest permitted address is 4000H, i.e. register number 0.
The highest address permitted is FFF0H, i.e. register number 3071.
Address = 4000H + register number x 16.
Quantity of bytes (bytes 9–10)
A minimum of 2 bytes and a maximum of 64 bytes can be requested. The
number of 16-bit registers that can be transferred depends on whether binary
or ASCII communication is being used. Thus the minimum and maximum
number of registers that can be requested are as follows:
Min. 2 byte = 1 register using binary communication.
Min. 4 byte = 1 register using ASCII communication.
Max. 64 byte = 32 registers using binary communication.
Min. 64 byte = 16 registers using ASCII communication.
Note that only an even number of bytes can be stated when register values are
requested.
Message types 25
Example l
Assume 10 registers are requested beginning at register number 100. The mes-
sage is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Address= 4000H + 16 x 100(dec) = 4000H + 640H

= 4640H
Bytes requested = 10(dec) x 2 = 20(dec) = 14H

26 Message types
Request high register (Message type <)

Application
Used to request transfer of up to 32 16-bit registers. Registers numbered from
0 to 65535 can be requested. The upper limit in different systems can be larger
or smaller than the message allows.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
TYPE BYTES

The message type is ”<”, i.e. ASCII code 3CH.
Start address (byte 5–8)
Contains the address for the first register or the first of the registers requested.
An address is specified as the number of the register in hex notation, e.g. reg-
ister 4569 (decimal) gives a start address of 11D9 .
Quantity of bytes (byte 9–10)
A minimum of 2 bytes and a maximum of 64 bytes can be requested. This tele-
gram is specified for binary communication only.
Example 1
Assume 10 registers are requested beginning at register 4569. The message is
as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP 3C 31 31 43 39 31 34 ETX BCC
Message types 27
Transfer register (Message type 0)

See also “Transfer the status of several I/O bits”.
Application
Used to transfer of up to 32 16-bit registers. A maximum of 32 registers can
be transferred using binary communication or 16 using ASCII communica-
tion. Registers numbered from 0 to 3071 (dec) can be transferred. The upper
limit in different systems can be larger or smaller than the message allows. For
registers with numbers greater than 3071 (dec) message type ”=” can be used.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. REGISTER ADDRESS BYTES IN THE REGISTERVALUE ETX BCC

The message type is “0”, i.e. ASCII code 30H. Note: transfer of registers and
transfer of I/O bits share the same message type. The address determines if
I/O bits or registers are transferred. An address less than 4000H indicates that
I/O bits are to be transferred, an address 4000H or above indicates registers.
Contains the address for the register or the first of the registers to be trans-
ferred. An address is calculated by multiplying the register number by 16 and
adding the offset 4000H. The lowest permitted address is 4000H, i.e. register
number 0. The highest address permitted is FFF0H, i.e. register number 3071.
Address = 4000H + register number x 16.
Number of bytes (bytes 9–10)
A minimum of 2 bytes and a maximum of 64 bytes can be transferred. The
number of 16-bit registers that can be transferred depends on whether binary
or ASCII communication is being used. Thus the minimum and maximum
number of registers that can be transferred are as follows:
Min. 2 byte = 1 register using binary communication.
Min. 4 byte = 1 register using ASCII communication.
Max. 64 byte = 32 registers using binary communication.
Min. 64 byte = 16 registers using ASCII communication.
Note: only an even number of bytes can be stated when register values are
transferred.
28 Message types
Data block (byte 11 onwards)

Transfer of a 16-bit register requires 2 bytes (binary communication). During
transfer the register’s most significant bit is located in the least significant bit
of the first byte and the least significant bit is in the most significant bit posi-
tion of the second byte.
7F FF
0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
First byte FE Second byte FF
Example
Register number 100 contains the value 7FFFH = 50% and register number
101 contains the value 1000H = 6.2%. Only these two registers are to be trans-
ferred using binary communication. The message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
STX DESTINATION STAMP 30
30 34 36 34 30 30 34 FE FF 08 ETX
00 BCC
ETX BCC
The same message using ASCII communication is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
46 45 46 46 30 38 30 30 ETX BCC
Message types 29
Transfer high register (Message type =)

Application
Used to transfer of up to 32 16-bit registers. A maximum of 32 registers can
be transferred using binary communication. This telegram is specified for
binary communication only. Registers numbered from 0 to 65535 can be trans-
ferred. The upper limit in different systems can be larger or smaller than the
message allows.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
TYPE BYTES

The message type is ”=”, i.e. ASCII code 3DH.
Start address (byte 5–8)
Contains the address for the first register or the first of the registers to be trans-
ferred. An address is specified as the number of the register in hex notation,
e.g. register 4569 (decimal) gives a start address of 11D9 .
Quantity of bytes (byte 9–10)
A minimum of 2 bytes and a maximum of 64 bytes can be requested. This
telegram is specified for binary communication only.
Data block (byte 11 and onwards)
Transfer of a 16-bit register requires 2 bytes (binary communication). During
transfer the registers most significant bit is located in the least significant bit
of the first byte and the least significant bit is in the most significant bit posi-
tion of the second byte. (See also message type 0).
Example 1
Assume 10 registers are transferred beginning at register 4569. The message
is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
STX DESTINATION STAMP 3D 31 31 43 39 31 34 20 BYTES ETX BCC
OF DATA
30 Message types
2.5 Controller data

Request static data for controllers (Message type 5)
Application
Used to request static data for a controller.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. ASCII/ CONTROLLER NUMBER QUANTITY OF ETX BCC
TYPE BINARY CONTROLLERS

Type of communication (byte 5)
Indicates if binary or ASCII communication is being used. When ASCII com-
munication is used there is insufficient space in one message consequently two
separate messages are sent and each message contains information indicating
if it is the first or second message.The values of byte 5 for these indications are
as follows:
30H binary communication.
31H ASCII communication and first half of controller data.
32H ASCII communication and second half of controller data.
Controller number (bytes 6–8)
Indicates the controller number. Numbers between 0 and 62 are permitted.
Number of controllers requested (bytes 9–10)
Only one controller can be requested at a time consequently bytes 9 and 10
always contain the value 1, i.e. ASCII code 30H, 31H.
Example
Request static data for controller number 3. The message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Message types 31
Transfer of static data for controllers (Message type 6)

Application
Used to transfer controller static data. This message has undergone changes
and the version described here is for SattCon31, Revision 4. The changes
include two new types of signal for registers type 8 and 9 which enable register
numbers in the range 0 to 8446 (dec) to be specified. Section 4.4 contains a
description of the message before SattCon31, Revision 4.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 60 61 62
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. CONTROLLER NUMBER QUANTITY OF CONTROLLER ETX BCC
TYPE CONTROLLERS STATIC DATA

as follows:
Number of bytes transferred (bytes 9–10)
During transfer of static data for controllers 50 bytes are always transferred
irrespective of whether binary or ASCII communication is being used. Thus,
bytes 9 and 10 always have the value 50, i.e. ASCII code 35H, 30H.
Data block for binary communication (byte 11–60)
The numbering of each byte below refers to inside the data block only. To
obtain the correct number for a byte in the message an 11 byte offset is added.
Bytes 0 to 3 inclusive
32 bits containing the controller’s present state. In SattCon 31 this is the PI part
of the controllers output signal.
Bytes 4 and 5
16 bits which include the process value. The functions of the four most signif-
icant bits B12, B13, B14 and B15 are as follows:
B12 Internal use.
B13 Indicates that the controller output is set in manual mode.
B14 Internal use.
B15 Controller not yet tuned in to the correct process state.
The 12 least significant bits indicate the value of the analogue input, i.e. proc-
ess value. Min. is 0 = 0%, max is FFFH = 100%.
32 Message types
Bytes 6 and 7
16 bits containing X (K-1) for D-part. Min. is 0 = 0%, max. is FFFH = 100%.
Bytes 8 and 9
16 bits containing E (K-1) D-part. Min. is 0 = 0% and max. is FFFH = 100%.
Bytes 10 and 11
16 bits for the demanded signal when the controller is in the Manual mode.
Min. is 0 = 0% and max. is FFFFH = 100%. Set to 0 if controller in auto mode.
Byte 12
8 bits describing the type of controller together with the controller number.The
two most significant bits describe the type of controller as follows:
0 = P controller
1 = PD controller
2 = PI controller
3 = PID controller
The six least significant bits indicate the number of the controller for which
data is being transferred.
Min value = 0, max value = 62 (3EH)
If the value of byte 12 is FFH, there are no more controllers to be sent.
Byte 13
8 bits B7, B6, B5, B4, B3, B2, B1 and B0 indicating the following:
B0 Type of control, 0 inverse control, 1 direct control.
B1 0 Manual mode, 1 Auto mode.
B2 Indicates if a feedback signal is used with a digital controller.
1 = Yes, 0 = No.
B3 Type of derivative influence:
1 if only for positive process value changes
0 if positive and/ or negative changes.
B4 Type of derivative influence:
1 if both positive and negative changes
0 for either negative or positive changes.
B5 1 if parameter control is used otherwise 0.
B6 Type of controller output:
0 = digital controller output, 1 = analogue controller output.
B7 Internal use.
Bytes 14 and 15
16 bits indicating the I/O address used to select Auto mode. Lowest address 0,
highest address up to 3FFFH = 37777 (octal). Note that the highest address is
also system dependent.
Message types 33
Bytes 16 and 17
16 bits indicating address and type of the analogue input signal. The four most
significant bits indicate the source of the controller input signal as follows:
4 most sign bits 12 least sign bits
6 Register no, (range 0–254).

8 Register no-255, (range 255–4350).
AH P-word (I/O address, 16 bits).
EH Analogue input address.
Bytes 18 and 19
16 bits indicating the address and type of the set point input signal. The four
most significant bits indicate the source of the set point signal as follows:
0 Set point as stipulated from operator’s keyboard,

min. 0 = 0%, max. FFFH = 100.0.%
Byte 20
Indicates the set point dead zone. Values between 0 and FFH are permitted.
FFH corresponding to 6.2%.
Byte 21
Indicates the gain. Values between 0 and FFH are permitted. This corresponds
to a range of 0.0–25.5 if bit 0 in byte 25 has the value zero. If bit 0 in byte 25
has the value’1’ the range is 0.00–0.99.
Bytes 22 and 23
Indicate the integration time. Values between 0 and FFFFH. FFFFH corre-
sponding to up to 1 hour 49 minutes and 13.5 seconds are permitted.
Byte 24
Indicates the sample time in tenths of a second.
Byte 25
Bit 0 in this byte indicates the gain range applicable to byte 21. See Byte 21
explanation.
Byte 26
Not used.
Byte 27
Internal use.
34 Message types
Bytes 28 and 29
Indicate derivation time. Values between 0 and 1770H are permitted. 1770 H
corresponds to 10 minutes.
Bytes 30 and 31
Indicate the type of signal and its address which determines the D-part. The
four most significant bits indicate the following types of signal for determining
the D-part:

