YOKOGAWA STARDOM FCN-RTU Controller

Seamless Communication and SCADA Integration Capability: Breaking the 'Information Island'

In wide area SCADA applications, communication is often the biggest technical bottleneck and cost center. One of the design essences of FCN-RTU is its excellent "connectivity".

1. Physical layer connection with multiple media and protocols

The core network of FCN-RTU is based on TCP/IP, making it easy to build control networks using commercial off the shelf (COTS) network components such as switches and routers. More importantly, it can adapt to various narrowband communication infrastructure, including public telephone lines GSM/GPRS、 Satellite links and private radio stations. This feature enables it to maintain a reliable connection with the control center even in remote mountainous areas, offshore platforms, or mobile devices.

2. Built in communication port and mainstream protocol stack

This is a significant advantage that sets FCN-RTU apart from many similar products. The CPU module directly integrates:

1 100BASE-TX Ethernet port, supporting automatic power-saving mode.

3 RS-232 serial ports (supporting up to 115kbps).

1 RS-422/485 serial port (supports up to 115kbps and can be configured with a 120 Ω terminal resistor).

These ports natively support Modbus RTU/ASCII and Modbus TCP protocols, and can be optionally equipped with a DNP3 protocol stack. This means that engineers do not need to purchase expensive specialized communication modules and can directly use the built-in serial or network ports to connect to smart instruments, frequency converters, or other PLCs on site, acting as protocol conversion gateways. For scenarios that require connection to Mitsubishi MELSEC or Yokogawa FA-M3 PLC, a dedicated driver library is also provided.

3. Efficient SCADA data exchange

When used in conjunction with Yokogawa's SCADA CI Server, FCN-RTU exhibits extremely high efficiency in narrow bandwidth and high cost wireless communication environments

Report by Exception: Traditional polling methods continue to consume bandwidth, while FCN-RTU only sends updates to the central server when data changes, significantly reducing communication traffic and costs.

Data timestamp and network fault switching: Each data point has an accurate timestamp, ensuring complete traceability of historical data even after network interruption recovery. At the same time, it supports dual network redundancy. When the main network link fails, it can automatically switch to the backup link to ensure that data is not lost.

In addition, FCN-RTU also provides OPC servers (supporting OPC DA 2.05a and A&E 1.10), enabling seamless integration with any third-party SCADA system that supports OPC standards, such as Wonderware, iFix, etc. Its built-in web server function allows authorized users to directly access the status, logs, and diagnostic information of the controller through the browser of their smartphone or laptop, achieving true device management "anytime, anywhere".

Advanced engineering software based on IEC 61131-3

A powerful hardware platform requires equally powerful software tools to unleash its potential. The engineering suite of FCN-RTU follows the best practices of modern software engineering, decoupling logic development from hardware configuration.

1. Logic Designer: Platform independent logic development

Logic Designer is an integrated development environment (IDE) for FCN-RTU, which fully complies with the IEC 61131-3 international standard and supports all five programming languages:

Ladder diagram (LD)

Function Block Diagram (FBD)

Structured Text (ST)

Instruction List (IL)

Sequential Function Diagram (SFC)

This enables engineers familiar with different programming paradigms to work efficiently. More importantly, application development in Logic Designer is completely 'platform independent'. Engineers can complete the writing, simulation, and debugging of all control logic on a standard PC without actual hardware. The logical I/O in the program (such as the input of a PID function block) is separated from the physical hardware (such as the third channel of an AI module).

2. Resource Configurator: Flexible hardware mapping

After the logic development is completed, engineers use the Resource Configurator tool to map logical I/O to actual hardware channels. This separation architecture brings unparalleled application portability. For example, a pump station control program written for an FCN-RTU can be deployed to another FCN-RTU with a different hardware configuration or a larger FCN controller by simply reconfiguring the I/O mapping in the Resource Configurator without modifying any logical code. This greatly enhances the reusability of the program and significantly shortens the project delivery cycle.

3. Efficient debugging and maintenance features

Online download: Allow modification and download of control logic without stopping the controller operation. This is crucial for continuous production processes that do not allow downtime. During the modification process, all variable values will be inherited to ensure a smooth transition.

Parameter Saving: The P, I, D parameters and other key process parameters of PID control can be declared as "Retained variables". These variables remain after the controller is powered off and restarted, and do not need to be re inputted. Multiple parameter sets can be backed up to a PC for quick switching between different operating conditions.