Screenshot of Ewon device's web interface

The FINS IO server supports polling data from Omron equipment through its serial and Ethernet interfaces.

The Ewon can act as a FINS TCP/UDP client to give access to data from the Omron CSCJ series devices using the Ewon device’s Ethernet interface.

For Ewon devices including serial ports, the Ewon device can act as a FINS Hostlink client to give access to data from the Omron CSCJ series devices which are reachable using the serial port of the Ewon device.

The FINS IO Server also allows the Ewon device to act as an Ethernet to serial gateway for remote maintenance of the PLCs.

Gateway Setup (Serial Only)

The Gateway Setup portion of the IO server setup screen only appears if your hardware configuration includes a serial port. It defines the routing rules when the Ewon device is configured as a FINS gateway.

FINS TCP server node

Enter the FINS server node address for the Ewon device. This address is used during FINS TCP session establishment.

Routing Entry

Defines the destination networks and their matching relay destination nodes.

This information is used to fill in the host link unit ID in the hostlink frame encapsulating the FINS message sent out on the serial interface.

Communication Setup (Serial Only)

The COM Setup portion of the IO Server setup screen only appears if your hardware configuration includes a serial port.

The serial port on the Ewon device must be configured to use the same RS standard (RS232/422/485) as the PLC.
For the FLA 3301 – 2 Serial Port Extension card:

  • Port S2 is fixed RS232 mode
  • Port S1 is configurable with dip switches.

Additional configuration may also be required through the web interface in Serial ports.

COM Port

Physical COM port allocated to the MODBUS IO server. The numbering of the serial COM ports starts with the serial port of the Base Unit (if available) and then continues with the upper port of the first Extension Module starting from the left.

Set the COM Port to the port to which the PLC is connected.

Baudrate

Select the baudrate from 1200 to 38400 bauds.

Set the baudrate as required to match the settings in your PLC.

Parity

The parity to apply: none / odd / even.

Set the parity as required to match the settings in your PLC.

Stop Bit(s)

Number of stop bits.

Set the stop bit as required to match the settings in your PLC.

HW mode

The HW Mode options are: Half Duplex, Full Duplex HW Handshaking, and Full Duplex NO Handshaking.

Set the HW mode as required to match the settings in your PLC.

Serial FINS network

The Source Network Address.

This network address is used in FINS request messages originating from the Ewon device and sent on the serial interface.

Serial FINS node

The Source Node Address.

This node address is used in FINS request messages originating from the Ewon device and sent on the serial interface.

Communication Setup (Ethernet & Serial)

Ethernet FINS network

The Source Network Address.

This network address is used in FINS request messages originating from the Ewon device and sent on the Ethernet interface.

Ethernet FINS node

The Source Node Address.

This node address is used in FINS request messages originating from the Ewon device and sent on the Ethernet interface.

Topic Configuration

Topics give common properties to groups of FINS tags such as whether polling is enabled or disabled for these tags, their poll rate, and the destination device type and address.

Protocol

The protocol used for the communication with the PLC.

Options include Fins TCP and Fins UDP. Ewon devices with a serial port will also offer a serial option.

Global Device Address

The Global Device Address is a global parameter that identifies the device to be polled.

If an address is specified here, it will replace (overload) the address defined at the tag level.

Clicking in the Global Device Address field will enable an address helper to assist with selecting the appropriate address syntax for your device.

  • For Fins UDP or Fins TCP, the device address is the FINS network, FINS Node, IP address.
  • For serial, the device address is FINS network, FINS Node, hostlinkId.

When the address entered is a valid syntax, the contents of the field will appear green. When the syntax is invalid, the contents of the field will appear in red.

Poll rate

Defines the refresh rate of the tag name.

Enter the refresh rate in ms (milliseconds) for the tags associated with this topic. The default value is 2000 ms (2 seconds).

More information about these parameters and the FINS IO server tags can be found in the RG-0007-00 - IO Servers.