Bytes 32 and 33
Indicate the Hand Interlock Speed which is the time it takes for the output sig-
nal to increase from 0 to 100%. The value can vary between 5H = 0.5 seconds
and 13FFH = 8 minutes and 31.9 seconds.
Bytes 34 and 35
Indicate the calculated ramp period for the output signal. This value can vary
between 20H if the Hand Interlock Speed is 8 minutes and 31.9 seconds and
FFFFH if Hand Interlock Speed is 0.5 seconds.
Bytes 36 and 37
Indicate the upper limit of the output signal. The value can vary between 0 and
FFFFH. FFFFH corresponds to 100.0%.
Bytes 38 and 39
Indicates the lower limit of the output signal. The value can vary between 0
and FFFFH. FFFFH corresponds to 100.0%.
Bytes 40 and 41
Describe the controller output signal. If the output is an analogue signal the
following types of signal apply:

EH Analogue output address.
For a digital controller all 16 bits indicate the address of the controller’s
“OPEN” output. The address can vary between 0 and 3FFFH, 37777 (octal).
Note that the upper limit is system dependent.
Message types 35
Bytes 42 and 43
The address of the digital controller’s “CLOSE”. The address can vary
between 0 and 3FFFH, 37777 (octal). Note: upper limit is system dependent.
Bytes 44 and 45
Indicate the address and type for the external connection signal. The four most
significant bits (11–15) indicate the source of the external connection signal
and the 12 least significant bits (0–11) as follows:

9 Register no-4351, (range 4351– 8446).
Byte 46
Indicates the dead zone of the output signal. The value can vary between 0 and
FFH. FFH corresponds to 6.2%.
Byte 47
Indicates the positive deviation limit. The value can be between 0 and FFH.
FFH corresponds to 25.5%.
Byte 48
Indicates the negative deviation limit. The value can be between 0 and FFH.
FFH corresponds to 25.5%.
Byte 49
Not used.
Example
Assuming controller 0 in a system is programmed as follows:
Controller number 0
Controller type PI
I/O for Auto mode 5500
Controller ON 5501
Interlock and open 5502
Interlock and close 5503
Analogue input AI 0140
Setpoint AI 0144
Dead zone, process value-setpoint (%)0.1
Gain 9.0
Integration time 40S6
Hand Interlock Speed 10S0
Maximum output signal(%) 100.0
Minimum output signal(%) 0.0
Direct control No
Analogue controller Yes
Address of analogue output A 0240
36 Message types
The message is as follows using binary communication:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
OUT = 1.1 % 57.3 % NO D-PART
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
02 B2 E5 D0 09 2B 00 00 00 00
AUTO PI + O STAT 5500 A 0140 A 0144
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
00 00 80 42 0B 40 E0 18 E0 19
01 % 9.0 40.6 S NO D-PART
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
04 5A 01 96 00 00 00 00 00 00
10.0 S CALC 100.0 % 0.0 %
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 20
00 00 00 64 06 66 FF F0 00 00
AO 240 FILLED WITH ZEROS
51 52 53 54 75 76 77
90 28 00 00 00 00 00 00 ETX BCC
Message types 37
Request dynamic data for controllers (Message type B)

Application
Used to request dynamic data for up to 4 controllers.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. CONTROLLER NUMBER QUANTITY OF ETX BCC
TYPE CONTROLLERS

The message code is “B”, i.e. ASCII code 42H.
Controller number which can be any value between 0 and 3FH, 62 (dec).
Number of controllers for which data is requested (bytes 9 and 10)
Indicates the quantity of controllers for which dynamic data is required. Min-
imum number is 1 and the maximum number is 4 using binary communication
(2 using ASCII communication).
Example:
Request for dynamic data for 3 controllers beginning at controller 13. The
message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
38 Message types
Transfer dynamic data for controllers (Message type C)

Application
Used to transfer dynamic data for up to 4 controllers.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 60 61 62
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. CONTROLLER NUMBER BYTES IN THE CONTROLLER DYNAMIC ETX BCC
TYPE DATA BLOCK DATA

The message code is “C”, i.e. ASCII code 43H.
Indicates the controller number which can be any value between 0 and 3FH,
62 (dec).
Number of bytes in the data block (bytes 9–10)
The dynamic data for each controller transferred occupies 14 bytes using bina-
ry communication (28 bytes using ASCII communication). Since a data block
can contain up to 64 bytes a single message can transfer dynamic data for up
to 4 controllers.
Data block (byte 11–)
The numbering of each byte below refers to the first controller inside the data
block only. To obtain the correct number for a byte in the message an 11 byte
offset is added for the first controller and an additional 14 for each subsequent
controller. It is assumed binary communication is being used.
Byte 0
0 = P controller
1 = PD controller
2 = PI controller
3 = PID controller
The six most significant bits indicate the number of the controller being trans-
ferred. The value can be between 0 and 62.
If the value of byte 0 is FFH, there are no more controllers programmed in the
system.
Message types 39
Byte 1
B0 Status for ramp and close.
B1 Status for ramp and open.
B2 Status for controller on.
B3 Status for Auto mode on.
B4 Status for digital output signal closed.
B5 Status for digital output signal open.
B6 Deviation alarm negative.
B7 Deviation alarm positive.
Bytes 2 and 3
Indicate the process value. The value can vary between 0 and FFFFH which
corresponds to 0% to 100.0%.
Bytes 4 and 5
Indicate the set point value. The value can vary between 0 and FFFFH which
corresponds to 0% to 100.0%.
Not used.
Bytes 10 and 11
16 bits indicating the current value of the signal which is the input to the D-
part.
Bytes 12 and 13
16 bits indicating the current status of the output signal from the controller. If
it is an analogue controller these bits contain the analogue output value. If it is
a digital controller with feedback the value of the feedback signal is indicated.
For a controller without feedback the calculated value of this signal is indicat-
ed.
Example
Assuming a request is received for dynamic data for controllers 17 and 18.
Controller 17 is the only controller programmed in the system and binary com-
munication is being used. The dynamic data is as follows:
Controller type PI with analogue output
Controller on Yes
Auto mode Yes
Process value 47.0%
Setpoint 50.0%
Output signal 37.0%
40 Message types
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
ANALOGUE INPUT ANALOGUE VALUE ANALOGUE

VALUE SETPOINT NOT USED FOR D-PART OUTPUT VALUE
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
91 0C 78 47 7F F7 00 00 00 00 00 00 5E B5
FF = NO MORE CONTROLLERS PROGRAMMED
25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ETX BCC
41
2.6 Limiter modules

Request limiter modules (Message type 7)
Application
Used to request data for limiter modules. It is possible to request data for a
maximum of 6 limiter modules using binary communication (3 using ASCII
communication). The following data is received for each requested limiter
module:
• Limiter module number.
• The type of signal to which the limiter module is connected (register, I/O-
bit or analogue output).
• Register number, address of the digital input or output, address of the ana-
logue input signal.
• Type of limiter module, i.e. module of the maximum or minimum type.
• Upper and lower limiter values.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. LIMIT VALUE MODULE QUANTITY OF ETX BCC
TYPE NUMBER MODULES

Limiter module number (bytes 5–8)
Indicates the number of the first limiter module requested; modules can be
numbered in the range 0 to 254.
Quantity of requested limiter modules (bytes 9–10)
Data can be requested for 1–6 limiter modules using binary communication
(1–3 using ASCII communication).
Example
Assuming 5 limiter modules are being requested and the number of the first
module is 3. The message contents are as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
42
Transfer data for limiter modules (Message type 8)

Application
Used to transfer data for a maximum of 6 limiter modules using binary com-
munication or a maximum of 3 using ASCII communication. The following
data is transferred for each module:
• limiter module number.
• Type of signal to which the limiter module is connected (register, I/O-bit or
analogue output).
• Register number, address of the digital input or output, address of the ana-
logue input signal.
• Type of limiter module, i.e. module of the maximum or minimum type.
• Upper and lower limiters.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. LIMIT VALUE MODULE BYTES IN THE LIMIT VALUE MODULES ETX BCC
TYPE NUMBER DATA BLOCK ASCII/BINARY

Limiter module number (bytes 5–8)
Indicates the number of the first limiter module to be transferred; modules can
be numbered in the range 0 to 254.
Bytes in the data block (bytes 9–10)
Indicates the quantity of bytes contained in the data block. Each limiter mod-
ule occupies 10 bytes when binary communication is used and 20 bytes for
ASCII communication.
Limiter module data (bytes 11–)
Binary communication is assumed consequently 10 bytes are required to trans-
fer the data. The functions of the bytes are as follows (byte number refers to
inside the data block):
Byte 0
Limiter module’s number. Lowest permitted number is 0H and highest number
is FEH, 254 (dec). If this byte contains the value FFH there are no other limiter
modules programmed in the system. All following bytes in the data block have
the value zero.
43
Bytes 1 and 2
16 bits indicating address and type of signal connected to the module. The
remaining 12 bits indicate as follows:
6H Register number.
AH I/O bit (I/O address).
EH Address of analogue input divided with 4.
Byte 3
Type of limiter module as follows:
< ASCII code 3CH, limiter module is min. value type.
> ASCII code 3EH, limiter module is max. value type.
Bytes 4 and 5
The 12 least significant bits indicate the upper limit. Lowest permitted value
is 0. The highest permitted value is FFFH which corresponds to 100%. The
four most significant bits are not used and are set to 0.
Bytes 6 and 7
The 12 least significant bits indicate the lower limit. Lowest permitted value
is 0. The highest permitted value is the upper limiter. The four most significant
bits are not used and are set to 0.
Bytes 8 and 9
Not used. Set to zero.
44
Example
A request for 5 limiter modules starting at module number 5. The system
includes only three modules 5, 7 and 8 whose data is as follows:
Limiter module Connection Type Low limit High limit
5 Register 10 < 20.0% 25.0%

7 P 1000 > 80.0% 90.0%
8 A 124 < 10.0% 20.0%
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Module Register Type Upper limit Lower limit

number
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
05 60 0A 3C 03 FF 03 33 00 00
R10 < 25.0% 20.0%
Module P-word Type Upper limit Lower limit

number
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
07 A2 00 3E 0E 65 0C CC 00 00
P1000 > 90.0% 80.0%
Module Analogue in signal Type Upper limit Lower limit

number
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
08 E0 15 3C 03 33 01 99 00 00
AI 124 < 20.0% 10.0%
No other limit value modules

programmed in the system
41 42 43 59 60 61 62
FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ETX BCC
45
2.7 Analogue input signals

Request analogue input signals (Message type 9)
Application
Used to request the value of an analogue input signal. The number of values
requested can vary between 1 and 32 using binary communication (1–16 using
ASCII communication). The address range permitted is system dependent.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. NUMBER OF ETX BCC
ANALOGUE INPUT
TYPE ANALOGUE
SIGNAL ADDRESS
INPUTS

First analogue signal address (bytes 5–8)
Analogue signals always have an even address exactly divisible by 4. The low-
est address which can be requested is 0. The highest address is system depend-
ent.
Number of requested values (bytes 9–10)
The number of requested values can vary between 1–32 using binary commu-
nication (1–16 using ASCII communication).
Example
Request the value of 5 analogue input signals starting at the signal with address
640 (octal), i.e. 01A0H. The message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
46
Transfer of analogue input signals (Message type A)

Application
Used to transfer the value of one or more analogue signals. The number of
values transferred can vary between 1 and 32 using binary communication
(1–16 using ASCII communication). The address range permitted is system
dependent.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. ANALOGUE SIGNAL BYTES IN ANALOGUE VALUE ETX BCC
TYPE ADDRESS THE DATA BLOCK ASCII/BINARY

