RS-485

Introduction
When communicating at high data rates, or over long distances in real world environments, RS-232 are
often inadequate. Differential data transmission (balanced differential signal) offers superior performance
in most applications.

RS422 Serial Communication

RS422 is a Standard interfaces approved by the Electronic Industries Association (EIA), and designed for
greater distances and higher Baud rates than RS232. In its simplest form, a pair of converters from
RS232 to RS422 (and back again) can be used to form an "RS232 extension cord." Data rates of up to
100K bits / second and distances up to 4000 Ft. can be accommodated with RS422. RS422 is also
specified for multi-drop (party-line) applications where only one driver is connected to, and transmits on, a
"bus" of up to 10 receivers. RS422 devices cannot be used to construct a truly multi-point network. A true
multi-point network consists of multiple drivers and receivers connected on a single bus, where any node
can transmit or receive data.

RS485 Serial Communication

RS485 is an Electronics Industry Association (EIA) standard for multipoint communications. It supports
several types of connectors, including DB-9 and DB-37. RS-485 is similar to RS-422 but can support
more nodes per line RS485 meets the requirements for a truly multi-point communications network, and
the standard specifies up to 32 drivers and 32 receivers on a single (2-wire) bus. With the introduction of
"automatic" repeaters and high-impedance drivers / receivers this "limitation" can be extended to
hundreds (or even thousands) of nodes on a network. The RS-485 and RS-422 standards have much in
common, and are often confused for that reason. RS-485, which specifies bi-directional, half-duplex data
transmission, is the only EIA/TIA standard that allows multiple receivers and drivers in "bus"
configurations. RS-422, on the other hand, specifies a single, unidirectional driver with multiple receivers.
RS485 is a balanced line, half-duplex1 transmission system allowing transmission distances of up to 1.2
km. The following table summarizes the RS-485 Standard:

1 Half duplex is a system in which one or more transmitters (talkers) can communicate with one or more
receivers (listeners) with only one transmitter being active at any one time. In a 485 network the master
will start the conversation with a Query addressed to a specific slave, the master will then listen for
the slaves response. If the slave does not respond within a pre-defined period, (set by control software
in the master), the master will abandon the conversation.

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To solve the "data collision" problem often present in multi-drop networks hardware units (converters,
repeaters, micro-processor controls) can be constructed to remain in a receive mode until they are ready
to transmit data. So Master Slave network is used for the same.

HALF-DUPLEX RS-485
Half-duplex RS-485 links have multiple drivers and receivers on the same signal path. This is the reason
why RS-485 transceivers must have driver/receiver enable pins enabling only one driver to send data at a
time.
A single twisted pair is used for data transmission and reception. Multiple RS485 devices are connected
in a single bus, as shown figure. Devices from different vendors may use different names for the data
signal terminals.
The common terminal must be connected to the corresponding terminals of all network devices, to ensure
the same potential in all devices. If a common wire is not connected to all devices, all must be properly
grounded according to the manufacturer recommendation. This demand results in using a third wire that,
although not being part of the communication process, is essential to ensure the electrical integrity of the
network devices. The need to install termination resistors depends on the total length of the
communication bus and the communication speed (baud rate).

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FULL-DUPLEX RS-485
This configuration is also known as a 4-wire RS-485 network connected in a multipoint master/slave
configuration. Full-duplex RS-485 allows for simultaneous communication in both directions between
master and slave nodes.

In this mode two pairs of wires are used. Data from the RS485 converter to the networked devices are
transmitted through one pair, and the other pair carries data from the devices to the RS485 converter.
Multiple devices are connected as shown in figure.
The common terminal must be connected to the corresponding terminals of all network devices, to ensure
the same potential in all devices. If a common wire is not connected to all devices, all must be properly
grounded according to the manufacturer recommendation. This demand results in using a fifth wire that,
although not being part of the communication process, is essential to ensure the electrical integrity of the
network devices. The need to install termination resistors depends on the total length of the
communication bus and the communication speed (baud rate).

FULL-DUPLEX RS422
Full-Duplex RS485 specification supersedes RS422. The same connection instructions shown for FullDuplex RS485 apply for RS422 connection.

TERMINATION
In a transmission line, there are two wires, one to carry the currents from the driver to the receiver and
another to provide the return path back to the driver.
For reliable RS-485 and RS-422 communications, it is essential that the reflections in the transmission
line be kept as small as possible. This can only be done by proper cable termination.

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Reflections happen very quickly during and just after signal transitions. On a long line, the reflections are
more likely to continue long enough to cause the receiver to misread logic levels. On short lines, the
reflections occur much sooner and have no effect on the received logic levels.
In RS-422 applications there is only one driver on the bus and if termination is to be used it must be
placed at the end of the cable near the last receiver.
In RS-485 applications require termination at the master node and the slave node furthest from the
master. Table given below shows a comparison of different termination techniques .

