MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.

5
Modbus Master Protocol
 Document ID: 1MRK 511 655-UEN
Issued: February 2023
Revision: A
Product version: 10.5

© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.

1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Table of contents

Table of contents

Section 1 Copyrights......................................................................................................3

Section 2 Introduction....................................................................................................5
2.1 This manual...........................................................................................................................5
2.1.1 Modbus master protocol......................................................................................................5
2.1.2 General principles of the Modbus protocol..........................................................................5
2.1.3 Modbus TCP master protocol..............................................................................................6
2.2 Use of symbols......................................................................................................................6
2.3 Related documents............................................................................................................... 7
2.4 Document revisions...............................................................................................................7

Section 3 Communication system configuration........................................................ 9

3.1 Setting the attribute values....................................................................................................9
3.2 Network topologies................................................................................................................9
3.3 Modbus line configuration................................................................................................... 10
3.3.1 Line attributes....................................................................................................................10
3.3.2 Example configuration of Modbus Serial line.................................................................... 19
3.3.3 Modbus TCP/IP master attribute....................................................................................... 20
3.3.4 Autodialing attributes.........................................................................................................22
3.4 Modbus PLC device configuration.......................................................................................25
3.4.1 An example configuration of a PLC device....................................................................... 28
3.4.2 Modbus TCP/IP attributes................................................................................................. 30
3.5 Topics of a PLC device........................................................................................................32
3.5.1 Read topic length limitations............................................................................................. 32
3.5.1.1 Read messages........................................................................................................... 32
3.5.1.2 Write messages........................................................................................................... 33
3.5.2 Topic parameters...............................................................................................................33
3.5.2.1 Allocation......................................................................................................................34
3.5.2.2 FirstObjectAddress.......................................................................................................34
3.5.2.3 LastObjectAddress.......................................................................................................34
3.5.2.4 Type............................................................................................................................. 34
3.5.2.5 Base Address...............................................................................................................35
3.5.2.6 Format..........................................................................................................................35
3.5.2.7 Interval......................................................................................................................... 36
3.5.2.8 Delta.............................................................................................................................36
3.5.2.9 Bitcount........................................................................................................................ 37
3.5.2.10 NominalValue and Percentage.....................................................................................38
3.5.2.11 An example configuration of data topics...................................................................... 39
3.5.3 Address conversion between RTU and Modbus............................................................... 40
3.5.3.1 Addressing system of Modbus protocol....................................................................... 40
3.5.3.2 Addressing systems of RTU process objects in SYS600.............................................41
3.5.3.3 Addressing Modbus objects from SYS600...................................................................41

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 1

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
Table of contents 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A

3.5.4 REF 542plus event reading and time synchronization...................................................... 42

3.6 Communication adjustment guidelines................................................................................42
3.6.1 Basic checks..................................................................................................................... 42
3.6.2 Message sending.............................................................................................................. 43
3.6.3 Message reception............................................................................................................43
3.6.4 Data updating....................................................................................................................43

Section 4 Using the Modbus Master Protocol........................................................... 45

4.1 Requirements...................................................................................................................... 45
4.2 Accessing Modbus data using process objects...................................................................45
4.3 Configuring the device attribute interface............................................................................46
4.3.1 Attribute interface of a PLC device....................................................................................46
4.3.1.1 Communication attributes............................................................................................ 47
4.3.2 Example of using device interface commands.................................................................. 52
4.3.2.1 Writing object commands.............................................................................................52
4.3.2.2 Writing analog setpoints...............................................................................................52
4.3.2.3 Writing digital setpoints................................................................................................ 53
4.3.3 Configuration examples.....................................................................................................53
4.3.3.1 Reading indications......................................................................................................54
4.3.3.2 Reading analog values.................................................................................................54
4.3.3.3 Reading digital values.................................................................................................. 55
4.3.3.4 Reading digital values from input registers.................................................................. 55
4.3.4 Modbus TCP/IP protocol configuration examples............................................................. 55
4.3.4.1 TCP additions for LAN/WAN network...........................................................................56
4.3.4.2 Example topologies: ....................................................................................................57
4.4 Interoperability list............................................................................................................... 58
4.4.1 Network Configurations..................................................................................................... 58
4.4.2 Physical Layer...................................................................................................................58
4.4.3 Link Layer..........................................................................................................................58
4.4.4 Transmission Speed (only serial)...................................................................................... 59
4.4.5 Transmission Settings (only serial)................................................................................... 59
4.4.6 Application Layer...............................................................................................................59

Appendix A Appendix: Serial cable wiring diagram......................................................61

Index.......................................................................................................................................63

2 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 1
Copyrights

Section 1 Copyrights GUID-03127CB5-2F5A-4099-A5DC-20E63835472E v6

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as
a commitment by Hitachi Energy. Hitachi Energy assumes no responsibility for any errors that may
appear in this document.

In no event shall Hitachi Energy be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential
damages of any nature or kind arising from the use of this document, nor shall Hitachi Energy be
liable for incidental or consequential damages arising from the use of any software or hardware
described in this document.

This document and parts thereof must not be reproduced or copied without written permission from
Hitachi Energy, and the contents thereof must not be imparted to a third party nor used for any
unauthorized purpose.

The software or hardware described in this document is furnished under a license and may be used,
copied, or disclosed only in accordance with the terms of such license.

© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.

Trademarks

ABB is a registered trademark of ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd. Manufactured by/for a Hitachi Energy
company. All other brand or product names mentioned in this document may be trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Guarantee

Please inquire about the terms of guarantee from your nearest Hitachi Energy representative.

Third Party Copyright Notices

List of Third Party Copyright notices are documented in "3rd party licenses.txt" and other locations
mentioned in the file in SYS600 and DMS600 installation packages.

This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit.
(https://www.openssl.org/). This product includes cryptographic software written by Eric Young
([email protected]). This product includes software written by Tim Hudson ([email protected]).

This product includes software developed by Computing Services at Carnegie Mellon University
(http://www.cmu.edu/computing/).

This product includes software developed by vbAccelerator (/index.html).

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 3

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
4
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 2
Introduction

Section 2 Introduction GUID-E97AEE80-15AA-4634-8FF5-3BA4CBABE703 v1

2.1 This manual GUID-1D821617-BCAD-4E6D-B467-4DA46AEC65DD v1

This manual is a programming manual. It describes the principles of interfacing SYS600 to an

external device using the Modbus protocol.

In order to fully understand the concepts outlined here, the reader should be familiar with the SCIL
programming language and general SYS600 application techniques. General knowledge about the
Modbus protocol and PLC programming is also needed.

2.1.1 Modbus master protocol GUID-6477540F-F642-4447-8EFC-FF568984F862 v1

The Modbus master protocol is mainly used for a master-slave connection between intelligent
devices. This means, in our case, connecting Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) to SYS600.

2.1.2 General principles of the Modbus protocol GUID-C0FD16A5-2927-4766-B5ED-D953E27B5344 v2

The Modbus Communications Protocol is an asynchronous, byte packaged protocol used for
communications between the master stations and Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) or Remote
Terminal Units (RTUs). It provides a transport mechanism for the master’s requests and RTU
response messages. It supports one single master station and up to 247 RTUs on a multi-drop line.
The Modbus protocol functions as a true serial line or Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) network.

The Modbus protocol has two distinct modes: ASCII Modbus, which uses ASCII-encoded
hexadecimal messages and binary Modbus, which uses raw binary messages, see SYS600 Modbus
Slave Protocol for more information.

All transactions are initiated by transmission of a request from the master station, an RTU may not
transmit unsolicited information. Every master station request must be addressed to a specific RTU
and some implementations of Modbus do not support the broadcast message request type. A
transaction consists of a single master station request, followed by an RTU response or exception
frame or a master station timeout if no RTU response is generated.