The message code is “A”, i.e. ASCII code 41H.
First analogue signal address (byte 5–8)
Analogue signals always have an even address exactly divisible by 4. The low-
est address which can be requested is 0. The highest address is system depend-
ent.
Indicates the quantity of bytes being transferred in the data block. Each ana-
logue signal requires 2 bytes using binary communication and 4 bytes using
Data block (bytes 11–n)
This example assumes binary communication is being used. Each analogue
input occupies 2 bytes, i.e. 16 bits without a sign bit. Older control systems
obtain only 12 bits from analogue to digital converters. These 12 bits are
expanded to 16 bits by copying the 4 most significant bits of the 12-bit number
to the 4 least significant bits of the 16-bit number, see following example:
000 (hex 12 bits) = 0000 (hex 16 bits)
123 = 1231
FFF = FFFF
Later ABB Automation systems receive 16 bits direct from analogue to digital
converters.
47
Example
3 analogue signals are to be transferred starting at address 640 (octal), 01A0H.
The analogue signals have the following values:
A 640 = 0.0%
A 644 = 50.0%
A 650 = 100.0%
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
AI 640 AI 644 AI 650
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
00 00 7F F7 FF FF ETX BCC
The value for input signal AI 644 is obtained as follows:

50% of full signal after A/D conversion is 7FF (12 bits).This is expanded to 16
bits by taking the 4 most significant bits of the 12-bit value and copying them
to the 4 least significant bits of the 16-bit value, i.e. 7FF7.
48
2.8 Alarm text

Request alarm text (old alarm text function) (Message type E)
Application
Used to request alarm text from the alarm buffer.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 55 66 77 88 9 10 11 12
ALARM QUANTITY OF
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. PART1/ NOT FIX/ ETX BCC
TEXT BYTES
TYPE PART2 USED VAR.
NO. REQUESTED

The message type is “E”, i.e ASCII code 45H.
Part of alarm text (byte 5)
The maximum number of characters that can be requested at one time is 64.
Byte 5 is used therefore to indicate whether the first or last part of the text is
being requested. The value 30H indicates the first half containing 64 charac-
ters is requested. If the value is 31H the second half containing 64 characters
is requested.
Byte 6
Byte 6 is not used and is always set to 30H.
Last alarm acknowledged (byte 7)
The value can vary between 0 and 9, i.e. ASCII codes vary between 30H and
39H. When a Master is started, after system reset for example, the value is 0,
and subsequently varies between 1 and 9 to indicate the last alarm acknowl-
edged.
Fixed/variable alarm text length (byte 8)
Enables the Master to determine if the reply alarm text is to contain a fixed or
variable number of characters, i.e. 30H variable, 31H fixed.
Quantity of bytes expected in the reply data block (bytes 9–10)
If byte 8 has the value 30H indicating the reply can contain a variable number
of bytes, bytes 9 and 10 are not used and are set to the value 30H. If on the
other hand, the number of bytes is fixed, byte 8 has the value 31H, and bytes
9 and 10 indicate the quantity of bytes contained in the reply alarm text.
Example
Request for alarm text. The Master has just started and transfer of 6 characters
of alarm text is requested. The message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
49
Transfer alarm text (old alarm text function) or acknowledge

alarm text (Message type F)
Application
Used to transfer alarm text from the system’s alarm buffer or acknowledge an
alarm. The transfer removes the alarm text from the alarm buffer consequently
the text cannot be transferred to several supervisory systems that require the
information. Also, a supervisory system cannot detect if an alarm has been
acknowledged by another supervisory system. To eliminate this problem a
new alarm messages have been introduced. See message types “:” and “;”.
Message structure
The message structure is as follows for alarm acknowledge:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
ALARM
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. NOT NOT NOT NOT ANALOGA
ANTAL NOT ETX BCC
TEXT
TYPE USED USED USED USED USED
INSIGNALER
NO.
...and as follows for transfer of the alarm text.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
TEXT QUEUE ALARM BUFFER QUANTITY OF
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. ALARM TEXT ETX BCC
COMP- STATUS TEXT STATUS BYTES
TYPE
LETE NO. REQUESTED

The message type is “F”, i.e. ASCII code 46H.
Bytes 5–10
These bytes are used differently depending on whether the message is an
acknowledgement of alarm text or a transfer of alarm text in reply to a request.
Acknowledge alarm text – Bytes 5 and 6
Not used. The value is set to zero, i.e. ASCII code 30H.
Acknowledge alarm text – Byte 7
Indicates the alarm text being acknowledged. The value can vary between 1
and 9, i.e. ASCII codes 30H–39H.
Acknowledge alarm text – Bytes 8, 9 and 10
Not used. The value is set to zero, i.e. ASCII code 30H.
Transfer alarm text – Byte 5
Indicates if the alarm text is complete or if the Master must perform a second
request to obtain the complete text:
30H Alarm text is complete.
31H Alarm text is incomplete (longer than 64 characters). The master
must send a second request to obtain the remainder.
Transfer alarm text – Byte 6
Indicates the state of the alarm queue in the system that is replying as follows:
30H Alarm queue in the system replying is not full.
31H Alarm queue in the system replying is full.
50
Byte 7
Indicates the alarm text number which can be considered as a form of alarm
stamp which enables the master to determine when new alarm text is being
transferred. The value is normally between 1 and 8, ASCII 30H–38H, but if
the Slave has just started the value is 9, ASCII 39H.
Byte 8
Indicates if the alarm buffer in the Slave is empty or contains more alarm text:
30H Slave alarm buffer is empty.
31H Slave alarm buffer contains alarm text.
Bytes 9 and 10
Indicate the number of bytes in the data block. The number can vary when the
request from the Master contains the value 30H in byte 8. If this is not the case
the Slave replies with the number of bytes requested by the Master. If there are
no alarms in the queue, or the alarm text is shorter than the requested number
of characters, the data block is filled or topped up with zeros, i.e. ASCII code
30H. If there is no alarm text in the queue bytes 9 and 10 have the value 30H.
Example
The alarm text “12:00 * COMLI TEST” is to be transferred. Thus the number
of bytes (and characters) is 18. It is assumed that the request has not specified
a fixed number of data block bytes (characters). The message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 : 0 0 * C
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
31 32 3A 30 30 20 2A 20 43
O M L I T E S T
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
4F 4D 4C 4B 20 54 45 53 54 ETX BCC
51
New alarm text function

General
Two new message types have been introduced to request and transfer alarm
text to supervisory systems such as SattGraph 1200. One difference in the new
messages is that the alarm text is not removed from the alarm buffer when it is
transferred as is the case with the “E” and “F” messages. This means that the
text can be read and displayed several times by different supervisory systems.
Another difference is that an alarm that is acknowledged in one of the super-
visory systems results in the alarm being transferred to the subsystems’ alarm
buffer. Thus other supervisory systems can detect that the alarm has been
acknowledged and display this in their alarm lists. The new message types also
enable predetermined alarms to be blocked.
Acknowledge
If, for example, an alarm refers to a valve, it may be necessary for the alarm
condition to be indicated at the valve symbol in the application picture and not
only in the alarm list, perhaps as follows:
Active unacknowledged alarm flashing valve symbol
Active acknowledged alarm non flashing alarm symbol
Normal condition different colour from the above
This facility can be provided using memory cells in the subsystem, part for the
alarm and part for alarm acknowledgement.
When the alarm text message is transferred to the supervisory system an
acknowledge address may be included. This is the address of a memory cell
that is to be set when the alarm acknowledge message is received. As soon as
the alarm condition ceases this cell must be reset. This occurs automatically in
some system but must be performed by the PLC program in other systems.
Thus the supervisory system can determine the condition of the valve from the
status of the alarm address and the status of the alarm acknowledge cell.
In SattCon systems the acknowledge address is defined using the command
$ACKxxxx. The command $ACKxxxx is included in the alarm text and trans-
lates into the acknowledge address when the alarm text message is transferred.
Blocking
Alarms can be blocked by the supervisory system. This results in a message
from the supervisory system containing a memory cell address which is in turn
set to ’1’. The subsystem includes a PLC program which resets selected alarm
monitoring memory cells.
52
Alarm sequence
A typical alarm sequence between a SattCon system and one or more
SattGraph 1200 systems is as follows:
• The alarm text is defined “1000 Valve not operating $ACK1001”
• An alarm occurs, i.e. address 1000 is set to ’1’.
• The alarm is stored in the alarm buffer.
• SattGraph 1200 requests the alarm and receives the alarm text reference
number, address 1000, address 1001, the time and the alarm text.
• The alarm is entered in the SattGraph alarm list.
• SattGraph 1200 uses the status of the alarm and acknowledge memory cells
to display the condition of the valve in the application picture.
• The operator acknowledges the alarm.
• SattGraph 1200 transmits an acknowledgement message containing
addresses 1000 and 1001 to the SattCon system. Acknowledgement is
entered in the alarm buffer. If address 1000 is set to ’1’ address 1001 is also
set to ’1’, otherwise 1001 is set to ’0’,
• If several SattGraph 1200 systems are connected to the SattCon system,
routine interrogation of the alarm buffer eventually results in all systems
detecting acknowledgement for entering in their alarm lists. Also, by mon-
itoring the status of the alarm and acknowledgement memory cells, the cor-
rect condition of the valve can be displayed in all application pictures.
• The acknowledge is reset when the alarm cell is reset by the PLC program
or automatically by the system.
53
Request alarm text (Message type :)

Application
Used by the supervisory system to request alarm text from the alarm buffer in
the subsystem.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
PART1/
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. REFERENCE NUMBER FIX/ ETX BCC
PART2
TYPE VAR.

The message type is “:”, i.e. ASCII code 3AH.
Reference number (bytes 5–8)
Indicates the reference number for the alarm text requested. The number can
vary between 0 and 65535.
Part 1/Part 2 (byte 9)
Indicates if the first or second half of the alarm text is being requested; the val-
ue 30H indicates the first half and 31H the second half.
Fixed /Variable length alarm text (byte 10)
Indicates if the length of the alarm text requested is fixed or variable:
30H alarm text can contain a variable number of characters.
31H alarm text must always contain 64 characters.
32H the alarm text must always contain 64 characters and the request
is only valid for still active or not acknowledged alarms.
To ensure backward compatibility, systems not supporting this addition, will
not answer to it.
Example
A request for alarm text reference number 35385. The alarm text can contain
a variable number of characters and it is the first part of the text which is being
requested. The message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP 3A 38 41 33 39 30 30 ETX BCC
54
Transfer alarm text (Message type ;)

Application
Used to transfer alarm text from the alarm buffer. The transfer does not result
in the alarm text being removed from the alarm buffer.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
TEXT TEXT AS
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. NOT NOT BYTES IN THE ALARM TEXT ETX BCC
COMP- REQU-
TYPE USED USED DATA BLOCK
LETE ESTED

