Re: [foxboro] FCP's vs. ZCP selection on new projects

  • From: "Johnson, Alex P \(IPS\)" <alex.johnson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2007 12:32:50 -0400

Re: Does he really mean redundant switches or do you pass both the A and
B busses through a single switch?  =


Redundant. It's hard to draw everything using ASCII text.


Re: Is this a supported Foxboro method?

Yes. The picture on page 5 of PSS 21H-1B10 B3 (Z-Module Control
Processor 270 (ZCP270)) is supposed to represent both options.

If you look in B0700AN-B, Z-Module Control Processor 270 (ZCP270)
User's Guide, in Section 1 on page 6 shows a picture that is clearer.

In short, it is supported. =


BTW, did you really think I'd recommend an unsupported configuration?


Regards,

Alex Johnson
Invensys Systems, Inc.
10900 Equity Drive
Houston, TX 77041
713.329.8472 (voice)
713.329.1700 (fax)
713.329.1600 (switchboard)
alex.johnson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


-----Original Message-----
From: foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of tom.vandewater@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2007 10:35 AM
To: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [foxboro] FCP's vs. ZCP selection on new projects

Gaylon,
        Many thanks for your perspective.  My contention is that even
though the four baseplate limitation is gone on the FCP's, I will be
surprised if you will be able to host more than 64 FBM's on one of them
while getting the control performance you desire.  I will be interested
in hearing from you about this.  Are you already using FCP's or are you
just planning to begin?

You said:
"... the FCPs seem to be the future direction for CPs"
        I'm curious to know what you have heard from Foxboro about this.
I don't think the ZCP form factor is here to stay, at least I hope not,
but I do think the future will be an Ethernet fieldbus to each
individual FBM segment, (100MB/s E-Net to 2MB/s RS485.
        Is there anyone out there using FCP's with more than 64 FBM's?
If so, can you let us know about their performance as shown in the
STATION block?  I do like the FCP form factor and even the RS485
dedicated bus for robustness but I don't think Foxboro can optimize the
fieldbus communication enough over a 2MB/s RS485 network to host 128
FBM's successfully.  If Foxboro finds a way for an FCP to achieve
similar fieldbus loading performance to the ZCP I'll be on board.
        You are absolutely on target about the potential problems of the
Ethernet fieldbus across the MESH switches.  I just saw Alex's response
about using a dedicated switch per ZCP and it's associated FCM's.  That
is the 1st mention I've heard of that but it raises more questions.
Does he really mean redundant switches or do you pass both the A and B
busses through a single switch?  Is this a supported Foxboro method?
Are there users that have already implemented this strategy?
        The Ethernet fieldbus IS a double edged sword.  But if I need
multiple FCP's per process and have peer-to-peer between CP's, my
control of the process is still dependent on the MESH/Ethernet
communication, (FCP-to-FCP), to be effective.  It was no different than
when we used 10 CP-10's to control our processes across the nodebus.
The nodebus had to be there for us to operate, and for the most part, it
was.
        Have you experienced times when your ZCP's lost communication
with your FBM's because of network storms?  We experienced a network
problem just before we upgraded our switches to the latest firmware
revision but things have been good since then.  In order for the MESH to
be viable those kinds of problems will have to be resolved.  If you lose
MESH communication the operating techs also lose their window to see
what the FCP's are doing so my thought is that running the fieldbus over
the MESH switches isn't as critical as it sounds.
        Thanks again Gaylon for jumping in and keep us posted. =3D20
Tom VandeWater
Control Systems Developer/Analyst
Dow Corning Corporation
Carrollton, KY   USA

-----Original Message-----
From: foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Hicks, Gaylon F
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2007 10:22 AM
To: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [foxboro] FCP's vs. ZCP selection on new projects

Hi Tom,

We have several ZCP270s installed and running, but for new projects we
are using FCPs now that the four baseplate limit is gone.  The reasoning
behind this is that the FCPs seem to be the future direction for CPs,
and you avoid some grief and potential grief associated with the ZCP
Ethernet fieldbus.

The ZCP Ethernet fieldbus complicates life from a network standpoint in
that it doubles the number of ports required on your switches.  Also,
from network storm vulnerability standpoint, the FCP plays much nicer.
The concern on the ZCPs is that the Control and Fieldbus networks for a
ZCP are one flat network (there are some improvements coming along with
VLANs, and maybe QOS/prioritization in the FCMs/ZCPs, but not quite
yet), and during a network storm you can drop a lot of packets between
your FCMs/FBMs and ZCPs.  Depending on your process, this might or might
not be a problem.  The FCP architechure is more like our old familiar
pal the Nodebus/Fieldbus, with the 2MB fieldbus isolated (and protected)
from the Wild Wild Mesh.