There are many different kinds of devices, which use the Modbus protocol for communication.
Therefore, the SYS600 Modbus protocol emulation is somewhat restricted. All the features that are
available in external devices are not necessarily available in the NET implementation.

The general strategy that is used in this implementation can be summarized as follows:

• PC-NET contains necessary protocol conversion features, which enable it to send and receive
Modbus telegrams.
• The SCIL application program in the base system sees the Modbus implementation in the
PC_NET as a PLC type device.
• The PLC type device uses the SYS600 process database like a RTU device.
• Cross-reference information of correlation between the RTU addresses and Modbus addresses
is stored in the topic configuration data of the PLC device
• A SYS600 application program can refer to an external device data through the SYS600
process database, or it can use direct communication attributes to read from or write data to an
external device.
• PC-NET is the protocol master. The communication with external devices is done by using the
Modbus RTU protocol mode.
• The current version of the Modbus implementation in the PC_NET supports functions 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 15, 16.
• There is also a limited support for functions 20 and 21. These functions are used for event table
transmission and time-synchronization for the REF 542plus protection relay.

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 5

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
Section 2 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Introduction

2.1.3 Modbus TCP master protocol GUID-A84B89BF-0FE1-4869-853E-18B0D618DFE3 v1

The Modbus TCP master protocol is used in LAN and WAN networks to connect central stations and
outstations to each other. Since the stations use an open TCP/IP interface as a connection to the
network, the structure and the characteristics of the network will be invisible to the SYS600
communication software. The overall performance of Modbus/TCP is higher compared to serial line
Modbus due to the faster transmission speed.

The SYS600 implementation of Modbus TCP operates as a master. The protocol numbers that are
used are equal to the current ones. The SD attribute of the line defines if the line uses serial port or
TCP. The SD attribute must be set before the line is taken into use for the first time.

Examples

#SET NET'NET':SSD'LINE' = "COM5 ";line uses serial port 5

#SET NET'NET':SSD'LINE' = "TCP ";line uses TCP connection

SYS600 is able to keep several connections open to the controlled stations at the same time.
Multiple Modbus/TCP lines may be created in the same computer.

The transferred data messages are close to the messages used in serial line based Modbus
protocol. Compared with serial line implementation, a seven byte MBAP header is added to the
beginning of each message. The Modbus master operates always as a TCP client.

For more information on Modbus TCP, see the following web site: www.modbus.org: Modbus
messaging on TCP/IP.

Using line attribute OM bit 1, it is possible to configure the Modbus TCP line to operate in 'Serial over
IP' mode where the MBAP header is not used and messaging is similar to serial mode. See
description of line attribute OM for more information.

2.2 Use of symbols GUID-F40D6084-8101-4E13-A1BA-627D64DEA899 v1

This publication includes warning, caution and information symbols where appropriate to point out
safety-related or other important information. It also includes tips to point out useful hints to the
reader. The corresponding symbols should be interpreted as follows:

Warning icon indicates the presence of a hazard which could result in personal injury.

Caution icon indicates important information or a warning related to the concept

discussed in the text. It might indicate the presence of a hazard, which could result in
corruption of software or damage to equipment/property.

Information icon alerts the reader to relevant factors and conditions.

Tip icon indicates advice on, for example, how to design a project or how to use a certain
function.

Although warning hazards are related to personal injury, and caution hazards are associated with
equipment or property damage, it should be understood that operation of damaged equipment could,
under certain operational conditions, result in degraded process performance leading to personal
injury or death. Therefore, comply fully with all warnings and caution notices.

6 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 2
Introduction

2.3 Related documents GUID-1E6A2AB9-8646-4D7A-BF9F-726E42582DB1 v5

The following SYS600 manuals should be available for reference during the use of this manual:

Name of the manual Document ID

SYS600 10.5 System Configuration 1MRK 511 666-UEN
SYS600 10.5 System Objects 1MRK 511 667-UEN
SYS600 10.5 Application Objects 1MRK 511 632-UEN
SYS600 10.5 Status Codes 1MRK 511 665-UEN

2.4 Document revisions GUID-AD292EC8-364C-48D3-895A-86D0D7A970B6 v5

Revision Version number Date History

A 10.5 17.02.2023 New document for
SYS600 10.5

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 7

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
8
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 3
Communication system configuration

Section 3 Communication system configuration GUID-04D85D34-4D79-4845-BD46-624EA20EB4EC v1

Each NET unit contains a set of system objects, which specify line properties, connected devices etc.
These objects can be created, modified and deleted by SCIL, and setting the attributes of the objects
can change their properties.

Access to the attributes can be one of the following:

• Read-only: The attribute can only be read. There are still a few exceptions in which the values
can be reset.
• Write-only: The attribute can only be written (set).
• Read, conditional write: The attribute can be both read and written, but the object must be set
out of use (IU = 0) before writing.
• No limitations: The attribute can be both read and written without limitations.

The implementation of the Modbus master protocol in SYS600 can be divided into two layers: link
layer and application layer. Both of these layers have a specific functionality and a set of attributes of
their own. The link layer corresponds to a line of a NET unit and the application layer corresponds to
a station configured to the line.

The purpose of the communication system configuration is to:

• Create all the system objects needed to establish communication between the master and the
slave.
• Adjust the values of the system object attributes to match the physical communication channel
and the properties of the slave station.

3.1 Setting the attribute values GUID-6BD2BF79-C6D0-4B6E-9287-2B1BF135466A v1

All line and station attributes have sensible default values but the value of each attribute must be
checked against the requirements of the real communication system. The attribute values depend
on:

• The physical communication media (for example leased telephone line, radio link, and power
line carrier). This particularly affects the attributes of the line, such as baud rate and parity.
• The network topology used (point-to-point, multidrop), which affects the link type.
• The size (number of stations) of the system, which especially affects the timeout parameters: the
slower the media and bigger the system, the longer the timeouts that are needed.

3.2 Network topologies GUID-D2DCE3ED-E362-46C7-9669-2D5AA5EA6446 v1

The implementation of the Modbus master protocol in SYS600 supports direct and serial bus
topologies. The direct topology (point-to-point) can be a direct physical cable from point-to-point or a
two-node radio, or modem network. The serial bus topology (multi-drop) is commonly made up of
many modems with their outputs and inputs either tied together or linked using a star-coupler.

The protocol can be used with virtual serial ports with a special setting of the line attributes. See NET
line attribute CM for more information.

The Modbus protocol supports one master on a line. The following figure illustrates the network
topologies:

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 9

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
Section 3 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Communication system configuration

GUID-C871F843-4093-4242-BA4E-C114ECDB67FC V1 EN-US

Figure 1: Network topologies

3.3 Modbus line configuration GUID-F9BBE529-D4FF-45AE-91EB-665490E0CD64 v1

The line process of a NET unit performs the functions of the link layer. The purpose of the link layer is
to send messages to and receive them from external devices using the Modbus protocol. The link
layer also provides frame synchronization and link control.

3.3.1 Line attributes GUID-3E4B9F8B-8650-4348-AEB6-79BDB3E35A54 v2

The following attributes can be used to configure the Modbus master lines in SYS600.

