Turck has developed a novel protocol that enables high-density networking with I/O resource constrained PLCs. The Backplane Ethernet Extension Protocol (BEEP) can be used to network up to 33 devices and link them to a PLC on a single connection using a single IP address.

The first device in the I/O network is set as the BEEP master using the device webserver. The BEEP master can then scan the entire network and create a new data map that includes all the downstream devices, with all device configuration options saved in the master.

BEEP enables easy I/O network reconfiguration as it supports drop-in device replacement. So long as the network was set up using BEEP, a technician can simply replace a slave device with a new device to keep the system online. The BEEP master will automatically recognise the new device, assign it an IP address, and download the parameters to it.

BEEP technology has already been integrated into many of Turck’s multiprotocol digital block I/O modules, including the BL Compact pushbutton station, the TBEN-L and TBEN-S digital stations, and several variants of the FEN20 module. And, as BEEP is compatible with all standard Ethernet components it requires no special equipment.

Turck
1300 132 566
www.turck.com.au