The message type is “;”, i.e. ASCII code 3BH.
Alarm text transferred complete or in 2 parts (byte 5)
Indicates if the alarm text is complete or if the Master must perform a second
request to obtain the complete text:
30H Alarm text is complete.
31H Alarm text is incomplete (longer than 64 characters). The master
must send a second request to obtain the remainder.
Alarm text is the requested text (byte 6)
Indicates to the system making the request if the alarm text is the requested text
or a different alarm text is being transferred:
30H The requested alarm text is being transferred.
31H The requested alarm text is not being transferred, the next alarm
in the alarm buffer is being transferred instead.
32H The requested alarm text is not being transferred. All alarm text
in the alarm buffer has a lower reference number. The next alarm
text in the buffer is being transferred instead.
Bytes 7–8
Not used. Set to value 30H.
Indicates the quantity of bytes in the data block. Min. is 0 and max. is 64 bytes.
Data block (bytes 11–)
The data block is always transferred using binary communication. Alarm text
is transferred provided the alarm buffer is not empty. The functions of the first
14 bytes in the data block are described below. The numbering applies to
inside the data block only. To determine the correct numbering in the message
the offset 11 bytes is added.
Note. If the alarm buffer is empty byte 6 should be set to 32H. Furthermore the
data area should be omitted, i.e. byte 9 and 10 is set to 00H.
Byte 0 and 1
Indicates the reference number. Value between 0–65535 (dec).
55
Byte 2
Indicates the status of the digital I/O bit monitored by the alarm text program.
The indications are as follows for the various conditions:
30 Digital I/O monitored for all changes has changed from 1 -> 0.
31 Digital I/O monitored for all changes has changed from 0 -> 1.
32 Digital I/O monitored for changes to ON only has changed from
0 -> 1.
33 Digital I/O monitored for changes to OFF only has changed from
1 -> 0.
34 Acknowledgement I/O-bit.
Bytes 3 and 4
Indicates the address of the I/O bit for which the alarm text is transferred.
Bytes 5 and 6
Indicate the address of the I/O-bit used to acknowledge the alarm.
Byte 7
Year.
Byte 8
Month.
Byte 9
Day
Byte 10
Hour.
Byte 11
Minute.
Byte 12
Second.
Byte 13
Tenths of a second.
Byte 14–N
Alarm text without the alarm number, status, etc.
56
Example
Transfer alarm text for address 12135 (octal), 145DH with acknowledge bit
from address 2241 (octal), 04A1H. The alarm cell has changed from ’0’ to ’1’.
The alarm text has the reference number 16295 (dec), 3FA7H. The date is
9/2/87 and the time 15:34:29:06. The message is as follows
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
STX DESTINATION STAMP 3B 30 30 30 30 30 43
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
3F A7 31 14 5D 04 A1 87 02 09 15 34 29 06
25 N-2 N-1 N
ALARM TEXT WITHOUT ALARM NUMBER, TIME, STATUS ETC ETX BCC
57
Transfer acknowledge and blocking conditions

(Message type ;)
Application
Used to acknowledge and block an alarm.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
ADDRESS OF
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. ACKN./ NOT USED QUANTITY OF ETX BCC
ACKNOWLEDGED OR
TYPE BLOCK BYTES
BLOCKED ALARM

The message type is “;”, i.e. ASCII code 3BH.
Acknowledge/blocking (byte 5)
Indicates if alarm acknowledge information or alarm blocking information
that is being transferred:
30H Alarm acknowledge
31H Alarm blocking
Bytes 6–8
Not used. Set to value 30H.
Quantity of bytes (bytes 9–10)
Indicates the quantity of bytes in the data block. The minimum is 0 and the
maximum is 64.
Binary communication is always used for transferring the data block.
Acknowledge information
The acknowledge information transferred comprises the address of the alarm
being acknowledged together with, if specified, the acknowledge address. If
no acknowledge address is specified value FFH is inserted. Each address
requires 2 bytes, i.e. the acknowledge information requires a total of 4 bytes.
Alarm blocking information
The alarm blocking information comprises only the address of the alarm to be
blocked. This requires 2 bytes.
58
Example
Transfer acknowledge information for alarms with the addresses 15511 (octal)
and 15512 (octal), 1B49H and 1B4AH respectively. Acknowledge addresses
are also specified, i.e. 7473 (octal) and 7474 (octal), 0F3BH and 0F3CH
respectively. The message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
1B 49 0F 3B 1B 4A 0F 3C ETX BCC
Example
Transfer blocking information for the alarm with the address 12300 (octal) and
12301 (octal), 14C0H and 14C1H. The message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 45 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16
14 C0 14 C1 ETX BCC
59
2.9 Measuring ranges and units

Request measuring ranges and units (Message type G)
Application
Used to request up to 4 measuring ranges and the associated units from a sub-
system. The measuring range can be requested for analogue input signals,
groups of 16 I/O bits (P-words) and for registers.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
QUANTITY OF
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. TYPE OF SIGNAL ADDRESS ETX BCC
MEASUREMENT
TYPE SIGNAL
RANGES

The message type is “G”, i.e. ASCII code 47H.
Type of signal (byte 5)
Indicates the type of measuring signal:
36H Register.
41H P-word (16 I/O-bits).
45H Analogue input.
Signal address (byte 6–8)

Indicates the address of the signal for which the measuring range is requested.
The significance of these bytes depends on the type of signal defined in byte 5
as follows:
36H Register number
41H I/O-address
45H Address of analogue input signal.
Quantity of requested measuring ranges (bytes 9–10).

Indicates the quantity of measuring ranges and types of signal requested. The
lowest permitted number is 1.The highest number when binary communica-
tion is being used is 4 (2 when using ASCII communication).
Example
A request for 4 measuring ranges for registers starting at register number 20.
The message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
60
Transfer measuring ranges and units (Message type H)

Application
Used to transfer up to 4 measuring ranges and units from a subsystem. Meas-
uring ranges can be transferred for analogue input signals, groups of 16 I/O
bits (P-words) and for registers.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. TYPE OF SIGNAL ADDRESS BYTES IN THE MEAS. RANGE AND UNITS ETX BCC
TYPE SIGNAL DATA BLOCK ASCII/BINARY

The message type is “H”, i.e. ASCII code 48H.
Type of signal (byte 5)
Indicates the type of measuring signal:
36H Register.
41H P-word (16 I/O-bits).
45H Analogue input.
Signal address (bytes 6–8)

Indicates the address of the signal for which the measuring range is requested.
The significance of these bytes depends on the type of signal defined in byte 5
as follows:
36H Register number
41H I/O-address
45H Address of analogue input signal.

Indicates the quantity of bytes in the data block. The measuring range and type
of signal occupy 13 bytes using binary communication and 26 bytes using
The functions of the 13 bytes transferred (assuming binary communication is
being used) are as follows:
Bytes 0 and 1
16 bits stipulating the address and type of signal to which the measuring range
is connected. The four most significant bits indicate the following:
6 Measuring range connected to a register (number).

AH Measuring range connected to a P-word (I/O address, 16 bits).
EH Measuring range connected to an analogue input address.
61
Bytes 2 and 3
Total of 16 bits including a sign bit indicating the lowest value of the measur-
ing range.
The lowest permitted measured value is 8000H, –32768 (dec) and the highest
is 7FFFH, 32767 (dec).
Bytes 4 and 5
Total of 16 bits indicating the difference between the lower and upper limits,
i.e the measuring range. Only positive values are permitted and the value can
vary between 0H and FFFFH. 0–65535 (dec).
Byte 6
Indicates the number of decimals in the lower and upper limits. Values
between 0–5 are permitted.
Bytes 7 to 12
Space for 6 ASCII characters indicating the units.
Example
Transfer the measuring ranges and measuring units for the 3 registers shown
below:
R 21 –50.0 150.0 PA
R 23 0.005 0.020 KG
R 27 20 1000 DEG C
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
60 15 81 F4 07 D0 01 50 41 20 20 20 20
R 21 -50.00 2000 1 Dec P A
24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
60 17 00 05 00 0F 03 4B 47 20 20 20 20
R 23 5 15 3 Dec K G
37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49
60 1B 00 14 03 D4 00 44 45 47 20 43 20
R 27 20 980 0 Dec D E G C
50 51
ETX BCC
62
2.10 Date and time

Request date and time (Message type I)
Application
This message is used to request transfer of the real time clock information
from a subsystem to the supervisory system. The date and time requested con-
tains the year, month, hours, minutes and seconds. Note that if this message is
used to synchronise systems, time differences can occur due to the time
required to transfer and process the data. Synchronising of the real time clocks
is best performed by connecting an electrically isolated output from one of the
systems to electrically isolated inputs in the other systems. When the output is
activated PLC program routines in the respective systems can be used to trans-
fer the same predetermined values from a group of registers to the real time
clock in each system.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. NOT USED NOT USED ETX BCC
TYPE

The message type is “I”, i.e. ASCII code 49H.
Byte 5–10
Not used. The values are always “0”, i.e. ACSII code 30H.
Example
A message requesting the date and time is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
63
Transfer of date and time (Message type J)

Application
This message is used to transfer the real time clock information between sys-
tems. The date and time contains the year, month, hours, minutes and seconds.
Note that if this message is used to synchronise systems time differences can
occur due to the time required to transfer and process the data. Synchronising
of the real time clocks is best performed by connecting an electrically isolated
output from one of the systems to electrically isolated inputs in the other sys-
tem. When the output is activated PLC program routines in the respective sys-
tems can be used to transfer the same predetermined values from a group of
registers to the real time clock in each system.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. NOT USED BYTES IN THE DATE AND TIME ETX BCC
TYPE DATA BLOCK ASCII

The message type is “J”, i.e. ASCII code 4AH.
Bytes 5–8
Not used. The values are always “0”, i.e. ASCII code 30H.
Bytes in the data block (byte 9–10)
Quantity of bytes transferred in the data block. The quantity of bytes is always
the same irrespective of whether binary or ASCII communication is being
used. The value of these bytes is therefore always 0CH, i.e. 12 (dec).
Year (bytes 11–12)
Year in ASCII code.
Month (bytes 13–14)
Month in ASCII code.
Day (bytes 15–16)
Day in ASCII code.
Hours (bytes 17–18)
Hours in ASCII code.
Minutes (bytes 19–20)
Minutes in ASCII code.
Seconds (bytes 21–22)
Seconds in ASCII code.
64
Example
Transfer date: 900311, year: 90, month: 03, date: 11, and time: 12:30:00.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
STX DESTINATION STAMP 4A 30 30 30 30 30 43
YEAR=90 MONTH=03 DAY=11 HOUR=12 MINUTE=30 SECOND=00
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
39 30 30 33 31 31 31 32 33 30 30 30 ETX BCC
65
2.11 Floating point register

Request floating point register (Message type O)
Application
Used to request up to 16 floating point registers. Only SattCon31using pro-
gram module CALC31 can perform floating point arithmetic. Floating point
registers numbered between 0 and 255 can be requested.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
QUANTITY OF
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. FLOATING POINT ETX BCC
FLOATING POINT
TYPE REGISTER NUMBER
REGISTERS

The message type is “O”, i.e ASCII code 4FH.
First floating point register (bytes 5–8)
Indicates the number of the first floating point register to be transferred. Any
register number in the range 0 to 255 can be used.
Quantity of floating point registers requested (bytes 9–10)
Indicates the quantity of floating point registers requested. A minimum of 1
and a maximum of 16 (8 using ASCII communication) can be requested.
Example
Request 16 floating point registers starting at register number 73. The message
is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP 4F 30 30 34 39 31 30 ETX BCC
66
Transfer floating point registers (Message type P)

Application
Used to transfer up to 16 floating point registers. Only SattCon31using pro-
gram module CALC31 can perform floating point arithmetic. Floating point
registers numbered between 0 and 255 can be transferred.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. FLOATING POINT BYTES IN THE FLOATING POINT VALUE ETX BCC
TYPE REGISTER NUMBER DATA BLOCK (IEEE STANDARD)