IU In Use
Indicates whether the line is in use (value 1) or not in use (value 0).
Data type: Integer
Value: 0 or 1
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Default value: 0
Access: No limitations

PO Protocol
The data transfer protocol used on the line. The line is defined to the NET by setting this attribute. By setting the
attribute to 0 the line definition including all the line attributes is deleted.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0... 35 Value with Modbus Master protocol: 25
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Access: Read, conditional write

10 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 3
Communication system configuration

SD System Device Name

Associates the NET line numbers of PC-NET with the device names of the physical channels of the serial ports.
By default, line number 1 is connected to COM1, line 2 to COM2 and so on. It is possible to override these default
values by using the SD attribute . This may be necessary if COM ports are used as NET lines, or if a RocketPort card
or similar is used. If the line should use Modbus TCP/IP, the string "TCP" must be given. See also Section Modbus
TCP/IP master attribute under Section 3.4
Data type: Text
Value: See above
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Access: Read, conditional write

Example:

#SET NET'NET':SSD'LINE' = "COM5";line uses serial port 5

#SET NET'NET':SSD'LINE' = "TCP";line uses TCP connection

PS Buffer Pool Size

Specifies the number of message buffers reserved for the line. Fixed buffer poll sizes are used in versions 9.3 FP1
and newer and this attribute is retained because of the backward compatibility. Setting the value for PS is not
possible anymore. See the attributes PS, NB and PB from the System Objects manual for more information.
Data type: Integer
Value: 1... 250
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Access: Read (conditional write accepted but has no effect)

BR Baud Rate
Transmission rate used on the line. This attribute is meaningless if the line operates in the TCP/IP mode.
Data type: Integer
Value: 1...19200 (384 = 38400 bauds, 576 = 57600 bauds)
Unit: Bits/s
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Default value: 9600
Access: Read, conditional write

PY Parity
Specifies the parity check (if any) used for the characters transferred on the line. This attribute is meaningless if the
line operates in the TCP/IP mode.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0 = no parity check
1 = odd parity
2 = even parity
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Default value: 0
Access: Read, conditional write

RD Receiver Data Bit Count

Specifies the number of data bits in each received character. This attribute is meaningless if the line operates in the
TCP/IP mode.
Data type: Integer
Value: 5, 6, 7 or 8
Table continues on next page

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 11

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
Section 3 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Communication system configuration

RD Receiver Data Bit Count

Unit: Data bits
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Default value: 8
Access: Read, conditional write

SB Stop Bits
Specifies the number of stop bits attached to each transmitted character. This attribute is meaningless if the line
operates in the TCP/IP mode.
Data type: Integer
Value: 1 or 2
Unit: Stop bits
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Default value: 1
Access: Read, conditional write

TD Transmitter Data Bit Count

Specifies the number of data bits in each transmitted character. This attribute is meaningless if the line operates in
the TCP/IP mode.
Data type: Integer
Value: 5, 6, 7 or 8
Unit: Data bits
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Default value: 8
Access: Read, conditional write

CM COM Port Mode

This attribute consists of a set of flags which control the behavior and functionality of the serial port of the line. Each
flag is one bit of this attribute. This attribute is meaningless if the line operates in the TCP/IP mode.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0...15 (see below)
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Default: 0
Access: Read, conditional write
Bit 0: UART error handling
When this bit is 0, the UART errors are read before the bytes are read from the serial port.
This is the default mode.
When the bit is 1, the UART errors are read as a separate operation after the bytes are read
from the serial port. This mode is similar to PC_NETs older than 9.2SP2 and it does not
detect all errors detected by the serial port hardware. If the line has a lot of disturbances, this
mode may result in better performance than the default mode.
Bit 1: Simulated 'high' of the CTS signal
When this bit is 0, the actual state of the CTS signal is used in the protocol. This is the default
mode.
When this bit is 1, the CTS signal is simulated to be in 'high' state all the time and the line
behaves accordingly. This setting may be necessary with a virtual serial port or for easier
cabling. See line attribute DE how transmission starts when CTS is constantly 'high'.
Table continues on next page

12 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

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© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 3
Communication system configuration

CM COM Port Mode

Bit 2: Simulated 'high' of the DCD signal
When this bit is 0, the actual state of the DCD signal is used in the protocol. This is the
default mode.
When this bit is 1, the DCD signal is simulated to be in 'high' state all the time and the line
behaves accordingly. This setting may be necessary with a virtual serial port or for easier
cabling.
Bit 3: Calculated RTS keep up time
When this bit is 0, the keep up time of the RTS signal is not calculated using the length of the
message but it is assumed that the driver of the serial port blocks the execution of the
sending process until the message is actually sent. This setting should be used if the setting
'Wait on physical transmission before completing write' or similar is selected in the driver for
the port in question. The tuning of the RTS keep up time should be done with line attribute
RY. This is the default setting
When this bit is 1, the keep up time of the RTS signal is calculated using the length of the
sent message and the baudrate of the port. The RTS keep up time defined with the line
attribute RY is added to the calculated time. This setting is not needed if the setting 'Wait on
physical transmission before completing write' or similar is selected in the driver for the port
in question. This setting is the most common with the virtual serial ports, too.
If the serial driver does not provide setting 'Wait on physical transmission before completing
write' or similar and RTS signal is actively used by the modem hardware, it is worth to test
both alternatives. For accurate analysis using protocol analyzer function, see also the
description of the bit 2 of the line attribute AU Analyzer Usage.

Having a simulated value in CTS or DCD may have an effect on how an RS-232 line
disconnection is detected and reported to the MicroSCADA application.

PD Polling Delay
Delay between polling messages. The master sends the request with an interval defined by this attribute.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0...65535
Unit: Milliseconds
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Default value: 40
Access: Read, conditional write

DE CTS Delay
Time delay (in milliseconds) between the activation of the RTS signal (Request to Send) and the start of a new
transmission. Transmission starts if CTS is high after the delay or line attribute CM, bit 1, is set (serial mode, CTS
simulated to be constantly high). If CTS stays low and CM bit 1 is not set, CTS error is reported. In practise, this
occurs when line is disconnected. With DE value 0, maximum waiting time is constant 500 msecs but the
transmission starts immediately when the CTS signal is detected to be signaled (rising edge). If CTS is constantly
signaled or CM bit 1 is set and DE=0, each transmission is delayed with 500 ms. With Modbus TCP/IP, each
message transmission is delayed with DE milliseconds.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0...65535
Unit: Milliseconds
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Default value 0
Access: Read, conditional write

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 13

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
Section 3 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Communication system configuration

GUID-CFC79763-1AC4-4EB8-A653-552B2C80C9F8 V1 EN-US

Figure 2: DE attribute

HT Header Timeout
Specifies the maximum waiting time in milliseconds within which the first byte of a link layer response should have
been received after the transmission of a message. If no response has been received within this time, new attempts
are performed the number of times specified by the Enquiry Limit. If no response is still obtained, the station is be
suspended.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0...65535
Unit: Milliseconds
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Default value: 700
Access: Read, conditional write

GUID-E25D0677-A6E9-438E-BACA-250C791D49BC V1 EN-US

Figure 3: HT attribute

TI Response Timeout
The time in seconds that the Modbus link layer waits for the end of the response message. This timeout is internally
limited to 32 seconds.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0...255
Unit: Seconds
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Default value: 2
Access: No limitations

14 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 3
Communication system configuration

GUID-BE7E1376-096C-4ECD-8C4F-85AA030D3544 V1 EN-US

Figure 4: TI attribute

RI Receive Interrupt Enable Delay

Defines the delay in milliseconds after which the receiver of a NET line is enabled when a message has been issued.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0...255
0 = receiver enabled all the time
1…9 = receiver enabled right after transmission
10… = receiver enabled as stated by the value
Unit: Milliseconds
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Default value: 5 (Serial), 0 (TCP)
Access: Read, conditional write

