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TYPES OF PLC LANGUAGES

The three types of programming languages used in

PLCs are:

• Ladder

• Boolean

• Grafcet

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LADDER LANGUAGE

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Enhanced functional block format

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PLC Instruction Set Classifications

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These instruction categories include:

• ladder relay
• timing
• counting
• program/flow control
• arithmetic
• data manipulation
• data transfer
• special function (sequencers)
• network communication
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 BOOLEAN

Some PLC manufacturers use Boolean language, also called

Boolean mnemonics, to program a controller.

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 GRAFCET

•Grafcet (Graphe Fonctionnel de Commande Étape

Transition) is a symbolic, graphic language, which
originated in France, that represents the control
program as steps or stages in the machine or process.

•In fact, the English translation of Grafcet means “step

transition function charts.”

•As the IEC 1131 standard’s sequential function charts

(SFCs), which allow several PLC languages to be used in
one control program.
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Grafcet translation

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 LADDER DIAGRAM FORMAT

•A ladder rung is TRUE when it has logic continuity.

•Logic continuity exists when power flows through the rung

from left to right.

•The execution of logic events that enable the output provide

this continuity.
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Illustration of several different continuity
paths in a ladder rung

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 Monitoring device showing

(a)Power continuity through the rung—inputs 11 and 12 are

ON, turning output 40 ON.
(b)Power continuity through only input 12, thus output 40 is
not ON.

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 Functional block instructions

(a) one enable line and one output

(b) one enable line, a start timing command, and two outputs.

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A functional block instruction that is always enabled

To make a block active at all times without any driving logic, the
user can omit all contact logic and place a continuity line in the
block during programming

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 The ladder rung matrix

•It determines the maximum number of ladder contact

elements that can be used to program a rung.
•The size of this matrix differs among both PLC manufacturers
and the programming devices used

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 Ladder matrix

(a)functional block instructions

(b)Enhanced ladder format functional instructions.

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•One rule, which is present in almost all PLCs, prevents
reverse (i.e., right-to-left) power flow in a ladder rung.

•PLC logic does not allow reverse power to avoid sneak

paths.

•Sneak paths occur when power flows in a reverse

direction through an undesired field device, thus
completing a continuity path.

•If a PLC’s logic requires reverse power flow, the user

must reprogram the rung with forward power flow to
all contact elements.
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EXAMINE-ON/NORMALLY OPEN EXAMINE-OFF/NORMALLY CLOSED

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OUTPUT COIL

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LATCH/UNLATCH OUTPUT COIL

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ONE-SHOT OUTPUT

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TRANSITIONAL CONTACT

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Ladder rung where all outputs
turn ON in the same scan

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Ladder rung where the outputs
turn ON in different scans

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TIMER INSTRUCTIONS

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Hardwired circuit with time-delay
and instantaneous contacts

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ON-DELAY ENERGIZE/ DE-ENERGIZE TIMER

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OFF-DELAY ENERGIZE/ DE-ENERGIZE TIMER

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COUNTER INSTRUCTIONS

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Counter function block with
up, down, and reset counter
instructions

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Automatically resetting counter

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 Program/flow control instructions

•They direct the flow of operations, as well as

the execution of instructions, within a ladder
program.

•They perform these functions using branching

and return instructions, which are executed
when certain already programmed control logic
conditions occur.

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Example of an MCR instruction

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Example of a jump to instruction

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PLC with assigned subroutines at
the end of the program

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User-created subroutine area

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ARITHMETIC INSTRUCTIONS

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 Arithmetic Instructions

(a) Coil (b) contact (c) block format.

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DATA MANIPULATION INSTRUCTIONS

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DATA TRANSFER INSTRUCTIONS

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SPECIAL FUNCTION INSTRUCTIONS

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A sequencer (SEQ) block

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Sequencer instruction block

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 DIAGNOSTICS
A diagnostics (DIAG) block instruction compares two
memory blocks.

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PID functional block

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Operation of a network output coil and a network
contact instructions.
Note that contact 20 in PLC #2 is a local contact

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Network Send/Receive

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 BOOLEAN MNEMONICS
It is a PLC language based primarily on the Boolean operators
AND, OR, and NOT.

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 INTRODUCTION TO THE IEC 1131

The International Electrotechnical Commission

(IEC) SC65B-WG7 committee developed the IEC
1131 standard in an effort to standardize
programmable controllers.

One of the committee’s objectives was to

create a common set of PLC instructions that
could be used in all PLCs.

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It defines two graphical languages and two text-based
languages for use in PLC programming.

