DF1 to Modbus ASCII and SBT-FSI (SIEMENS MXL or XLS) QuickServer Gateway

The QuickServer is a high performance, fully configurable, cost effective Building and Industrial Automation gateway for integrators to easily interface devices to networks in commercial buildings and industrial plants.

System integrators world-wide have benefitted from the value of the powerful line of interoperability gateways offered by FieldServer. Now, QuickServer adds to that value by running the same robust FieldServer protocol conversion software on a highly cost effective platform backed by the experience, engineering expertise and proven technical support that integrators have come to expect from FieldServer.

QuickServer (Serial-Ethernet) is available in two series:

The QuickServer FS-QS-2X10 series is available at four different point capacities. Each QuickServer is preloaded with two drivers (serial and/or Ethernet) from a customer’s choice of 140 different drivers, E.G. Modbus, BACnet, SNMP, EtherNet/IP and many more.

The FS-QS-2010 with 2 RS485 and 1 ethernet port can support up to 250 points. The FS-QS-2210 can support up to 500 points. The FS-QS-2310 can support up to 3,000 points. The FS-QS-2410 can support up to 5,000 points.

Equivalently the FS-QS-2020 with 1 RS485, 1 RS232 and 1 ethernet port can support up to 250 points. The FS-QS-2220 can support up to 500 points. The FS-QS-2320 can support up to 3,000 points. The FS-QS-2420 can support up to 5,000 points.

Every QuickServer includes browser-based tools to make it easy to set-up QuickServer and perform diagnostics including determination of status, network settings, node information, map descriptors and more. The USB flash drive also includes the Discovery utility to determine what FieldServers are on a network.

BTL Mark is registered to the MSA BACnet Driver for MSA QuickServer line of products

The Dual port QuickServer takes the QuickServers to the next level with Security and Power. With two Ethernet ports, the Dual port QuickServer allows data to move seamlessly across disparate subnets, using a dedicated port for Cloud connectivity. This port isolation allows for enhanced LAN security from the BMS/WAN/Cloud. An embedded OpenVPN Server enables secure remote access to Ethernet devices in the field.

The QuickServer FS-QS-3X10-F series is available at four different point capacities. Each QuickServer is preloaded with 140 different drivers, such as Modbus, BACnet, SNMP, EtherNet/IP and many more. See page 3 for the complete list. The FS-QS-3010-F can support up to 250 points. The FS-QS-3110-F can support up to 500 points. The FS-QS-3210-F can support up to 1,000 points. The FS-QS-3310-F can support up to 3,000 points. The FS-QS-3410-F can support up to 5,000 points. The FS-QS-3510-Fire can support up to 10,000 points.

The Allen Bradley DF1 driver, FS-8700-03 aka 8700-03, allows the FieldServer to transfer data to and from devices over RS-232 using DF1 protocol. The FieldServer can emulate either a Server or Client. The information that follows describes how to expand upon the factory defaults provided in the configuration files included with the FieldServer.  

The Modbus RTU and Modbus ASCII drivers allow the FieldServer to transfer data to and from devices using Modbus RTU or Modbus ASCII protocol respectively. Data can be transferred over either RS- 232 or RS-485. The driver was developed for Modbus Application Protocol Specification V1.1a" from Modbus-IDA. The specification can be found at www.modbus.org.

The FieldServer can emulate either a Server or Client.

There are various register mapping models being followed by various vendors.

To cover all these models FieldServer uses the following three Models.

Modicon_5digit – Use this format where addresses are defined in 0xxxx, 1xxxx, 3xxxx or 4xxxx format. A maximum of 9999 registers can be mapped of each type. This is FieldServer driver’s default format.

ADU –Application Data Unit address. Use this format where addresses of each type are defined in the range 1-65536

PDU –Protocol Data unit address. Use this format where addresses of each type are defined in the range 0-65535.

The key difference between ADU and PDU is for example if Address_Type is ADU and address is 1, the driver will poll for register 0. If Address_Type is PDU, the driver will poll for address 1.

Note 1: If vendor document shows addresses in extended Modicon (i.e. 6 digit) format like 4xxxxx then consider these addresses as xxxxx (just omit the first digit) and use either ADU or PDU

Note 2: The purpose of providing 3 different ways of addressing the Modbus registers is to allow the user to choose the addressing system most compatible with the address list being used. At the protocol level, the same protocol specification is used for all three with the exception of the limited address range for Modicon_5digit.

The SBT-FSI (Siemens Building Technologies – Foreign Systems Interface) driver allows the FieldServer to transfer data to and from Siemens MXL/XLS devices (NIM-1R1 or NIM-1W or RPM2 ) over either RS- 232 or RS-485 using MXL/XLS to foreign system protocol. The FieldServer can emulate either a Server or a Client. Note that the Driver does not support MXL and XLS panels networked together.