GUID-A418A098-FCD6-40F3-A8CD-4473406024F5 V1 EN-US

Figure 5: RI attribute

RY RTS Keepup Delay

This attribute defines how long time the RTS-pin of the RS232-port is kept in the signal state after the serial driver
completes the write operation. The write operation here means a transmission of any message. See also line
attribute CM (Com Port Mode).
Data type: Integer
Value: 0...20
Unit: Bytes (absolute time depends on baudrate)
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Default value: 1
Access: Read, conditional write

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 15

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
Section 3 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Communication system configuration

GUID-AA032F2B-801A-4512-9DE9-0AA34826226C V1 EN-US

Figure 6: RY attribute

EN Enquiry Limit
Specifies the maximum number of times that a message is retransmitted after a timeout.
Data type: Integer
Value: 1...255
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Default value: 6
Access: Read, conditional write

SG Modem Signal
An attribute for direct supervision and control of the state of the modem signal. This attribute applies to all protocols.
It is used for diagnostics and testing.
If the incoming signal DCD or CTS is wanted to have a simulated 'high' value all the time, value = 1 can be written to
these signals. This feature may be necessary for easier cabling or with virtual serial ports. If value = 0 is written to
these signals, the actual state of signal will be used. The default mode of operation is the actual state. See also the
attribute CM Com Port Mode.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0 ,1
0 = Passive signal
1 = Active signal
Incoming: DCD and CTS signals
Outgoing: DTR signal
Index range: 100 * line nr + signal no. Signal no. 5 = CTS, 8 = DCD, 20 = DTR
Access: Read-only, write possible to signals 5 = CTS and 8 = DCD
Examples:
#SET NET1:SSG208 = 1 ; line 2 of NET1 should behave as DCD is 'high'
all the time
#SET NET1:SSG205 = 1 ; line 2 of NET1 should behave as CTS is 'high'
all the time
#SET NET1:SSG208 = 0 ; line 2 of NET1 should use the actual state of
the DCD
#SET NET1:SSG205 = 0 ; line 2 of NET1 should use the actual state of
the CTS

16 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 3
Communication system configuration

MI Message Identification
Object address of system messages.
Data type: Integer
Value: 1... 32760
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Default value: 6000 + (100 * NET number) + line number
Access: Read, conditional write

MS Message Application
The number of the application that is the receiver of the system messages generated by the line.
Data type: Integer
Value: 1... 250
Default value: 1
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Access: Read, conditional write

PM Protocol Mode
The type of the Modbus protocol in use.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0, 1
0: RTU
1: ASCII
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Default value: 0
Access: Read, conditional write

OM Operating mode
A bit pattern which defines the operating mode of the line.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0..65535 (see below)
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Default: 0
Access: Read, conditional write
Bit 0: Transaction ID Checking. When this bit is set to 1, checking for the transaction identification
number of the responses is disabled. The checking has to be disabled if some of the Modbus
TCP devices connected to the line do not support transaction identification copying from the
request to the response. In this configuration, there is a risk that a delayed response is
interpreted incorrectly. Therefore, the usage of the link layer retries defined with line EN is not
recommended.
When this bit is not set, the checking of the transaction identification number of the
responses is enabled. Remote devices must copy the transaction identification from the
request to the corresponding response. This is the default mode of operation.
See also OM bit 3, One byte Transaction ID checking.
Table continues on next page

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 17

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
Section 3 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Communication system configuration

OM Operating mode
Bit 1: Serial over IP mode. If this bit is set, all messaging of the line is similar to serial Modbus i.e.
the MBAP message header used in Modbus TCP is not included to messages. This setting
has an effect on all STA objects connected to the line. Otherwise, the configuration is similar
to normal Modbus TCP. Serial over IP mode can be used if the remote device does not
support standardized Modbus TCP or the serial Modbus is tunneled to TCP/IP as such. Mode
is available both in RTU and ASCII modes.
If this bit is not set, MBAP header is included to the messages and functionality is according
to Modbus TCP Standard (RTU mode). This is the default mode of operation.
Bit 2: CRC checking in serial over IP mode. If this bit is set, CRC (Cyclical Redundancy Check)
value of the incoming message need not to be correct or it need not to present at all. Setting
of this bit may useful if the gateway device is doing the CRC checking.
If this bit is not set, CRC of the incoming message must be correct similarly to serial mode of
Modbus. This is the default mode of operation.
Bit 3: One byte Transaction ID checking. When this bit is set to 1, checking for the transaction
identification field is made only for the lowest byte of the two-byte transaction ID field. This
checking has to be enabled if the Modbus TCP device has an upper limit of 255 in its
transaction identification values in responses to SYS600. A modbus response which has
incorrect transaction ID is not processed. If transaction ID is totally disabled using OM bit 0,
the value of this bit has no effect.
If this bit is not set and OM bit 0 is not set either, the checking of the transaction identification
is made using both bytes as defined in standard. This is the default mode of operation.

LK Link Type
The type of the data link connection on the line.
The states of the CTS and DCD signals of the serial may have simulated values. The usage of this feature may be
necessary if the line uses a virtual serial port, or if the hardware connected to the serial port requires a special cable.
See the description of the line attribute CM for more information.
Data type: Integer
Value: 1 = Modem line. A normal RTS-CTS modem signal handshaking is applied
16 = No RTS-CTS handshaking
Other values are accepted as well but the behavior is similar to value 1
Default value: 1
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Access: Read, conditional write

CB Carrier Blocking
This attribute determines whether the Carrier Detect (DCD) signal of the serial port must be set in order for the
Modbus line to receive messages. The DCD pin of the serial port is used for this attribute.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0 = Carrier blocking not used, Carrier Detect ignored
1 = Carrier blocking not used, Carrier Detect must be set
Default value: 1
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Access: Read, conditional write

PP Polling Period
The polling frequency of suspended stations. This attribute specifies how often suspended stations on the line are
polled. Normally, the NET unit is continuously polling the stations according to the configuration of the topics in PLC
device objects. In case some of the stations are in a suspended state, it is possible to improve the overall
performance of the communication line by using the PP attribute. If PP>1, the Modbus line skips all other polls to the
suspended station except for every PP'th poll. On the other hand, the communication is re-established more slowly
when the PP has a big value.
Data type: Integer
Value: 1 ... 255
Indexing: Line number
Table continues on next page

18 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 3
Communication system configuration

PP Polling Period
Suggested value: 1 ... 10
Default value: 3
Access: Read, conditional write
Example:
#SET NET3:SPP1=5 ; only every 5th poll to the suspended station is made

DC Diagnostic Counters
The line protocols gather statistical information about events on the lines by incrementing a number of diagnostic
counters. All the major events and error situations of the communication have their own counters.
When accessing diagnostic counters, this attribute is indexed according to the formula:
100 * (line number) + (diagnostic counter number)
Modbus master protocol supports the following counters:
1. Transmitted telegrams
2. Failed transmissions
4. Transmitted commands
5. Transmitted replies
11. Received messages
12. Parity errors
13. Overrun errors
14. Check sum errors
15. Framing errors
16. Buffer overflow errors
Data type: Integer
Value: 0...30000
Index range: See above
Access: Read-only, the values can be reset

3.3.2 Example configuration of Modbus Serial line GUID-8E29B206-55FE-4A17-A1DB-2F658189B9DD v1

The following example shows the Modbus serial line configuration:

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 19

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
Section 3 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Communication system configuration

GUID-22690BA2-C713-4964-AB24-F06961E13EC1 V1 EN-US

Figure 7: Example of Modbus serial line configuration

3.3.3 Modbus TCP/IP master attribute GUID-F5E4E6B4-B2C2-447F-A5BA-DBC652138B11 v1

The following attributes can be used for configuring the Modbus master/TCP lines in SYS600. The
LD attribute is meaningful only if there are multiple IP addresses in the computer.