The graphical languages use symbols to program control

instructions, while the text-based languages use
character strings to program instructions.

Graphical languages
• ladder diagrams (LD)
• function block diagram (FBD)

Text-based languages
• instruction list (IL)
• structured text (ST)
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 The five IEC 61131-3 Programming languages
Function Block Diagram (FBD) graphical languages Sequential Flow Chart (SFC)
AUTO CALC1
START STEP
DI CALC PUMP

V IN1 OUT >=1 DO T1

MAN_ON V N ACTION D1 D1_READY
STEP A
ACT IN2
D ACTION D2 D2_READY
T2
N ACTION D3 D3_READY
STEP B
Ladder Diagram (LD)
D ACTION D4 D4_READY
CALC1 T3

AUTO CALC PUMP

IN1 OUT
ACT textual languages Structured Text (ST)
IN2
VAR CONSTANT X : REAL := 53.8 ;
MAN_ON
Z : REAL; END_VAR
VAR aFB, bFB : FB_type; END_VAR

bFB(A:=1, B:=„OK‟);
Instruction List (IL) Z := X - INT_TO_REAL (bFB.OUT1);
A: LD %IX1 (* PUSH BUTTON *) IF Z>57.0 THEN aFB(A:=0, B:=“ERR”);
ANDN %MX5 (* NOT INHIBITED *) ELSE aFB(A:=1, B:=“Z is OK”);
ST %QX2 (* FAN ON *) END_IF

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59
 Limit switch addressed
(a) a standard PLC environment (b) an IEC 1131-3 environment

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•Ladder diagram language (LD) uses a
standardized set of ladder programming
symbols to implement control functions.

•Instruction list (IL) is a low-level language

similar to the machine or assembly language
used with microprocessors. This type of
language is useful for small applications, as well
as applications that require speed optimization
of the program or a specific routine in the
program.
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•Structured text (ST) is a high-level language that allows
structured programming, meaning that many complex
tasks can be broken down into smaller ones. ST
resembles a BASIC- or PASCAL-type computer language.

Structured text programming is particularly suited to

applications involving data handling, computational
sorting, and intensive mathematical applications
utilizing floating-point values.

ST is also the best language for implementing artificial

intelligence (AI) computations, fuzzy logic, and decision
making.

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 SEQUENTIAL FUNCTION CHARTS (SFC)

Sequential functional chart, or SFC, is a graphical

“language” that provides a diagrammatic
representation of control sequences in a program.

Basically, sequential function chart is a flowchart-

like framework that can organize the subprograms
or subroutines (programmed in LD, FBD, IL, and/or
ST) that form the control program.

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The SFC programming framework contains three main
elements that organize the control program:
• steps
A step is a stage in the control process.

• transitions
After the PLC executes a step/action, it must receive
a transition before it will proceed to the next step.

• actions
Each step may or may not have an action associated
with it. An action is a set of control instructions
prompting the PLC to execute a certain control
function during that step.
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Sequential function chart of
a mixing process

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 Comparison of an SFC
diagram and a flowchart

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Macrostep within an SFC program

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Graphic symbols used in SFCs

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(a) Level 1 SFC level 2 SFC

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PROGRAMMING NORMALLY
CLOSED TRANSITIONS

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 DIVERGENCES AND CONVERGENCES

A divergence is when an SFC element has many links going out of

it, while a convergence is when an element has many links
coming into it.

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OR Divergences and Convergences

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AND Divergences and Convergences

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 General PLC architecture
RS 232 Ethernet

Real-Time flash serial port ethernet

CPU ROM
Clock EPROM controller controller

extension
bus
parallel bus buffers

fieldbus analog- digital- external

Digital
controller digital analog Digital Output I/Os
Input
converters converters

signal power signal

relays
conditioning amplifiers conditioning

field bus direct Inputs and Outputs

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I/O bus network block diagram

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Connection between a PLC, a local area
network, and an I/O bus network

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 TYPES OF I/O BUS NETWORKS

I/O bus networks can be separated into two different

categories—one that deals with low-level devices that
are typical of discrete manufacturing operations and
another that handles high-level devices found in
process industries.

These bus network categories are:

• device bus networks

• process bus networks
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I/O bus network classification diagram

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Network and protocol standards

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InterBus-S I/O network interface
connected to a Siemens PLC

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 An InterBus-S network with a
host controller interface to a PLC

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ASI bit-wide device bus network

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I/O bus network using the
CANbus and ASI networks

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Process bus configuration

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Bridge connecting low-speed and
high-speed Fieldbus networks

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Profibus hierarchy

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DeviceNet I/O bus port connections

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