The message type is “P”, i.e. ASCII code 50H.
First floating point register (bytes 5–8)
Indicates the number of the first floating point register to be transferred. Any
register number in the range 0 to 255 can be used.
Indicates the quantity of bytes in the data block. Each register (32 bits) to be
transferred occupies 4 bytes using binary communication (8 bytes using
ASCII communication). This allows up to 16 registers (8 using ASCII com-
munication) to be transferred in one message.
Each floating point register is transferred according to the IEEE-standard and
occupies 4 bytes (8 bytes using ASCII communication).
IEEE-standard data block
31 30 23 22 0
S exponent fraction
S = sign bit
Example
Transfer 16 floating point registers starting at register number 73. The message
is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
STX DESTINATION STAMP 50 30 30 34 39 34 30 FLOATING POINT VALUE ETX BCC
(IEEE STANDARD)
67
2.12 Trend curve data

Request trend curve data (Message type Q)
Application
Used to request measured values. Note that this message has an extended func-
tion and it is now possible to stipulate a window start when requesting a trend
curve.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 99 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. SIGNAL ADDRESS SIGNAL PART OF ETX BCC
TYPE TYPE CURVE

The message type is “Q”, i.e. ASCII code 51H.
Indicates the address of the signal for the trend curve being requested. The
address can be a register number, a P-word address or the address of an ana-
logue input signal. The lowest permitted address is 0 and the highest depends
on the type of signal and the system.
Signal type (byte 9)
There are three signal type alternatives:
36H Register.
41H P-word.
45H Analogue input signal.
Part of trend curve (byte 10)

Each signal can have 6 trend curves with different sampling times and 120 val-
ues in each curve. Since, when using ASCII communication, 4 messages are
required to transfer 120 measured values, the trend curve is divided into four
parts. When binary communication is being used only parts 1 and 3 of the
trend curve are requested since 60 values can be transferred in each message.
The following table shows the value of byte 10 to request the various parts of
the curves associated with a given signal address:
Assuming the value for trend curve 3 is being requested and binary communi-
cation is being used, the table indicates that byte 10 must be given the value
38H (ASCII code for 8) in the first message and the value 41H (ASCII code
for A) in the second message. Hexadecimal A is the same as decimal 10.
Trend curve 1 2 3 4 5 6
Part 1 0 4 8 12 16 20
Part 2 1 5 9 13 17 21
Part 3 2 6 10 14 18 22
Part 4 3 7 11 15 19 23
68
Example
Request trend curve number 2 for the P-word with the address 80H, 200
(octal). Binary communication is assumed. To transfer all measured values
requires the following two messages:
Message 1:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 99 10 11 12
Message 2:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 99 10 11 12

69
Request trend curve data with window start indication

(Message type Q)
Application
Used to request measured values. The required window start can be included.
The reply is similar to the Request for trend curve data without window start.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
SIGNAL
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. TYPE + ADDRESS CURVE WINDOW ETX BCC
TYPE ADDRESS PART START

The message type is “Q”, i.e. ASCII code 51H.
Address and signal type (bytes 5–7)
Previously the value of bit 6 of byte 5 was zero. This is now changed to use bit
6 to select either the old or new message definition; if bit 6 is zero the old def-
inition is used but if bit 6 is “1” the definition described below is used. Bit 7 is
always zero in all bytes.
Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1 x Signal type Address
Byte 5
Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1 Address
Byte 6
Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1 Address
Byte 7
Signal type
The type of signal is indicated as follows:
111 Analogue input signal.
110 P-word.
011 Register.
Address
on the type of signal and the system as follows:
0–9FC Analogue input signal A0–A4774
0–FF0 P-word P0–P7760
0–20FE Register R0–R8446
70
Curve number and curve part (byte 8)
Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1 x Curve number Curve part
Byte 8
Curve number
The curve number indicates one of six sampling times/methods as follows:
000 Fixed sampling time number 1.
100 Freely selected sampling time.
101 Event controlled sampling.
Curve part
The 120 measured values transferred are divided into two parts when using
binary communication and four parts when using ASCII communication. The
indications are as follows:
00 Part 1.
01 Part 2 if ASCII communication.
10 Part 3 if ASCII communication, Part 2 if binary.
11 Part 4 if ASCII communication.
Window start (bytes 9–10)
Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1 x x Window start
Byte 9
Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1 Window start
Byte 10
Indicates the age, expressed as the number of measured values, of the most
recent value to be transferred. The value can vary between 0–3E7H.
Example
Request the measured values for register 23 (dec). Curve number 3 is request-
ed and the most recent value sampled is 28 measured values old. The message
is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP 51 4C 40 57 48 40 1C ETX BCC

71
Transfer trend curve data (Message type R)

Application
Used to transfer trend curve data.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. SIGNAL ADDRESS BYTES IN THE TREND CURVE ETX BCC

The message type is “R”, i.e. ASCII code 52H.
on the type of signal and the system.
Indicates the quantity of bytes in the data block. The quantity is always the
same, 64 bytes, irrespective of whether binary or ASCII communication is
being used. Bytes 9 and 10 always have the values 34H and 30H respectively.
Data block when using binary communication (bytes 11–74)
The numbering applies to inside the data block only. To determine the correct
byte number in the message an offset of 11 bytes is added.
Byte 0
Indicates the signal type. There are three alternatives:
36H Register.
41H P-word.
Byte 1
Indicates the part of the trend curve to be transferred. Each signal can have 6
trend curves with different sampling times and 120 values in each curve.
Since, when using ASCII communication, 4 messages are required to transfer
120 measured values, the trend curve is divided into four parts. When binary
communication is being used only parts 1 and 3 of the trend curve are request-
ed since 60 values can be transferred in each message. See also Request trend
curve data for further information.
72
Bytes 2 and 3
Total of 16 bits indicating the sampling interval for collecting the trend curve
data.
Lowest permitted value = 1H = (0.1 second)
Highest permitted value = FFFFH = 1 h, 49 m and 13.5 s
If trend curve number 6 (event controlled sampling) is transferred the sam-
pling interval is always FFFFH.
A zero value indicates that the requested trend curve is not programmed.
Byte 4
Total of 8 bits containing the measured value for the trend curve.The first byte
transferred contains the oldest value.
Lowest permitted value = 0H = 0.0%
Highest permitted value = FFH = 100%
Bytes 5–63
Contain other measured values as described for byte 4.
Data block when using ASCII communication (byte 11–74)
The numbering applies to inside the data block only. To determine the correct
byte number in the message an offset of 11 bytes is added.
Byte 0
Indicates the signal type. There are three alternatives:
36H Register.
41H P-word.
Byte 1
Indicates the part of the trend curve to be transferred. Each signal can have 6
trend curves with different sampling intervals and 120 values in each curve.
Since, when using ASCII communication, 4 messages are required to transfer
120 measured values, the trend curve is divided into four parts. See also
Request trend curve data for further information.
Bytes 2 and 3
16 bits indicating the sampling interval for collecting trend curve data, when
using ASCII communication. The 8 most significant bits of the sampling inter-
val are sent when the even part of a trend curve is transferred. The 8 least sig-
nificant bits are sent when the odd part of a trend curve is transferred.
Lowest permitted value = 1H = (0.1 second)
Highest permitted value = FFFFH = 1 h, 49 m and 13.5 s
If trend curve number 6 (event controlled sampling) is transferred the sam-
pling interval is always FFFFH.
A zero value indicates that the requested trend curve is not programmed.
73
Thus, assuming trend curve 2 is transferred, transfer occurs in four parts num-
bered 4, 5, 6 and 7 (see Table on page 69). When parts 4 and 6 are transferred
the 8 most significant bits are contained in bytes 2 and 3. Similarly, the 8 least
significant bits are contained in bytes 2 and 3 when parts 5 and 7 are trans-
ferred.
Bytes 4 and 5
16 bits containing the measured value for the trend curve. Since ASCII com-
munication is being used two bytes are required for each value. Contains 30
values which starts with the first value requested.
Lowest permitted value = 0H = 0.0%
Highest permitted value = FFH = 100%
Bytes 6–7, ..., 62–63
Contains other measured values as described for bytes 4 and 5.
Example
To transfer the measured value of signal A 200 sampled at 1-second intervals
with the signal value increasing. the message could be, for example, as fol-
lows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
TYPE OF PART OF
SIGNAL CURVE SAMPLE TIME 60 SAMPLE VALUE
11 12 13 14 15 16 71 72 73 74 75 76
45 34 00 0A ETX BCC
74
2.13 Timers
Request timing periods (Message type S)
Application
Used to request the programmed timing periods from up to 16 timers in one
message. The timing period is transferred as a 32-bit number without sign bit
and a resolution of 0.1 second
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. QUANTITY ETX BCC
TIMER NUMBER
TYPE OF TIMERS

The message type is “S”, i.e. ASCII code 53H.
Timer number (bytes 5–8)
Indicates the number of the first timer requested. The lowest permitted number
is 0H. The highest number permitted is system dependent.
Quantity of timers requested (bytes 9–10)
Indicates the quantity of timers requested starting at the timer selected by bytes
5 to 8. The lowest permitted number is 1. The highest number is 16 using bina-
ry communication (8 using ASCII communication).
Example
Request 16 timers starting at timer 42. The message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
75
Transfer timing periods (Message type T)

Application
Used to transfer the programmed timing periods from up to 16 timers in one
message. The timing period is transferred as a 32-bit number without sign bit
and a resolution of 0.1 second
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. TIMER NUMBER BYTES IN THE TIMER ETX BCC

The message type is “T”, i.e. ASCII code 54H.
Timer number (bytes 5–8)
Indicates the number of the first timer transferred. The lowest permitted
number is 0H and the highest is system dependent.
Indicates the quantity of bytes transferred in the data block. 4 bytes are
required to transfer one timing period using binary communication and 8 bytes
are required using ASCII communication.
Binary communication is assumed. Each timing period transferred occupies 4
bytes, i.e 32 bits without a sign bit. If the requested timer is not programmed
all bytes have the value 0.
The timing period is stipulated in tenths of a second. Thus, if a timer has a tim-
ing period programmed to expire after 500 hours, this corresponds to
18 000 000 tenths of a second which expressed in hexadecimal as 112A880H.
Example
Using binary communication, transfer the timing periods for 16 timers. This
results in a data block containing 64 bytes. Timers numbered 42 and 57 are
programmed for 500 hours and 0.1 seconds respectively. The other timers are
not programmed. The message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 45 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 71 72 73 74 75 76
01 12 A8 80 00 00 00 01 ETX BCC
76
2.14 Data and program areas