LD Local Address
The IP address which is used locally. The setting of this attribute is necessary when the computer has multiple IP
addresses and it is defined which address the created line must use. This attribute must be set before the line has
been taken into use for the first time. An empty string in LD means that the default IP address of the computer is
used. The value of the LD cannot be modified after the line has been taken into use for the first time.
Data type: Text
Value: String containing a valid IP address, max 29 characters
Default: Empty string
Index range: 1...12 (NET line numbering)
Access: Read/write
This attribute accepts the IP address in the following form:
Table continues on next page

20 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 3
Communication system configuration

LD Local Address
#SET NET1:SLD1="10.0.0.1"

GUID-4994CAD5-1068-4B76-ABFD-0985ACC102F3 V1 EN-US

Figure 8: Example of Modbus TCP line configuration

There is an internal limitation which prohibits the use of the same local IP address and the same
line number multiple times. This applies to all PC_NET protocols using LAN.
Example:
It is not possible to have
IEC104 master in Line 1 in PC_NET 1 with LD="192.168.1.1"
and
DNP3.0 master in Line 1 in PC_NET 2 with LD="192.168.1.1"
the configuration must be changed to
IEC104 master in Line 2 in PC_NET 1 with LD="192.168.1.1"
and
DNP3.0 master in Line 1 in PC_NET 2 with LD="192.168.1.1"
or to
IEC104 master in Line 1 in PC_NET 1 with LD="192.168.1.1"
and
DNP3.0 master in Line 1 in PC_NET 2 with LD="192.168.1.2"
The limitation is present only when the same local IP address is used. An easy workaround is to
configure multiple IP-addresses which are using the same adapter. If this is not possible, setting a
unique value for the NET node attribute LP redefines the internally used ports for the NET node
so that there is no conflict. See SYS600 System Objects manual for more information about the
NET Node attribute LP.

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 21

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
Section 3 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Communication system configuration

DC Diagnostic Counters
The line protocols gather statistical information about the events on the lines by incrementing a number of diagnostic
counters. All the major events and error situations of the communication have their own counters.
When accessing diagnostic counters, the attribute is indexed according to the formula:
100 * (line number) + (diagnostic counter number)
Modbus master protocol supports the following counters:
1. Transmitted telegrams
2. Failed transmissions
4. Transmitted commands
5. Transmitted replies
11. Received messages
12. Parity errors
13. Overrun errors
14. Check sum errors
15. Framing errors
16. Buffer overflow errors
20. TCP connect
21. TCP accept
22. TCP close
Data type: Integer
Value: 0...30000
Index range: See above
Access: Read-only, the values can be reset

3.3.4 Autodialing attributes GUID-5559B938-4779-47AC-88FE-346537613633 v1

SYS600 supports the autocaller functionality for Modbus Master Protocol. An autocaller is a modem,
which contains automatic dial-up functions. Modbus Master Protocol or Modbus Slave Protocol can
call up.

The autocaller uses the AT (Hayes) command set. When using odd or even parity, the modem has to
support 11-bit word length. In some cases, the autocaller is enabled with the AT commands. For
more information about the modem, refer to its manual.

The following autocaller attributes are valid for the Modbus Master Protocol dial-up lines:

AC Autocaller Enabled
States whether an autocaller is connected to the line (value 1) or not (value 0).
Data type: Integer
Value: 0 or 1
Default value: 0
Access: No limitations

AS Autocaller State
Indicates the state of the autocaller.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0...4
0 = IDLE, ready to call up
1 = CONNECTED, transmission is activated
2 = BUSY, autocaller is dialing
3 = INITIAL, autocaller is uninitialized
4 = CONFIGURE, the IU attribute of the line is set to 0
Default value: 0
Access: Read-only

22 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 3
Communication system configuration

CL Connection Time Limited

Determines whether a time limit has been set to the connection (value 1) or not (value 0). The CT attribute
determines the connection's maximum duration.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0 = no time limit
1 = time limit
Default value: 1
Suggested value: A time limit is necessary on certain radio telephone lines. Limiting the connection time may
be good practice also in other cases, if there is a risk that the connection is otherwise not
broken.
Access: No limitations

CT Connection Time
The maximum time that a connection is allowed to last (in seconds). This attribute is significant only when time
limiting is activated (CL = 1).
Data type: Integer
Value: 0...600
Unit: Seconds
Default value: 120
Access: No limitations

CN Connection
Dials the devices from the NET and breaks the telephone connections. A telephone call to a station or workplace is
initiated by writing the telephone number to the CN attribute. The NET unit commands the autodialing modem to dial
the telephone number. A successful dial is reported as a system message. To break the connection, write an empty
string to the CN attribute.
When dialing a station, the station's link address is given at the end of the telephone number string. Type the letter S
between the telephone number and the link address. This option is normally used to increase the communication
performance on the multidrop lines.
Data type: Text
Value: Text string; maximum 25 characters
Default value: Empty text string
Access: No limitations
Example:
#SET NET1:SCN5 = "123456789S11"

CS Connected Station
The station's link address is communicating with NET.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0...65535
0 = autocaller is not defined or no communication
Default value: 0
Access: Read-only

DD Radio Disconnection Delay

Delay between the last data transfer and the line disconnection.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0...32767
Table continues on next page

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 23

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
Section 3 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Communication system configuration

DD Radio Disconnection Delay

Unit: Seconds
Default value: 0
Access: No limitations

MC Modem Command
A modem can be controlled directly from SCIL with the AT (Hayes) commands. When an AT command is written to
the MC attribute, the attribute is transmitted to the modem on a line. The MC attribute also reads the modem’s
response.
Data type: Text
Value: Text string, an AT/Hayes command
Default value: 0
Access: No limitations
Example:
#SET NET1:SMC3 = ("AS0?")’

PU Pulse Dialing
Determines which dialing principle is used.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0 = tone dialing
1 = pulse dialing
Default value: 0
Access: No limitations

RC Remote Calls Enabled

States whether remote calls are enabled on a line. For example the NET unit can be called from the stations and
connected to the line. This attribute applies to lines with autocaller (AC = 1).
Data type: Integer
Value: 0 = remote calls not enabled
1 = remote calls enabled
Default value: 0
Access: No limitations

RW Radio Connection Wait Time

Normally, the DCD (Data Carrier Detect) signal indicates an active connection. There are cases, where this is not
possible, for example, on the radiotelephone lines which use half-duplex links. The RW attribute defines the waiting
time in these cases from the end of dialing until the transmission is started.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0...32767
Unit: Seconds
Default value: 0
Access: No limitations

24 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 3
Communication system configuration

SR Autocaller AT S Register
The autocallers' S registers follow the AT (Hayes) standard. Each autocaller that uses the AT command set has
several S registers. The number of S registers in use and the meaning of the individual S register vary according to
the autocaller model. Therefore, the contents of the S registers are not described in this manual. For more
information on the S registers, refer to the manual of the modem.
When using the SR attribute, the following numbers of the S registers are accessed: 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.
Other S registers can also be accessed by using the MC attribute. The S registers 11 and 12 cannot be set.
Data type: Integer
Value: See the modem manuals
Indexing: Seconds
Access: 100 * line number + register number
Example:
The S register number 6 of line 2 in NET1 is set = 4:
#SET NET1:SSR206 = 4

3.4 Modbus PLC device configuration GUID-3C240B9C-0EC4-4488-BB31-358C9F48679D v1

The PLC station device is the heart of the SYS600 Modbus protocol converter. It converts
communication messages from SYS600's internal protocol to the Modbus protocol and vice versa.
The PLC device stores necessary information of protocol and address conversion in topic data. The
PLC device also stores data which is scanned from an external device to an internal PC-NET
database. The purpose of this storing is to minimize the amount of messages between the base
system and PC-NET (PC-NET only sends changed data to the base system). Changed data is sent
to the base system process database as RTU process data.

