IBA ibaLink-VME VMEbus interface card

About ibaLink-VME

The ibaLink-VME interface card is a multi-purpose, bidirectional interface card designed for use

in VMEbus compatible PLCs and computer systems. It may be used for data acquisition and pro

cess monitoring purposes as well as in control system applications, such as the ibaLogic soft PLC.

ibaLink-VME is the successor of the ibaLink-SM-128V-i-2o card (also called here SM128) and

completely compatible with the previous functions in 3Mbit mode. In addition ibaLink-VME

offers new functions using the ibaNet protocols 32Mbit and 32Mbit Flex.

The key features of the card include:

■ 1 bidirectional fiber-optic link for inputs/outputs (channel 1)

■ 1 unidirectional fiber-optic link for outputs (channel 2)

■ ibaNet protocols 3Mbit, 32Mbit and 32Mbit Flex

■ Flexible data selection and rate setting with 32Mbit Flex

■ Cascading of up to 15 devices in 32Mbit Flex mode at channel 1

■ Compatible interface for all ibaFOB cards

■ Compatible process I/O interface for ibaPADU-8-IO series and ibaNet750-BM series

■ Block coherent mode

■ Data exchange between 2 systems in Peer-to-Peer mode (P2P)

The ibaLink-VME card can be used in both VME32 and VME64 systems (6U height).

5 V power supply is required (from VMEbus).

VME specification according to ANSI VITA 1-1994:

■ Supported addressing modes: A24. A32. A40 and A64

■ Supported data formats: 8/16/32 Bit (D08/D16/D32/MD32)

■ Supported block transfer modes: 8/16/32 Bit (BLT)

■ Supported block transfer modes: 64 Bit (MBLT)

■ Support for unaligned transfers (UAT) and read-modify-write (RMW)

The following modes are not supported:

■ Auto configuration (AutoSlotID)

■ 2eVME/2eSST

The ibaLink-VME card is a passive slave board on the VMEbus, i.e. no active master access on

the VMEbus will be performed. The card occupies 256 kByte memory space on the VMEbus.

Block coherent mode

The exchange of VME and fiber optic data happens asynchronously from each other. This means

that blocks of data that are written on the VME side are not necessarily transported over the

fiber optic telegram as one block. There is only some coherence guaranteed based on the type

of write access that was used (byte, word or dword).

When coherent transmission of a complete block of data is needed, a special ‘Coherent Mode’

could be enabled by setting a DIP switch. Now the VME receive and transmit buffers are only

updated when the user writes to a special Update Register. In this way it is possible to keep

blocks of coherent data together.

Fields of application

3Mbit protocol

When using the 3Mbit ibaNet protocol, all iba devices supporting this protocol can be connect

ed to the input and output. The following applications are possible:

■ Computer coupling to SIMATIC S5. SIMIKRO MMC and SIMADYN D (ibaLink-SM-64-io and –SD-16)

■ Input and output of peripheral signals (e.g. ibaPADU-8. -16. -32. -8-O, ibaNet750 BM)

■ Coupling to ibaLogic-V3. ibaLogic-V4. ibaPDA (all ibaFOB cards), can also be cascaded with

ibaPADU and ibaNet750

■ Bidirectional coupling to a Profibus master, e.g. SIMATIC S7 (ibaBM-DPM-S-64)

■ Multiplying output signals (ibaBM-FOX-i-3o-D)

32Mbit P2P protocol

Using the fast P2P protocol the following connections are possible, depending on the

telegram type:

■ Fast computer coupling (up to 50µs) between VMEbus based automation systems, e.g.

SIMATIC TDC, HPCi, LOGIDYN D (ibaLink-VME)

■ Fast computer coupling to ibaLogic-V4 (iba-FOB-xx-D and ibaFOB-io-ExpressCard)

■ Computer coupling to systems with embedded iba-FPGA, e.g. ABB AC800 PEC

■ Fast connection to I/O peripheral devices, e.g. ibaPADU-S-IT with ibaLogic

■ Connection to SINAMICS LINK (ibaBM-SiLink)

■ Connection to a collector and distributor ibaBM-COL-8i-o and ibaBM-DIS-i-8o

32Mbit Flex protocol

Using 32Mbit Flex protocol ibaLink-VME is compatible to all 32Mbit Flex-enabled iba-devices.

ibaLink-VME can be connected within a ring to these devices. But the card cannot communicate

with the other devices, only with the Flex master (at the moment only ibaPDA).