General
Large installations often contain several systems which can communicate with
each other. When security copies of the control systems’ user memories are
required a floppy or hard disk unit must be connected to each control system.
The systems can be located quite remote from each other which means the
process can be complicated and time consuming.
To simplify this process therefore COMLI messages have been introduced to
enable security copying to be performed via the COMLI system. The opera-
tions are performed between a Master and a Slave system. The Master contains
a storage unit where the security copies are stored.
Three types of operation are performed during security copying as follows:
• Dumping, i.e. user data from a Slave system is transferred to the Master.
• Loading, i.e. user data stored in the Master from a previous dumping oper-
ation is transferred to the user memory in a Slave.
• Verifying, i.e. user data stored in the Master from a previous dumping oper-
ation is transferred to the Slave user memory for comparison with the cur-
rent user memory data.
To implement the operations messages are provided to request and transfer
user data together with messages to request and transfer system information.
System information is a collective name for the data and commands which
must be transferred between the Master and Slave to carry out the various
functions. Messages for transferring system information can be sent both from
Master to Slave and Slave to master. Transfers from Master to Slave contain
commands to the Slave, while transfers from Slave to Master contain data and
status information.
Dumping
When dumping user data, the Master first requests a memory disposition for
the current module. To prevent editing of the user data while dumping is in
progress, the Master sends a command which inhibits editing in the Slave.
The Master sends as many “requests for user data“ as necessary to transfer all
the user data. For each request received from the Master, the Slave responds
by transferring user data.
To terminate the operation, a command is sent to the Slave to indicate that the
module is once again available for editing.
Loading
During loading the Master transfers user data to the Slave. To ensure a fail free
transfer the Master must indicate any faults which occur during loading and
send commands to the Slave to stop execution of the module during loading
and prevent editing of the modules while loading is in progress.
77
The following commands are sent from the Master to the Slave:
Reset load flags
Resets old fault indications.
Stop execution
Prevents the Slave from executing the module being loaded. This is imple-
mented by setting a module flag to the “stopped” condition. If the module is
included in the PBS execution sequence, PBS execution is also stopped. This
is implemented by setting a system flag to the “stopped” condition.
Reading a module
Prevent editing of the module in the Slave. This is implemented by setting a
module flag to the “locked” condition.
The Master checks the result of the above commands by sending a request for
system information to the Slave. If a Slave fails to implement a command
loading is stopped, the error message is read from the Slave and the message
is displayed for the operator.
If no failures occur, the Master transfers the stored user data to the Slave by
repeated sending of “transfer user data” messages. Each message received by
the Slave is checked to ensure the address is within the defined range in the
Slave.
When all the user data is transferred the Master requests the result of the trans-
fer from the Slave. If errors are detected the “load-flag” is set to the “error”
condition, the Master aborts the load operation and an error message is dis-
played for the operator.
If no errors are detected the Master sends a start command indicating to the
Slave that execution of the module can recommence. If PBS execution is
stopped using the “stop” command, the “start” command must be transmitted
to the Slave to resume execution.
Verifying
The verify flag in the slave must be reset before verifying commences by send-
ing the “reset verify” command. The user data to be verified is then transferred
from the Master to the Slave.
It is not necessary for the Slave to verify each message received. A number of
messages can be saved and verified together. The Slave checks that all mes-
sages contain addresses within a defined range.
When all the user data is transferred from the Master to the Slave, the Master
sends a “set verify” command to the Slave. The Slave in turn indicates the
result of the verification by setting the flag to “no error” or “error”. The Master
reads these flags by transmitting “request system information” messages until
one of the flags is set.
If an error is detected during verifying an error message is displayed for the
operator.
78
The messages for loading, dumping and verifying are described on the follow-
ing pages. The descriptions do not provide complete details however since
implementation is system dependent and requires a thorough understanding of
the system concerned. It is recommended that customers discuss their require-
ments with ABB Automation before attempting to implement the functions.
79
Request data and program areas (Message type W)

Application
Used to request user memory data for storing, i.e. dumping.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. RELATIVE ADDRESS QUANTITY OF ETX BCC
TYPE BYTES

The message type is “W”, i.e. ASCII code 57H.
80
Transfer data and program areas (Message type X)

Application
Used to transfer user programs. If this message is sent from a Slave to a Master
it corresponds to a back-up operation (dumping). If the message is sent from a
Master to a Slave it corresponds to back-up retrieval (loading).
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. RELATIVE ADDRESS BYTES IN THE USER MEMORY ETX BCC
TYPE DATA BLOCK TRANSFERRED

The message type is “X”, i.e. ASCII code 58H.
81
Transfer of data and programs for verifying (Message type Y)

Application
Used by the Master to send user memory information to a Slave for verifying.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. RELATIVE ADDRESS BYTES IN THE USER MEMORY ETX BCC
TYPE DATA BLOCK FOR VERIFYING

The message type is “Y”, i.e. ASCII code 59H.
82
Request system information (Message type Ü)

Application
Used to request system information from a system.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. RELATIVE ADDRESS QUANTITY ETX BCC
TYPE OF BYTES

The message type is “Ü”, i.e. AXCII code 5EH.
83
Transfer system information (Message type _)

Application
This message can be sent either from a Master to a Slave or vice versa. During
transfer from a Master to a Slave the message contains commands to the Slave,
whereas transfers from Slave to Master contain information on the status of the
system for which security copying is being performed.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. RELATIVE ADDRESS BYTES IN THE COMMAND ETX BCC
TYPE DATA BLOCK SYSTEM INFORMATION

The message type is “_”, i.e. ASCII code 54H.
84
2.15 Time marked events

Request time marked events (Message type Å)
Application
Requests 6 time marked events when using binary communication to transfer
the data from a subsystem (3 events using ASCII communication). A knowl-
edge of the type of alarm monitoring used in the system concerned is necessary
to use this message correctly. See also the message “Transfer of time marked
events”.
An increasing number of installations employ several control systems linked
via a communications network. This type of installation often requires that
events in different control systems are recorded by a supervisory system
together with the times at which the events occur. The time recorded must be
the actual time for the event excluding any delay involved in transferring the
data from the subsystem to the supervisory system.
The messages which request and transfer time marked events have been intro-
duced so that I/O-bits can be time marked in the system to which the signals
are connected. Information supplied for each event requested is as follows:
• I/O address.
• Date and time the event occurred.
• Status of the I/O bit.
The load on the communications network can be reduced using time marked
events. All subsystems that register events become Masters and send a mes-
sage to the Slave supervisory system only when an event occurs.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. REPEAT NOT USED QUANTITY OF ETX BCC
TYPE FLAG BYTES

The message type is “Å”, i.e. ASCII code 5DH.
Repeat (retransmission) flag (byte 5)
Indicates if the message is the first transmission or a repeat transmission.
Bytes 6–8)
Not used. Always have the value 30H.
85

60 bytes are always requested. These can contain up to 6 events when binary
communication is being used or up to 3 events when using ASCII communi-
cation.
Example
A first request for time marked events. The message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP 5D 30 30 30 30 33 43 ETX BCC
86
Transfer time marked events (Message type Ä)

Application
Transfers 6 time marked events when using binary communication (3 events
using ASCII communication). A knowledge of the type of alarm monitoring
used in the system concerned is necessary to use this message correctly. See
also “Request of time marked events”.
An increasing number of installations employ several control systems linked
via a communication network. This type of installation often requires that
events in different control systems are recorded by a supervisory system
together with the times at which the events occur. The time recorded must be
the actual time for the event excluding any delay involved in transferring the
data from the subsystem to the supervisory system.
The messages which request and transfer time marked events have been intro-
duced so that I/O-bits can be time marked in the system to which the signals
are connected. Information supplied for each event requested is as follows:
• I/O address.
• Date and time the event occurred.
• Status of the I/O bit.
The load on the communication network can be reduced using time marked
events. All subsystems that detect events become Masters and send a message
to the Slave supervisory system only when an event occurs.
In the system detecting an event, alarm text must be linked to the I/O address
being monitored by the alarm monitor program and subsequently transferred
as a time marked event via COMLI. When a status change occurs it is stored
in the usual alarm buffer as a time marked event and when the next transfer via
COMLI occurs the event is read from the buffer. On receipt of the event at the
destination system it can either be recorded there or sent further to the next sys-
tem in the installation hierarchy. A text string can be added to the data trans-
ferred when it is displayed or printed. This is achieved by entering a suitable
text in the destination system at the same address that is monitored in the sys-
tem detecting the event.
The following points should be observed when using time marked events:
• Each time marked I/O address must be unique in the complete installation.
• Several Masters cannot request time marked events from the same Slave
system. The Slave responds but a time marked event cannot be transferred
more than once since an event is removed from the alarm buffer when it is
transferred via COMLI.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. REPEAT QUEUE NOT USED BYTES IN THE TIME MARKED EVENTS ETX BCC
TYPE FLAG STATUS DATA BLOCK ASCII/BINARY
87

The message type is “Ä”, i.e. ASCII code 5BH.
Repeat (retransmission) flag (byte 5)
Indicates if the message is the first transmission or a repeat transmission.
Queue status (byte 6)
Indicates the buffer status when the event occurs. The values used are as fol-
lows:
30H = buffer empty.
31H = buffer occupied.
32H = buffer full.
Bytes 7–8
Not used. Always set to 0, i. e. 30H.
Indicates the quantity of bytes transferred in the data block. Each event occu-
pies 10 bytes when binary communication is being used (20 bytes when using
ASCII communication). Thus a maximum of 6 events (60 bytes) can be trans-
ferred when using binary communication (3 using ASCII communication).
Binary communication is assumed. The byte numbering refers to within the
data block. To obtain the correct byte number for the message an offset of 11
must be added.
Byte 0
Indicates if the event is an alarm event (an event with both ON and OFF con-
ditions) or a status change event (an event with either an ON or OFF condi-
tion). The indications are as follows:
30H = Alarm ON event 1 –> 0
31H = Alarm OFF event 0 –> 1
32H = Status event ON 1 –> 0
33H = Status event OFF 0 –> 1
Bytes 1 and 2
Contain the I/O address causing the event.The value can vary between 0 and
FFFFH.
Byte 3
Year.
Byte 4
Month.
Byte 5
Day.
88
Byte 6
Hours.
Byte 7
Minutes.
Byte 8
Seconds.
Byte 9
Tenths and hundreths of seconds. Assuming the 8 bits are named D7, D6, D5,
D4, D3, D2, D1, D0 where D0 is the least significant bit, their indications are
as follows:
D3–D0 1/10 second.
D7–D4 1/100 second
D7–D4 can have values between 0 and A, where 0 indicates no 1/100s are
included. 1–9 indicates the number of 1/100s and A means zero 1/100s.
Example
An alarm event is being transferred for I/O-address 1226 (octal) which has
been set to ON at time and date 14:10:54:07, 890604. Events are present in the
buffer. The message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
30 02 96 89 06 04 14 10 54 70
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H
51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H
61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72
00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H 00H ETX BCC
89
2.16 Mixed data types

Request mixed data types (Message type Z)
Application
Requests transfer of values of all signal types (8 I/O-bits, P-words, analogue
input signals, registers and floating point registers) in one message. As with
other message types a communication area must be defined in the Master. A
major difference between this message and other types is that a data area must
be programmed in both the Master and the Slave. This defines a number of
fields where the Master (Slave) writes the information and the Slave (Master)
reads the information.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. BYTES IN THE ETX BCC
DATA AREA NUMBER
TYPE DATA AREA

The message type is “Z”, ASCII code 5AH.
Data area number (bytes 5–8)
Indicates which data area containing mixed data types is to be transferred.
Minimum is zero and the maximum is system dependent.
Bytes in the data area (bytes 9–10)
Indicates the quantity of bytes of mixed data types the requested data area con-
tains. The value can vary between 0 and 64 bytes.
Example
Request data area number 3 containing 18 bytes of mixed data types. The mes-
sage is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP 5A 30 30 30 33 31 32 ETX BCC
90
Transfer mixed data types (Message type Ö)