IU In Use
Indicates whether the line is in use (value 1) or not in use (value 0).
Data type: Integer
Value: 0 or 1
Default value: 0
Access: No limitations

LI Line Number
The number of the NET line the station is connected to.
Data type: Integer
Value: 1...8
Access: Read, conditional write

Setting this attribute is not needed when the station is created by using the DV attribute.

SA Station Address
The station address of the Modbus master station (ID of the slave).
Data type: Integer
Value: 0...255
Table continues on next page

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 25

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
Section 3 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Communication system configuration

SA Station Address
Default value: 1
Access: Read, conditional write.
When a serial Modbus is used, this value must be unique within the STA objects connected to the same line. If
Modbus TCP is used, the same SA can be used many times within one line, if the IP-addresses are unique. STA
objects connected to separate lines can always have the same value in the SA attribute.

AL Allocation
Allocates the station to an application. When the AL attribute has the value 1, the station is reserved by the
application specified by the AS attribute. All spontaneous messages from the station are sent to this application.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0 or 1
Access: No limitations

AS Allocating Application
Specifies the allocating application of the station (see the AL attribute). The allocating application gets all the
spontaneous process data from the station. This application is also the only one that is allowed to set the device
communication attributes.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0...250
0 = no application
Access: Read-only

MI Message Identification
Object address of the system messages.
Data type: Integer
Value: 1...32760
Default value: 28000 + station number
Access: Read, conditional write

MS Message Application
The number of the application that is the receiver of the system messages generated by the line.
Data type: Integer
Value: 1...250
Default value: 1
Access: Read, conditional write

26 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 3
Communication system configuration

DC Diagnostic Counters
The values of the diagnostic counters which the NET unit keeps for the station. The counters have the following
meaning:

1. Suspension information (0 = OK, 1 = suspended)

2. Suspension counter
3. Transmitted data messages
4. Transmitted command messages
5. Transmitted confirmation messages
6. Received data messages
7. Received command messages
8. Received confirmation messages
9. Received unknown messages

Data type: Integer

Value: 1...65535
Index range: 1...20
Access: Read-only

ML Maximum Length
Defines the maximum amount of words requested in each poll. This attribute can be tuned to get better performance
and also if the Modbus slave device requires that certain blocks in its memory must be polled with a single poll.
Data type: Integer
Value: 2..75
Default value: 31
Access: Read, conditional write

RM Running mode
Consists of a set flags that control the behavior and the functionality of the Modbus master station. Each flag is one
bit of this attribute.
Bit 0 If this bit is 0, the topics that are configured to have polling interval = 0 are not requested in
any situation. This is the default mode.
If this bit is 1, the topics or types Analog Value, Indication, Pulse Counter and Digital Value
that are configured to have polling interval = 0 are requested in the communication start-up
situation and when the GI command is issued.
Bit 1 If this bit is 0, the database update operation similar to communication start-up or the GI
command is done automatically after a detected event buffer overflow situation in the device.
This is the default mode.
If this bit is 1, no automatic actions are made.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0..65535, see above
Default value: 0
Access: Read, conditional write

CE Communication enabled
Enables/disables the communication of the station object. Using the CE attribute, the SCIL application may disable
communication without changing the status of the station object. In TCP/IP mode, the TCP connection to the IED is
closed, if no other station object is communicating with the same IP-address. This attribute is useful, if the data
reading is made irregularly or in a session-oriented manner.
Data type: Integer
Value: 0 = communication disabled
1 = communication enabled
Table continues on next page

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 27

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
Section 3 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Communication system configuration

CE Communication enabled
Default: 1
Access: No limitations
Example:
#SET STA2:SCE=1 ;open a read session
#PAUSE 1
@AV_VECTOR = STA2:SAV(1..4) ;read analog values
@BI_VECTOR = STA2:SBV(16..31) ;read binary values
#SET STA2:SNP(3) = (1,0) ;demand scan for topic 3
#PAUSE 1
#SET STA2:SCE=0 ;close a read session

EA Exception Address
Defines the information object address of an analog input process object which is used to indicate the reception of an
exception to a poll message to the remote device. The value of the process object is the exception code received
from the device. The meaning of each exception is listed in a table below.
If the EA attribute has a value of 0, no process object is updated. The default value is 0. If an exception is received to
a SCIL command, the corresponding error code is returned, but the process object is not updated.
Value: 0..4095
Default: 0
Access: Read/Write

Table 1: Modbus exception codes

Code Description
1 ILLEGAL FUNCTION
2 LLEGAL DATA ADDRESS
3 ILLEGAL DATA VALUE
4 SLAVE DEVICE FAILURE
5 ACKNOWLEDGE
6 SLAVE DEVICE BUSY
8 MEMORY PARITY ERROR
10 GATEWAY PATH UNAVAILABLE
11 GATEWAY TARGET DEVICE FAILED TO RESPOND

3.4.1 An example configuration of a PLC device GUID-25A00AA1-0DA5-47F8-A33F-43A2A5CFB088 v1

The 8.4.3 (or newer) System Configuration Tool may be used for configuration since it supports the
Modbus master protocol. The following figure shows an example configuration of a PLC device.

28 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 3
Communication system configuration

GUID-15D5EFE6-E4F4-4CFD-8DCA-3410F804C8CA V1 EN-US

Figure 9: Example configuration of PLC device

The PLC device object is created using the Base System Configuration Picture, as described below.

1. Create a PLC station type:

CREATE_OBJECT > STATION_TYPES >

STY NR: 28
TYPE NAME: PLC
DATABASE TYPE: RTU

2. Create a PLC Station object:

CREATE_OBJECT > STATIONS >

STA NR: 1
TRANS.TYPE: EXTERNAL
NODE NUMBER: 1
TRANSL. OBJ. NUM: 1
STATION TYPE: PLC

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 29

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
Section 3 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Communication system configuration

3.4.2 Modbus TCP/IP attributes GUID-06FF9250-FB67-48FD-AACB-9718C5AEAE79 v2

IA Internet Address
The IP address or the host name of the remote host. The connection is established with a device in this address by
using port number 502. The line must have been taken into use at least once before writing to this attribute.
Value: Any string, max 29 characters
Access: Read/write
This attribute accepts the IP address in the following form:
#SET STA1:SIA="10.0.0.1"

or as an alias name
#SET STA1:SIA="GRACE"

When an alias name is used, it must be defined in the TCP host file %windir\system32\drivers\etc
\hosts.

Multiple station objects may have a same IA, this configuration may be necessary if the system contains, for
example, Modbus/TCP vs Modbus serial converters.
IA-addresses may be entered with a colon:
STA1:SIA="10.0.0.1"
STA2:SIA="10.0.0.1:2"
STA3:SIA="10.0.0.1:3"

With this configuration a separate TCP session is created for each station object.
If the IA-addresses are entered without a colon:
STA1:SIA="10.0.0.1"
STA2:SIA="10.0.0.1"
STA3:SIA="10.0.0.1"

only one TCP session is created for the station objects having same IA. All communication takes place through this
session. This is the most common configuration.
Same SA (Station Address) value can be used in multiple STA objects connected to the same line, if the IP
addresses defined with IA are unique. This means that the default modbus address of the IED can be used as long
as the IEDs are in separate IP addresses.
See the example in Section 4.3.4.
If the remote slave device uses a non-standard port for communication, it can be specified as follows:
SET STA1:SIA="10.0.0.1;503" ; remote device uses port 503

No space characters are allowed between the address and the port number. The port number must be in the range
1..65535.