No Termination
The time required for a signal to propagate down the line to a receiver determines if a line is considered a
transmission line. Physically long wires have longer propagation times, whereas physically short wires
have shorter propagation times. When the propagation time is short relative to the data bit duration, the
effect on the signal quality is minimized. A cable is not seen as a transmission line if the signal rise time is
more than four times the propagation delay of the cable.

Parallel Termination
When two or more drivers share a pair of wires, each end of the link has a termination resistor equal to
the characteristic impedance of the cable. There should be no more than two terminating resistors in the
network regardless of how many nodes are connected.
In a half-duplex configuration, both ends of the cable must be terminated (see Figure 3). In a full duplex
configuration only the master receiver and most remote slave receiver need to be terminated.

AC Termination
AC termination is used to reduce the power consumption of idle links as well as to reduce ringing
voltages. The negative effect though is a reduction in cable length and bit rate. A resistor and capacitor
can be placed in series across the bus (between A and B) as shown in Figure 5. The Capacitor CT is
selected by using the following formula:

Topology
The best way to ensure a robust and reliable RS-485 network is to build it around a daisy-chain
configuration. When a backbone with stubs topology is used, the stub length should be much shorter than
the main bus length.

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Connecting the Instruments

Screened twisted pair cable should be used. All A connections should be connected together using one
conductor of the twisted pair cable; all B connections should be connected together using the other
conductor in the pair. The cable screen should be connected to the Gnd terminal.
A Belden 9841 (Single pair) or 9842 (Two pair) cable with a characteristic impedance of 120 ohms is
recommended, the cable should be terminated at each end with a 120 ohm, quarter watt (or greater)
resistor.

There must be no more than two wires connected to each terminal, this ensures that a Daisy Chain or
straight line configuration is used. A Star or a network with Stubs (Tees) is not recommended as
reflections within the cable may result in data corruption.

CABLE LENGTH AND DATA RATE

RS422 and RS485 specified maximum cable length is 1200 meters. The maximum working data rate (in
bits per second bps) depends on network devices characteristics, cable capacitance and installed
termination resistors. The longer the communication cables, the lower the maximum data rate. As a rule
of thumb, no problems are expected when the cable length (in meters) multiplied by the data rate (in bps)
is lower than 10^8 (100,000,000), for a well designed and installed system. The following figure illustrates
the length x rate trade-off. System performance will change depending on the cable type, termination,
network topology, environment electrical noise and quality of line drivers and receivers in each device.

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MAXIMUM NUMBER OF DEVICES IN A RS485 BUS

RS485 standard does not specify the maximum number of devices attached to a bus, but it does a lot of
parameters that can be used for calculating this limit. Some of these parameters are:
Low limit for bus resulting load resistance.
Load (resistance) value that each device presents to the bus, called Unit Load (15 kW).
Minimum current value that the driver (transmitter) of a RS485 device must be able to supply.
Based on these data and considering the need of termination resistors in both ends of the bus
(corresponding to 60 W), it can be calculated the limit of 32 unit load devices for a RS485 communication
bus.
Many new RS485 devices have less than one unit load, usually 1/2, 1/4 and 1/8 of a unit load. By using
only 1/8th load devices in a network, it is possible to have up to 256 devices in a terminated RS485 bus.
In smaller applications, where the cable lengths are short and/or the data rate is low, it may be possible to
eliminate the termination resistors. This allows the bus device capacity to increase from 32 to 282
devices! Of course, a reliable operation in such condition is not guaranteed at all.

CONNECTIONS
The appropriate connection of the devices depends on the type of serial network: RS422, 2-wire RS485
or 4-wire RS485. A shielded twisted-pairs cable is recommended for wiring the communication bus from
the converter to all network devices. The shield should be grounded and/or connected to the common
terminals of all devices. The minimum recommended wire gauge is 24 AWG (0.2 mm2).
RS485 or RS422 devices from different vendors or of different models may identify the communication
terminals using distinct notation. The following table shows some of these notations and its equivalences.

Comparison

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Converters
Converters in general can be used to change the electrical characteristic of one communications standard
into another, to take advantage of the best properties of the alternate standard selected. For example, an
Automatic RS232<=>RS485 converter, could be connected to a computer's RS232, full-duplex port, and
transform it into an RS485 half-duplex, multi-drop network at distances up to 4000ft. Converters in most
instances, pass data through the interface without changing the timing and/or protocol. While the
conversion is "transparent" the software must be able to communicate with the expanded network
features. An "Automatic Converter" (RS232<=>RS485) will turn on the RS485 transmitter when data is
detected on the RS232 port, and revert back into the receive mode after a character has been sent. This
avoids timing problems (and software changes) that are difficult to deal with in typical systems. When full
duplex is converted into half-duplex only one device at a time can transmit data. Automatic Converters
take care of the timing problems and allow fast communications without software intervention.

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