Unless we have an application that needs the quick-and-easy fiber
ethernet fieldbus that you have with the ZCP, we will probably stick
exclusively to the FCPs in the future.=3D3D20

Anyway, that's my two cents.  Alex, have I mis-stated anything too badly
above? =3D3D20

Thanks,
Gaylon Hicks
TVA - Browns Ferry NP





-----Original Message-----
From: foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of tom.vandewater@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, August 13, 2007 8:26 AM
To: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [foxboro] FCP's vs. ZCP selection on new projects

Alex,
        Here are some questions.  The answers may be interesting to all
of the list members.  Like Adam, we also had a preference for the FCP's
because they had a compact form factor and could be mounted on
baseplates along with the rest of the 200 series I/O we were installing
to replace 100 series FBM's.  I guess the FCP's were initially developed
as a lower cost alternative.

        It is my understanding that the the FCP's have the same
horsepower with the exception that they don't have fast Ethernet
fieldbus communication.  Adding that capability would make the FCP's a
lot more flexible and would make it easier for them to communicate with
multiple distributed segments of I/O in the same way as the ZCP's

PSS 21H-1B9 B3 found on Foxboro's website lists this as the current
communication capability of the FCP270.
Supports up to 32 of the 200 Series FBMs
Supports up to 64 of the 200 Series FBMs with a Fieldbus Expansion
Module 100 (FEM100)
Supports up to 64 of the 100 Series Fieldbus Modules

PSS 21H-1B10 B3 found on Foxboro's website lists this as the current
communication capability of the ZCP270.
Supports up to 128 of the 200 Series Fieldbus Modules (FBMs) when using
the FCM100Et Fieldbus Communications Module
Supports up to 128 of the 200 Series FBMs, 100 Series FBMs, or a
combination 100 Series and 200 Series FBMs when using the FCM100E
Fieldbus Communications Module

Questions follow:

Does Foxboro have plans to release a CP in the FCP form factor that uses
a Fast Ethernet Fieldbus?

Has Foxboro considered increasing the number of FBM's that a ZCP can
communicate with?

Additional background information that may be helpful in understanding
the reason for asking the questions above:

        Because of the timing for our projects and the FCP's initial
limitations of communicating with only 32 200 series FBM's per CP we
went the route of ZCP270's.  They work fine but they take up a lot of
space in our racks because of the depth of the ZCP modules and the bulky
form factor of the old 1x8's needed to mount them.  We now have six sets
of Fault Tolerant ZCP's.
        Many of our processes initially used about 10 CP10's to control
a single process.  From our experience we could expect the CP-10's to
handle about 10 FBM's before they became loaded.  CP-30's made it
possible to handle about 30 FBM's.  CP-40's about 60 FBM's and we now
operate some of our CP-60's with 120 plus FBM's. =3D3D3D20
        We always try to maintain our CP's "Total Control Cycle" usage
at or below 70% as seen from the CP Station block parameters.  Now that
we have six pairs of Fault Tolerant ZCP's in operation controlling six
of our processes, (used to require about 60 CP-10's), it is obvious that
the ZCP270's could easily handle more than 128 FBM's in our application
environment.

Thanks for any response,

Tom VandeWater
Control Systems Developer/Analyst
Dow Corning Corporation
Carrollton, KY   USA

-----Original Message-----
From: foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Adam.Pemberton@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, August 13, 2007 1:38 AM
To: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [foxboro] FCP's talking 100 and 200 series simultaneously?

All knowing list:
=3D3D3D20

I'm planning to do an upgrade from remote Fieldbus (from CP40A's and
B's) and Cluster to FCP270's talking to the cluster. I want to be able
to move to 200 series FBM's in the future for new I/O and also
eventually replace the cluster.

=3D3D3D20

My question is do the FCP270's support talking to both 100 series and
200 series FBM's simultaneously and if not will it in the future? I know
that ZCP's do but I have a strong preference for FCP's.

=3D3D3D20

Assuming the answer to one of the questions is yes, will we be able to
use the existing FCP baseplates or will need new ones?

=3D3D3D20

Regards

Adam Pemberton
-Site Electrical & Control Systems Engineer
-20MW Geothermal Project Manager (Temporary)
Lihir Gold Limited

Ph: +675 9865 655
Fax: +675 9865 666
Trunk: 314 (or 9865200 pause 314)
Mob: Nogat
Postal:
   Australia: GPO Box 905, Brisbane, QLD 4001
   PNG: PO Box 789, Port Moresby, NCD

=3D3D3D20


=3D3D3D20
=3D3D3D20
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