CT Connecting Timeout
The maximum time of the TCP connect operation. The value of this attribute depends on the speed of LAN, remote
station and the possible routers between SYS600 and the substation. The value should be lower than the HT
attribute of the line, but high enough to enable reliable reconnection of the substation. In a multidrop configuration, a
value that is too high may cause communication disturbances, if some of the stations are not available.
Value: 0..60000
Unit: Milliseconds
Default: 500 ms
Access: Read/Write

30 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 3
Communication system configuration

ET rEconnecting Timeout
The interval of reconnecting attempt while communication is not established.
Value: 1..255
Unit: Seconds
Default: 30
Access: Read/Write

IS Ignore Suspension
This attribute can be used to filter out occasional station suspensions caused by TCP connection breaks and server
disconnections. Suspensions caused by response timeouts are not ignored. The attribute value represents the
amount of suspensions that are filtered before a station is set to suspended state. The value of IS applies to all
station objects that have the same Internet Address (IA) attribute value and are connected to the same line. When a
connection is lost, the time when the master station is set to suspended state can be calculate with the following
formula
Suspension time = Header Timeout (HT) * Enquiry Limit (EN) * 2 + ( rEconnecting Timeout (ET) * Ignore Suspension
(IS) )

The ET value should be bigger than the part “HT * EN” in the formula.

With the default IS value (0) the stations are set to suspended state every time the TCP connection is detected to be
broken. The IS values bigger than 0 should be used only in configurations where each station object in a line has a
unique Internet Address in IA attribute.
Attribute has an effect only in TCP mode.

The IS attribute should only be used if unnecessary suspensions are constantly present.
Otherwise it is recommended to extract the reason for these suspensions instead of using the IS
attribute values bigger than 0.

Data type: Integer

Value: 0..30
Default: 0
Access: Read/Write

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 31

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
Section 3 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Communication system configuration

GUID-C509DD76-7C6E-4EE6-9D83-0B98FA93FBDD V1 EN-US

Figure 10: Example configuration of PLC device

3.5 Topics of a PLC device GUID-F60DF21C-CDE8-4966-878A-887005A39C7B v1

The scanning of external device data is controlled by the PLC device topics. Since the PLC device
can contain several different topics (max. 100), it is possible to divide the memory and IO (input/
output) into separate external device areas. These areas can contain different types of data and they
can have individual scanning intervals.

3.5.1 Read topic length limitations GUID-46E6CB11-ACBA-420D-8472-9AB741A9A542 v1

3.5.1.1 Read messages GUID-CEBA606A-E6F4-4754-B39C-3566829187DB v1

When creating a read topic in Modbus master (types 6, 7, 8 or 9) and the topic interval is >0, i.e. it is
polled, the recommended limit for the requested data length is 30 registers (30 items of 16-bit type or
15 items of 32-bit type or 480 single indications). If the topic interval is 0 and the values are read
using station attributes AV, DV and BV, the length of the topic may be bigger. See the corresponding
attribute descriptions for maximum messages lengths.

32 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

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1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 3
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3.5.1.2 Write messages GUID-5F358104-A630-4EEF-87F1-2CE26D5F7E54 v1

When using process objects of output type, only a single value can be written. If there is a need to
write multiple values at the same time, a write operation using the station attributes AV, DV and BV
must be done. The maximum vector length of the write operation is described in the corresponding
attribute descriptions. The configured topic must be long enough to cover all values written. The
Modbus slave devices may also limit the amount of registers written in one request.

3.5.2 Topic parameters GUID-EE9DFAC2-6D11-4EE6-936C-09A0E02C62B4 v1

The topic parameters are stored in the PLC station topic parameter table. The memory needed by
the topic is dynamically reserved based on the address and format parameters. The parameter table
is filled in by writing a vector to the TP attribute, which is also possible to read.

Syntax of a topic configuration command for non-analog topics is as follows:

STA'n':STP'index'=(Allocation, FirstObjectAddress, LastObjectAddress,

Type, BaseAddress, Format, Interval, delta, [Bitcount])

Syntax of a topic configuration command for analog value topics is as follows:

STA'n':STP'index'=(Allocation, FirstObjectAddress, LastObjectAddress,

Type, BaseAddress, Format, Interval, delta, [NominalValue],[Percentage])

For analog value topics, parameters Delta and parameters NominalValue and Percentage provide
alternative ways to decrease the data updating messages from NET to base system. In case
parameters NominalValue and Percentage are defined and they both are non-zero, the filtering
described in chapter 'NominalValue and Percentage' is used. In this case, the delta parameter should
be set to 0.

The 8.4.3 (or newer) System Configuration Tool may be used for configuration, since it supports the
Modbus master protocol. The following figure is an example of topic configuration under the PLC
station type.

GUID-0098BBC2-6060-4A4B-B6A9-E7153EC65797 V1 EN-US

Figure 11: Topic configuration with System Configuration Tool

The topic configuration vector contains the following parameters:

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 33

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Section 3 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Communication system configuration

3.5.2.1 Allocation GUID-8222D820-4BD1-40CC-A92E-A1F6269CD47D v1

This item specifies whether the topic is in use or not. The memory needed for the topic is reserved,
when the topic is taken into use.

3.5.2.2 FirstObjectAddress GUID-9EE84DD7-2168-4005-A27D-C43A9269D8E1 v1

This parameter specifies the First SYS600 Process Object Address used with this topic. The First
Object Address and the Last Object Address can be chosen freely. The object address and object
type parameters together specify the actual process object address (OA), where the first item in the
topic is stored. See below:

OA = 4096 * Object_Type + FirstObjectAddress

This calculation is also done automatically in the process object tool. The user has to add the same
address parameters as with the topic. When the actual object address is read, the calculated object
address is shown instead of the parameter value.

If the topic type is SPA_EVENT (101), the given value is the address of the bitstream process object
which is updated with the contents of the event table (RCE file). If the topic type is REF 542plus time
synchronization (102), the given value is not used.

3.5.2.3 LastObjectAddress GUID-DE431E30-2115-4E07-ACDA-FC1343C5A9C1 v1

This parameter is the object address of the last topic item. The First Object Address and Last Object
Address define how many registers/items can be read/written with the topic. These items are also
referred to as block addresses when talking about binary indications. The number of items handled
by the topic is calculated as shown below:

For topic types Single or Double Indication

Number of items = (Last Object Address – First Object Address)*16+BitCount

For topic types Object Command, Digital Setpoint, Analog Setpoint, Analog Value, Pulse Counter
and Digital Value:

Number of items = LastObjectAddress - FirstObjectAddress + 1

If the topic type is SPA_EVENT (101) or REF 542plus time synchronization (102), the given value is
not used.

3.5.2.4 Type GUID-006C3789-FD42-4B71-8301-62685C5D5FE2 v1

This parameter specifies the data type of the process objects. The following table shows the possible
data types of a PLC device.

Table 2: Possible data types of a PLC device

Type Type of process object Possible data formats

1: Object command IO_BIT, M_BIT
3: Digital set-point INT, WORD
4: Analog set-point CHAR, INT, WORD, LONG, FLOAT
6: Analog value CHAR, INT, WORD, LONG, FLOAT
7: Indication (single or double) IO_BIT, M_BIT
8: Pulse counter LONG
Table continues on next page

34 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

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1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 3
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Type Type of process object Possible data formats

9: Digital value INT, WORD
101: SPA_EVENT for REF 542plus Format not used
102: Time sync for REF 542plus Format not used

With the process object type "indication", one object address (OA) contains 16 bits.