Application
Transfers values of all signal types (8 I/O-bits, P-words, analogue input sig-
nals, registers and floating point registers) in one message. As with other mes-
sage types a communication area must be defined in the Master. A major
difference between this message and other types is that a data area must be pro-
grammed in both the Master and the Slave. This defines a number of fields
where the Master (Slave) writes the information and the Slave (Master) reads
the information.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. BYTES IN THE ETX BCC
MIXED DATA TYPES
TYPE DATA AREA NUMBER DATA BLOCK

The message type is “Ö”, i.e ASCII code 5CH.
Data area number (bytes 5–8)
Indicates which data area containing mixed data types is to be transferred.
Minimum is zero and the maximum is system dependent.
Indicates the number of bytes of mixed data types the requested data area con-
tains. The value can vary between 0 and 64 bytes.
Data block (byte 11–n)
The various signals are packaged in the data block as follows:
Individual I/O bits
The first I/O-bit is located in the least significant bit position of the first byte,
the second in the next bit position etc.
Analogue inputs
See message type A.
Note. The value of the analogue input is a mirror image of the real value.
Register
See message type 0
P-words and groups of 8 I/O-bits
See message type 0
Floating point registers
See message type P.
91
2.17 Terminal mode

Changeover to terminal mode (Message type D)
Application
Changes a channel in a subsystem normally used for COMLI communication
to terminal communication. Before changeover can occur the subsystem must
acknowledge the changeover request, message type 1. When the subsystem
receives an STX character COMLI communications are resumed. This occurs,
among other conditions, when the next COMLI message is received. A
COMLI message always begins with an STX character. A CTRL-B combina-
tion sent by a terminal can also be used to return to COMLI communication.
Most terminals enable a function key to be used to simulate a COMLI message
requesting changeover to terminal mode. The function key must be program-
med with the following sequence of ASCII characters:
CTRL-B 0 1 0 D 0 0 0 0 0 0 CTRL-C v
CTRL means key CTRL (= control) which must be held pressed while all the
other character keys are pressed. The above message is for a Slave with the
identity 1.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

The message type is “D”, i.e. ASCII code 44H.
Bytes 5–10
Not used consequently set to the value 0.
92
2.18 Acknowledge
Acknowledge receipt of a message (Message type 1)
Application
Used by a subsystem to acknowledge transfer of a message from the control-
ling system. The message must be received correctly for an acknowledge mes-
sage to be produced. Since the acknowledgement technique is used, the
controlling system can alone decide if the transfer is approved or not (timeout).
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
STX DESTINATION STAMP 31 06 ETX BCC

30 30

The message type is “1”, ASCII code 31H.
Acknowledge code (byte 5)
Contains the ASCII acknowledge code, i. e. 6.
Supplement 93
3 Supplement
3.1 Calculation of checksum BCC

BCC (Block Check Count) is an error detection facility used to check that mes-
sages are transmitted correctly.
BCC is a check sum calculated according to the polynomial 1+x8 for all char-
acters in the message excluding the STX character. The control sum is calcu-
lated as a modulo 2 addition character by character.
BCC = Character 1 + Character 2 + ... + ETX, where character 1 is the first
character after STX.
+ means modulo 2 operator, i.e. (XOR function on each pair of bits).
If for example character 1 is a C (ASCII code 43H) having the binary repre-
sentation 01000011 and character 2 has the value 3 (ASCII code 33H) having
the binary representation 00110011 the modulo-2 addition is as follows:
01000011
00110011
01110000
0 + 0 = 0, 0 + 1 = 1, 1 + 0 = 1 and 1 + 1 = 0
3.2 STAMP function

STAMP is a character in the message which is allotted the value 31H or 32H
except at start, i.e. the first message transmitted, when the value is 30H. As a
slave always answer on stamp 30H, this could be used for communication
start-up after a transmission error.
The Master changes the value of STAMP between 31H and 32H for each new
message transmission but not for a retransmission. Thus, by comparing con-
secutive stamp values, the Slave can determine if the message is being
received for the first time or if it is a retransmission, and avoid processing the
same message twice.
The flow chart in Section 3.3 provides more detailed information on how the
STAMP function is used during communications between the Master and
Slave. It can be seen from the chart that the STAMP in the Master (STAMPM)
alternates between 32H and 31H as each new message is transmitted.
STAMP in the Slave (STAMPS) always has the same value as STAMPM in
the received message, consequently STAMPM and STAMPS are always dif-
ferent when a new message is received.
If on the other hand STAMPM and STAMPS are the same, a request for a
retransmission is indicated and no message process operations occur. STAMP
in the reply message sent by the Slave has the same value as in the received
message. STAMP in the Master contains the index (STAMPM(S)) because
several Slaves can be connected to a Master, whereas each Slave system must
be administered using its own STAMP.
94 Supplement
3.3 Flow chart - communication between

Master and Slave
Master Slave
CALL:SEND A
SYSTEM MESSAGE TO A SYSTEM
START SLAVE START
ERR = 0
STAMPM
STAMPM STAMPS
STAMPS
STAMPM (S) =
(S)(S)= =30H
-1
-1 (S)
(S) == 33H
3
STAMPM(S) = +1
STAMPM YES STAMPM

STAMPM
STAMPM
(S)
(S) =
= 31H
-1
(S)
(S)>>32H
2
NO
MESS. NO
TO THIS
LOAD MESSAGE SLAVE?
TO OUT BUFFER
YES NO ACTION
WAIT FOR
TIME OUT
LOG MESSAGE
YES
Tx
ERROR?
NO
NO START TIME-
YES ERRŠ•10
ERR max.* OUT COUNTER
STAMPS ¦ NO
YES
Line STAMPS
STAMPM =
or
STAMPM
STAMPM =
cable 30H
YES
NO
SEND MESSAGE
ERR: = ERR+1
STAMPS: =
STAMPM
YES
TIME OUT?
LOG
NO MESSAGE
NO
REPLY FROM
STAMPM SLAVE?
MESSAGE
(S) = 30H–1
PROCESSING
YES
STOP TIME-OUT
COUNTER LOAD REPLY TO
OUT BUFFER
YES Tx SEND REPLY

ERROR? MESSAGE
NO
LOG REPLY
ERROR: EXIT
TO USER EXIT TO USER
PROGRAM
*max. = the maximum number of retransmissions.
PROGRAM
Supplement 95
3.4 Old message types

Request memory contents in address areas 0–64 kilobytes
Application
Used in MIDI and MAXI systems to request RAM data in an address area
0–64 kilobytes.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. MEMORY START QUANTITY OF ETX BCC
TYPE ADDRESS BYTES

The message type is “K”, i.e. ASCII code 4BH.
Start address of the area in RAM being requested. The address is stipulated in
hexadecimal and each byte contains the ASCII code for the character repre-
sented. The address can vary between 0 and FFFFH.
Indicate in bytes the size of the memory area requested. The minimum size is
1 byte. The largest is 64 bytes when binary communication is being used (32
bytes using ASCII communication).
Example
A request for 64 bytes starting at address ABCDH. The message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP 4B 41 42 43 44 34 30 ETX BCC
96 Supplement
Request memory contents in address areas 64–128 kilobytes

Application
Used in MIDI and MAXI systems to request RAM data in an address area
64–128 kilobytes.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
TYPE ADDRESS BYTES

The message type is “L”, i.e ASCII code 4CH.
Start address of the area in RAM being requested. The address can vary
between 0 and FFFFH. To obtain an address in the range 0 to FFFFH, an offset
of 10000H must be subtracted from the required address. If, for example, the
correct address is 12345H, the address stipulated in bytes 5–8 is 2345H since
12345H–10000H = 2345H. The address is stipulated in hexadecimal and each
byte contains the ASCII code for the character represented.
Example
A request for 64 bytes starting at address 12345H. The message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
STX DESTINATION STAMP 4C 32 33 34 35 34 30 ETX BCC
Supplement 97
Transfer RAM contents in address area 0–64 kilobytes

Application
Used in MIDI and MAXI systems to transfer RAM data in an address area
0–64 kilobytes.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. MEMORY START BYTES IN THE DATA ETX BCC
TYPE ADDRESS DATA BLOCK ASCII/BINARY

The message type is “M”, i.e. ASCII code 4DH.
Start address of the area in RAM being requested. The address is stipulated in
hexadecimal and each byte contains the ASCII code for the character repre-
sented. The address can vary between 0 and FFFFH.
Indicate in bytes the size of the memory area contained in the data block. The
minimum size is 1 byte. The largest is 64 bytes when binary communication
is being used (32 bytes using ASCII communication).
Example
A request for 64 bytes starting at address ABCDH. Address ABCDH has the
value A5H and address ACOCH has the value 5AH. The message is as follows
using binary communication:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
STX DESTINATION STAMP 4D 41 42 43 44 34 30
11 74 75 76
A5 5A ETX BCC
98 Supplement
Transfer RAM contents in address areas 64–128 kilobytes

Application
Used in MIDI and MAXI systems to request RAM data in an address area 64–
128 kilobytes.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N

The message type is “N”, i.e. ASCII code 4EH.
Start address of the area in RAM being requested. The address can vary
between 0 and FFFFH. To obtain an address in the range 0 to FFFFH, an offset
of 10000H must be subtracted from the required address. If, for example, the
correct address is 12345H, the address stipulated in bytes 5–8 is 2345H since
12345H–10000H = 2345H. The address is stipulated in hexadecimal and each
byte contains the ASCII code for the character represented.
Example
A request for 64 bytes starting at address 12345H. Address 12345H has the
value 84H and address 12384H has the value 33H. The message is as follows
using binary communication:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
STX DESTINATION STAMP 4E 32 33 34 45 34 30
11 74 75 76
34 33 ETX BCC
Supplement 99
Request contents of PLC-RAM

Application
Requests the contents of PLC-RAM in a MAXI system.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
TYPE ADDRESS BYTES

The message type is “U”, i.e. ASCII code 55H.
Start address of the requested memory area in PLC-RAM.The address is stip-
ulated in hexadecimal and each byte contains the ASCII code for the character
represented. The address can vary between 0 and FFFFH.
Example
A request for 64 bytes starting at address ABCDH. The message is as follows:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
100 Supplement
Transfer contents of PLC-RAM

Application
Transfers the contents of PLC-RAM in a MAXI system. Prior to transfer a
message is sent to stop the PLC program. This is followed by transfer of the
data and when all data has been transferred a message is sent to restart execu-
tion of the PLC program.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 N-2 N-1 N

The message type is “V”, i.e ASCII code 56H.
Stop PLC execution
Before transfer of the contents of PLC-RAM, the PLC program must be
stopped. This is achieved by sending 30H in bytes 5–10.
Start PLC execution
After transfer of the contents of PLC-RAM in a control system, execution of
the PLC program must be restarted. This is achieved by sending 31H in byte
5 and 30H in bytes 6–10.
Transfer of data
Start address of the memory area in PLC-RAM to be transferred.The address
is stipulated in hexadecimal and each byte contains the ASCII code for the
character represented. The address can vary between 0 and FFFFH.
Indicate in bytes the size of the memory area in the data block. The minimum
size is 1 byte. The largest is 64 bytes when binary communication is being
used (32 bytes using ASCII communication).
Contain the quantity of data indicated by the “Bytes in data block” field.
Supplement 101
Example
Transfer 64 bytes of memory data starting at address ABCDH. Address
ABCDH has the value A5H and address ACOCH the value 5AH. The PLC
program is stopped before the transfer, and restarted again when the transfer is
completed. The three messages are as follows:
Stop PLC execution:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Transfer the memory data:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
STX DESTINATION STAMP 4D 41 42 43 44 34 30
11 74 75 76
A5 5A ETX BCC
Start PLC execution:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
102 Supplement
Transfer controller static data

