SIEMENS S7 MPI

1. Overview

This driver provides the software interface and communication protocol between XPanel and
Siemens Simatic S7 PLCs via MPI protocol. It supports the following families of Siemens
Simatic S7 system.
z S7-200/300/400

2. Communication Setup : XPanel

(1) Create a new device.

For creating a new device activate the menu ‘Tools’->’I/O Devices’ or icon in tool-

bar. Following picture shows the first step of creating a new device.

z I/O Device Name

Give a device name. This name will be used in the TAG configuration window of
database accompanied by the ‘Station Name’.
(2) Select a network type : ‘SIEMENS S7 MPI’
After selecting the ‘OK’ button of previous step, ‘Serial Communication Configuration’
dialog box will be popped up as shown in following picture.

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 In this window, select the ‘Device Type’ as ‘SIEMENS S7 MPI’ and appropriate
communication parameters. Those parameters must be matched with the PLC.
z Local ID
Give a station (node) number of XPanel. This number does not duplicated with the
one of PLC. The node number can be the integer value between 0 and 126.
z Network Opt.
Designate the maximum station (node) number of connected network. This can be
one of following numbers. If the XPanel is the unique master in network, the
integer value of (1,000+maximum station number) should be designated.

15, 31, 63, 126 (when the XPanel is not the unique master in network)
or
1015, 1031, 1063, 1126 (when the Xpanel is the unique master in network)

(3) Create a station

Move to the ‘Station’ tab of ‘Serial Communication Configuration’ dialog box. In this
dialog box, all the connected PLC stations can be configured and registered to the
XPanel. Each field can be configured with following rules.

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z Station Name
Give a name to the PLC. This name will be used in the database window
accompanied with the ‘Device Name’.
z Station Type
Choose the ‘S7 MPI’. (No other type can be selected.)
z Network ID
This field has no meaning in this driver. (ignored in runtime)
z Station No.
Specify a decimal number between 0 and 126.
z 16Bit Data Swap
This option swaps bytes of all word or double word sized data. Following diagram
shows an example of byte swapping.

Almost all of the data type will be influenced by this option except INT8 / UINT8 /
BCD8 / UBCD8.
z 32Bit Data Swap
This option swaps words of all double word sized data. Following diagram shows
an example of word swapping.

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 Double Word Data 1234ABCDh ABCD1234h

INT32 / UINT32 / BCD32 / UBCD32 / FLOAT type of TAG values will be influenced
by this option.
z Using Checksum
This field has no effect.
z Comm. Error Message Pop Up
If this item is checked, XPanel displays a communication error notification
message at every Rx and Tx error.
Otherwise(unchecked), XPanel does not display the message at data receive error.
Only when there is data transmit (writing a TAG value to the station) error, the
notification message is popped up. This message box will be closed automatically
about 5 seconds after.

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3. Address Notation
The address of TAG in XPanel has the following format.

TAG Type Format Example

Analog [Symbol][DB Number,][Address] DB1,1

Digital [Symbol][DB Number,][Address].[Bit Number] DB1,2.7

z DB Number, : decimal number (0..65535) followed by comma (,). It is used in data

block (DB) addressing only. For other types of memory, this field must be omitted.
z Address : decimal number (0..65535)
z Bit Number : decimal number (0..7)

Following table shows the list of devices which can be referenced in XPanel database.

Symbol Description Word Notation Bit Notation Type Access

PI Peripheral Input PI001 PI001.7 Analog/Digital R/W

I Input I002 I002.7 Analog/Digital R/W
Q Output Q003 Q003.7 Analog/Digital R/W
M Memory M004 M004.7 Analog/Digital R/W
DB Data Block DB01,01 DB01,01.7 Analog/Digital R/W
T Timer T005 - Analog R
C Counter C006 - Analog R

The device T and C (timer and counter) must be defined as UBCD16 typed TAG for normal
data manipulation. Following picture shows the data type configuration window of XPanel
database.

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4. Communication Cable Wiring
[SSW7 Adapter]
The cable supplied with the adapter can be directly connected to the XPanel without any
change. If there is some need to make the cable by yourself, refer to the following picture.

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