AS-i Communications System

SIMATIC S7 Date: 24.06.2004

SITRAIN Training for
Automation and Drives
Siemens AG 2004. All rights reserved. File: PRO1_A1E.1

Contents Page
Area of Use and Basic Properties ................................................................................................. 2
AS-i Cables ...................................................................................................................................... 3
AS-i Modules ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Configuration .................................................................................................................................... 5
Addressing AS-i Slaves .................................................................................................................. 6

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Automation and Drives Page 1 AS-i Communications System
 Area of Use and Basic Properties

SIMATIC S7 Date: 24.06.2004

SITRAIN Training for
Automation and Drives
Siemens AG 2004. All rights reserved. File: PRO1_A1E.2

Introduction The Actuator-Sensor Interface is used in the lowest end of industrial data
communication. Main areas of use are the connection of binary actuators and
sensors.
The Actuator-Sensor Interface is normed according to EN 50295 and is a
manufacturer-independent bus system of the degree of protection IP67.

Properties
Connectable system: binary inputs and outputs
analog inputs and outputs

Number of slaves: maximum of 62

Response time: < 5ms

Maximum length: 300 m

Topologies: Point to Point topology

Star topology
Bus topology

Transport medium: unshielded cable with 2 wires

Bus principle: Master - Slave

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Automation and Drives Page 2 AS-i Communications System
 AS-i Cable

Geometrical
ribbon cable

Contacts Slave housing

SIMATIC S7 Date: 24.06.2004

SITRAIN Training for
Automation and Drives
Siemens AG 2004. All rights reserved. File: PRO1_A1E.3

Energy and Data AS-interface uses unshielded ribbon cable to transmit data and energy (IP67).
This cable is yellow.
Because of the transmission of data and energy on a two-wire cable, a special
AS-i – power pack with data isolation is required.

Properties Due to the geometric design of the cable, the wires for + and – can no longer be
mixed up. The cable is “self-healing”. Slaves can be placed where ever you like.

Auxiliary Power For power consumption over 8 amperes or for selective switch-off, such as, in
emergency situations, an AC or DC auxiliary power can be laid in parallel
through a cable of the same kind. Typically, a red cable is used for 230 VAC and
a black cable is used for 24 VDC.

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Automation and Drives Page 3 AS-i Communications System
 AS-i Modules

AS-i Bus

Compact Modules

Profibus DP

Analog Modules
DP/AS-i Link 20
Power Supply

SIMATIC S7 Date: 24.06.2004

SITRAIN Training for
Automation and Drives
Siemens AG 2004. All rights reserved. File: PRO1_A1E.4

DP/AS-i Link 20 The DP/AS-i Link 20 takes over the role of AS-i Master and is Profibus slave
with regards to its connection to the SIMATIC S7 at the same time.
Through communication processors (CP), the SIMATIC S7 could also be
connected directly with the AS-i bus.

Slaves Every AS-i slave has a unique bus address. You enter this bus address with the
programming unit.

Compact Modules Compact modules consist of two housing parts: the mounting plate (base
module) and the attach module (communication unit). The mounting plate
makes the connection with the yellow As-i cable and is snapped onto a
commercial DIN mounting rail. The standard actuators and sensors are attached
to the attach module with screw caps. There are atttach modules with up to a
maximum of 4 inputs and 4 outputs each.

Analog Modules The design of the analog modules is the same as for the compact modules.
Analog modules can have a maximum of 2 channels. These can be 2 input or 2
output channels. Analog sensors are also connected with screw caps.

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 Configuration

Profibus Slave
AS-i Master

SIMATIC S7 Date: 24.06.2004

SITRAIN Training for
Automation and Drives
Siemens AG 2004. All rights reserved. File: PRO1_A1E.5

Configuration The DP/ASI-i Link 20 is used in the hardware configuration like a standard
Profibus slave.
Addresses The DP/AS-i Link 20 is given a Profibus DP slave address, such as, the address
100.
After that, 16 input bytes and 16 output bytes each are assigned. In the
example, these are the addresses 24 to 39 – for the inputs as well as for the
outputs.

Communication The Profibus master communicates with the DP/AS-i Link 20 as Profibus slave
through the assigned input and output areas. The DP/AS-i Link 20
communicates independently as AS-i master with a maximum of 62 slaves.

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 Addressing AS-i slaves

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
24 slave 1 24 slave 1
25 slave 2 slave 3 25 slave 2 slave 3
26.7 26.6 26.5 26.4 26 slave 4 slave 5 26 slave 4 slave 5 26.3 26.2 26.1 26.0
27 slave 6 slave 7 27 slave 6 slave 7
28 slave 8 slave 9 28 slave 8 slave 9
29 slave 10 slave 11 29 slave 10 slave 11
30 slave 12 slave 13 30 slave 12 slave 13
31 slave 14 slave 15 31 slave 14 slave 15
32 slave 16 slave 17 32 slave 16 slave 17
33 slave 18 slave 19 33 slave 18 slave 19
34 slave 20 slave 21 34 slave 20 slave 21
35 slave 22 slave 23 35 slave 22 slave 23
36 slave 24 slave 25 36 slave 24 slave 25
37 slave 26 slave 27 37 slave 26 slave 27
38 slave 28 slave 29 38 slave 28 slave 29
39 slave 30 slave 31 39 slave 30 slave 31

SIMATIC S7 Date: 24.06.2004

SITRAIN Training for
Automation and Drives
Siemens AG 2004. All rights reserved. File: PRO1_A1E.6

4 Bits per Slave For every slave, 4 bits for inputs and outputs are always reserved (see also
above slide).
Depending of the type of AS-i slave, all or some of the bits are needed for
communication.

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Automation and Drives Page 6 AS-i Communications System