Application
Used to transfer controller static data. This message has undergone changes
and the version described here is for versions of SattCon31 earlier than Revi-
sion 4. The version used for SattCon31, Revision 4.0 and subsequent revisions
is described in Chapter 2.
Message structure
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 60 61 62
STX DESTINATION STAMP MESS. ASCII/ CONTROLLER NUMBER BYTES IN THE STATIC ETX BCC
TYPE BINARY DATA BLOCK CONTROLLER DATA

as follows:
During transfer of static data for controllers 50 bytes are always transferred
irrespective of whether binary or ASCII communication is being used. Thus,
bytes 9 and 10 always have the value 50, i.e. ASCII code 35H,30H.
Data block for binary communication (byte 11–60)
The numbering of each byte refers to inside the data block only. To obtain the
correct number for a byte in the message an 11 byte offset is added.
32 bits containing the controller’s accumulator value at the output.
Bytes 4 and 5
16 bits containing the process value. The functions of the four most significant
bits B12, B13, B14 and B15 are as follows:
B12 Internal use.
B13 Manual percentage setting active.
B14 Internal use.
B15 Controller not in phase.
The 12 least significant bits indicate the process value at the analogue input.
Min. is 0 = 0% and max is FFFH = 100%.
Supplement 103
Bytes 6 and 7
16 bits containing X (K-1) for D-part. Min. is 0 = 0% and max. is FFFH =
100%.
Bytes 8 and 9
16 bits containing E (K-1) D-part. Min. is 0 = 0% and max. is FFFH = 100%.
Bytes 10 and 11
16 bits for the demanded signal when the controller is in the Manual mode.
Min. is 0 = 0% and max. is FFFFH = 100%.
Byte 12
0 = P controller
1 = PD controller
2 = PI controller
3 = PID controller
The six least significant bits indicate the number of the controller being trans-
ferred. The value can be between 0 and 62.
A value of FFH in byte 12 indicates that there are no further controllers pro-
grammed in the system.
Byte 13
B0 Type of control, 0 inverse control, 1 direct control.
B1 0 Manual mode, 1 Auto mode.
B2 Indicates if a feedback signal is used with a digital controller.
1 = Yes, 0 = No.
B3 Indicates how the derivative facility operates, 1 if only for positive
process value changes, 0 if either for negative or positive process value
changes or negative and positive process value changes.
B4 Indicates how the derivative facility operates, 1 if for both positive and
negative process value changes, 0 for either negative or positive process
value changes.
B5 Internal use.
B6 0 if controller output is digital, 1 if controller output is analogue.
B7 Internal use.
Bytes 14 and 15
16 bits indicating the I/O address used to select Auto mode. Lowest address 0,
highest address up to 3FFFH = 37777 (octal). Note that the highest address is
also system dependent.
104 Supplement
Bytes 16 and 17
16 bits indicating the address and type of the analogue input signal. The four
most significant bits indicate the type of the controller input signal as follows:
6 Register.
AH P-word (16 I/O-bits).
EH Analogue input.
The significance of the remaining 12 bits depends on the type of signal as fol-
lows:
6 Register number.
AH I/O-address.
EH Analogue signal address.
Bytes 18 and 19
16 bits indicating the address and type of the set point signal. The four most
significant bits indicate the type of signal as follows:
0 Operator’s keyboard.
6 Register.
EH Analogue input.
lows:
0H Set point as stipulated from the terminal, min. 0 = 0%, max.
FFFH = 100%
6H Register number.
AH P-word address.
EH Analogue input signal address.
Byte 20
Indicates the set point dead zone. Values between 0 and FFH are permitted.
FFH corresponding to 6.2%.
Byte 21
Indicates the gain. Values between 0 and FFH are permitted. This corresponds
to a range of 0–25.5.
Bytes 22 and 23
Indicate the integration time. Values between 0 and FFFFH corresponding to
0 and 1 hour 49 minutes and 13.5 seconds are permitted.
Bytes 24 t o 27
Not used.
Bytes 28 and 29
Indicate derivation time. Values between 0 and 1770H are permitted. 1770 H
corresponds to 10 minutes.
Supplement 105
Bytes 30 and 31
Indicate the type of signal, and its address, that determines the D-part. The four
most significant bits indicate the following types of signal:
6 Register.
EH Analogue input.
The significance of the remaining 12 most significant bits depends on the type
of signal as follows:
6 Register number.
AH I/O address.
Bytes 32 and 33
Indicate the Hand Interlock Speed which is the time it takes for the output sig-
nal to increase from 0 to 100%. The value can vary between 5H = 0.5 seconds
and 13FFH = 8 minutes and 31.9 seconds.
Bytes 34 and 35
Indicates the calculated ramp period for the output signal. This value can vary
between 20H if the Hand Interlock Speed is 8 minutes and 31.9 seconds and
FFFFH if the Hand Interlock Speed is 0.5 seconds.
Bytes 36 and 37
Indicates the upper limit of the output signal. The value can vary between 0
and FFFFH. FFFFH corresponds to 100%.
Bytes 38 and 39
Indicates the lower limit of the output signal. The value can vary between 0
and FFFFH. FFFFH corresponds to 100%.
Bytes 40 and 41
Describe the controller output signal. If the output signal is analogue the fol-
lowing types apply:
6H Register.
EH Analogue output.
lows:
6H Register number.
9H Analogue output address.
AH I/O address.
If the output signal is digital all 16 bits indicate the address of the controller’s
digital output when it is open. The address can vary between 0 and 3FFFH,
37777 (octal). Note that the upper limit is system dependent.
106 Supplement
Bytes 42 and 43
Indicates the address of the controller’s digital output when it is closed. The
address can vary between 0 and 3FFFH, 37777 (octal). Note that the upper
limit is system dependent.
Bytes 44 and 45
Indicate the address and type of the measured value used for the external con-
nection signal. The four most significant bits indicate the type of signal as fol-
lows:
6H Register.
AH P-word (16 I/O bits).
EH Analogue input.
lows:
6H Register number.
AH I/O address.
EH Analogue signal address.
Byte 46
Indicates the dead zone of the output signal. The value can vary between 0 and
FFH. FFH corresponds to 6.2%.
Bytes 47 till 49
Not used.
Supplement 107
Example
Assuming controller 0 in a system is programmed as follows:
Controller number 0
Controller type PI
I/O for Auto mode 5500
Controller ON 5501
Ramp period at start 5502
Ramp period at stop 5503
Analogue input AI 0140
Stipend AI 0144
Dead zone, process van–set point (%) 0.1
Gain 9.0
Integration time 40S6
Hand Interlock Speed 10S0
Maximum output signal %) 100.0
Minimum output signal (%) 0.0
Direct control No
Analogue controller Yes
Address of analogue output A 0240
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0UT = 1.1 % 57.3 % NO D-PART
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
02 B2 E5 D0 09 2B 00 00 00 00
AUTO PI + O STAT 5500 A 0140 A 0144
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
00 00 80 42 0B 40 E0 18 E0 19
01 % 9.0 40.6 S NO D-PART
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
04 5A 01 96 00 00 00 00 00 00
10.0 S CALC 100.0 % 0.0 %
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 20
00 00 00 64 06 66 FF F0 00 00
AO 240 UNUSED BYTES FILLED WITH ZEROS
51 52 53 54 75 76 77
90 28 00 00 00 00 00 00 ETX BCC
108 Supplement
3.5 ASCII table

The binary codes (shown using hexadecimal numbering) for the characters in
the ASCII set are as follows:
0 NUL 20 SP 40 @ (É) 60 ` (é)
1 SOH 21 ! 41 A 61 a
2 STX 22 " 42 B 62 b
3 ETX 23 # 43 C 63 c
4 EOT 24 $ (¤) 44 D 64 d
5 ENQ 25 % 45 E 65 e
6 ACK 26 & 46 F 66 f
7 BEL 27 ’ 47 G 67 g
8 BS 28 ( 48 H 68 h
9 HT 29 ) 49 I 69 i
A LF 2A * 4A J 6A j
B VT 2B + 4B K 6B k
C FF 2C , 4C L 6C l
D CR 2D - 4D M 6D m
E SO 2E . 4E N 6E n
F SI 2F / 4F O 6F o
10 DLE 30 0 50 P 70 p
11 DC1 31 1 51 Q 71 q
12 DC2 32 2 52 R 72 r
13 DC3 33 3 53 S 73 s
14 DC4 34 4 54 T 74 t
15 NAK 35 5 55 U 75 u
16 SYN 36 6 56 V 76 v
17 ETB 37 7 57 W 77 w
18 CAN 38 8 58 X 78 x
19 EM 39 9 59 Y 79 y
1A SUB 3A : 5A Z 7A z
1B ESC 3B ; 5B [ (Ä) 7B { (ä)
1C FS 3C < 5C \ (Ö) 7C (ö)
1D GS 3D = 5D ] (Å) 7D } (å)
1E RS 3E > 5E ^ (Ü) 7E ~ (ü)
1F US 3F ? 5F _ 7F DEL
493-0192-11
9903 Ver. 3-2

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1.2 COMLI - principle of operation

SLAVE 1 SLAVE 2 SLAVE 3 SLAVE 247

Example of multipoint communication

Point to point - communication

Example of point-to-point communication

Transmission YES Timeout

Master transmit/receive sequence

Transmission speed Master timeout

Slave receive/transmit sequence

Transmission speed Slave timeout

1.3 Communication interfaces

The transmission distance depends on the transmission speed and varies

Reference Name Remarks

SG (GNDE) Signal Ground

Speed1 Distance2 RS-232C/V24 Distance2 RS-485 Distance2 Current loop

110 600 1 200 1 000

1. Bits per second

1.4 COMLI message format

Messages can be divided into three categories:

Request for data

Data transfer message

STX DESTINATION STAMP 31 06 ETX BCC

Acknowledgement message (Destination always 30/30)

Start bit Data Parity Stop bit

1 bit 8 bits 1 bit 1 bit

Binary represented using ASCII characters

Master to Slave Slave to Master

Request for Transfer of

13 characters Slave processing period Master processing period

1.6 Procedure for linking control systems with

2.2 List of COMLI messages

ABB Automations systems has all of these message types implemented.

2.3 Status of I/O-bits

Message type (byte 4)

4567 (octal) = 0977H

Transfer the status of individual I/O-bits (Message type 3)

Message type (byte 4)

4567 (octal) = 0977H

Request the status of several I/O bits (Message type 2)

Message type (byte 4)

Transfer the status of several I/O-bits (Message type 0)

Message type (byte) 4)

Data block using binary communication (byte 11 onwards)

1 0 Least significant bit

4777 4771 4770 I/O-address octal

Data block using ASCII communication (byte 11 onwards)

Message type (byte 4)

Address= 4000H + 16 x 100(dec) = 4000H + 640H

Bytes requested = 10(dec) x 2 = 20(dec) = 14H

Request high register (Message type <)

Message type (byte 4)

Transfer register (Message type 0)

Message type (byte 4)

Data block (byte 11 onwards)

First byte FE Second byte FF