3.5.2.5 Base Address GUID-EAB5373E-C238-45F6-B9EC-17E23F1DB200 v1

This Modbus address is the first item address of the topic in the PLC memory. With binary indications
the address space is 1 - 65536. With 16 bits registers it is 1 - 4096. If the topic type is Single or
Double Indication, the value referred to by the Base Address in the memory area of the IED is stored
to a process object that has Block Number = First Object Address and Object Bit Address = 0. For
topic types Object Command, Digital Setpoint, Analog Setpoint, Analog Value, Pulse Counter and
Digital Value, the block address of the process object corresponding to a given BaseAddress is
FirstObjectAddress. The block addresses of the process objects should be between
FirstObjectAddress and LastObjectAddress.

If the topic type is SPA_EVENT (101), the given value refers to the event table number in the REF
542plus relay and must have some of the following values:

Value Description
2: RCE Table (REF 542plus historical register of events)
5: RCE extended Table (REF 542plus historical register of events in extended form)
11: (RCE table): as File 2 - Read and Clear of Events
12: (RCE extended table): as File 5 - Read and Clear of Extended Events

If the topic type is REF 542plus time synchronization (102), the given value must be 7 (Time and
Date).

3.5.2.6 Format GUID-14D27ED2-D674-4FAF-A3D1-10F91646865F v2

This parameter specifies how data is stored in external devices. Possible formats are shown in the
following table.

Table 3: Possible save formats for external devices

Format Code Description

IO_BIT 1 Bit in PLC's input or output.
M_BIT 2 Memory bit in PLC's working memory.
CHAR 3 Unsigned 8 type object in PLC's registers.
A register can allocate two CHAR.
INT 4 One register in PLC’s memory. The MSB bit is used as a sign bit.
WORD 5 One register in PLC's memory. The object is used in an unsigned form.
LONG 6 Signed 32-bit object, which needs two registers from PLC's memory in msw-lsw
order.1)
MSB_LONG 7 Signed 32-bit object, which needs two registers from PLC's memory in lsw-msw
order.
F32_TYPE 8 Floating point type which needs two registers from PLC's memory.
Table continues on next page

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Format Code Description

MSB_F32_TYPE 9 Floating point type which allocates two registers in PLC's memory. The registers
are in reversed order compared to format 8.
IN_WORD 10 Input register of PLC (3x references).
IN_CHAR 11 Unsigned 8 type object PLC's input registers.
A register can allocate two IN_CHARs.
IN_INT 12 Input register of PLC. The MSB bit is used as a sign bit.
IN_LONG 13 Signed 32-bit object which needs two input registers from PLC in msw-lsw order.
IN_FLOAT 14 Floating point type which needs two input registers from PLC.
IN_MSB_LONG 15 Signed 32-bit object which needs two input registers from PLC in lsw-msw order.
IN_MSB_FLOAT 16 Floating point type which needs two input registers from PLC. The registers are
in reversed order compared to format 14.
MSB_INT 17 One register in PLC's memory, the bytes are in reversed order. The MSB bit of
the first byte of the register is used as a sign bit.
MSB_WORD 18 One register in PLC's memory, the bytes are in reversed order. The object is
used in an unsigned form.
IN_MSB_INT 19 Input register of PLC, bytes are in reversed order. The MSB bit of the first byte of
the register is used as a sign bit.
IN_MSB_WORD 20 Input register of PLC (3x references), the bytes are in reversed order. The object
is used in an unsigned form.

1) The most significant word - the least significant word (and vice versa)

If the topic type is SPA_EVENT (101) or REF 542plus time synchronization (102), the given format
value is not used.

If the topic type is Analog set-point (4) and bit 6 of the given format value is set, analog set-point
commands sent will always use Function 16, Write Multiple Registers. If bit 6 is not set in the given
format value, Function 6, Write Single Register, is used when only register is written. This is the
default functionality. Formats WORD, MSB_WORD, IN_WORD and IN_MSB_WORD can be used
with type 7 = Indication. With this setting, the binary and double binary input process objects can be
updated with the values requested using modbus functions 03 Read Holding registers (WORD and
MSB_WORD) and 04 Read Input register (IN_WORD and IN_MSB_WORD).

3.5.2.7 Interval GUID-F91C9ABD-A4FC-46A9-B235-994C9B01211F v1

This is the frequency with which topic data is read from an external device. The interval units are
milliseconds. If the interval is 0, the topic is not polled cyclically. The maximum polling interval is
2147483647 milliseconds (> 24 days). See the description of the attribute Table 5 for on-line
changing of the polling interval. If bit 0 of RM attribute is set, topics with interval = 0 have a special
handling.

3.5.2.8 Delta GUID-261E389E-965C-4D4F-848E-82D49FDEFD31 v1

If the topic type is an analog value (type=6), the delta value is used to minimize the amount of
updating messages from the NET to the base system. The new analog value is sent to the base
system, when the change or the sum (integral) of changes is bigger than the delta value. If the format
of the topic is 8,9,14 or 16 (float), delta cannot be used but NominalValue and Percentage described
below must be used instead.

If the topic type is SPA_EVENT (101), the given value is not ignored.

If the topic type is REF 542plus time synchronization (102), the given value is a constant correction
offset in milliseconds. A non-zero value can be used, if the communication hardware causes a
predictable delay in message transmission.

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1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 3
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An alternative way to reduce the amount of updating messages from the NET to the base system is
the usage of NominalValue and Percentage parameters below.

Delta and NominalValue / Percentage parameters cannot be used together in the same
topic. If NominalValue / Percentage is needed, delta parameters values MUST be set to
0. If Delta is needed, NominalValue / Percentage MUST be set to 0.

3.5.2.9 Bitcount GUID-795D762A-8A86-4B0B-B1B6-68B6FB3C7034 v1

This parameter is meaningful only when the topic type is indication. The bitcount is an optional
parameter which defines the count of the requested indication bits in the input word referred to with
the parameter Last Object Address. The value range of the bitcount parameter is 1..16. If the bitcount
parameter is not defined, value 16 is used as default. The bitcount value 16 means that each bit from
every block, from the First Object Address to the Last Object Address are requested. If the bitcount
value is 2, 16 bits are requested from each block, except only two bits (LSB) from the block set as
the Last Object Address.

When using double indication process objects, the bitcount should always be an even
number.

The last indication read from the address = BaseAddress+(LastObjectAddress-

FirstObjectAddress)*16+Bitcount

Example of creating binary topics

If binary indication registers from 1 to 32 and from 49 to 51 need to be read, it can be done with one
or two single indication topics. With one topic also registers between 32 and 49 are requested and
the topic parameters are:

First Object Address = 1

Last Object Address = 4

Base Address = 1

Bitcount = 3

With this definition, registers 33..48 are uselessly transmitted from the IED, but on the other hand,
the required indications are read from the slave device at the same time.

With two topics, the first topic reads the bits from 1 to 32 and the second reads only the three bits
from 49 and 51. The first topic's parameters are:

First Object Address = 10 (The addresses could be also 1 and 2, or other arbitrary values)

Last Object Address = 11

Base Address = 1

Bitcount = 16

and the second topic's parameters are:

First Object Address = 12

Last Object Address = 12

Base Address = 49

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Section 3 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
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Bitcount = 3

Dividing the memory area into two topics usually makes sense, if the amount of unnecessary items
between the necessary items is big, or if there is a reason to have different polling intervals for
different areas.

If double indication process objects are used, the process objects are updated only if both bits are
defined in the topic. The process object values in this case are:

lower indication = 0, higher indication = 0 -> DB value = 0

lower indication = 1, higher indication = 0 -> DB value = 1

lower indication = 0, higher indication = 1 -> DB value = 2

lower indication = 1, higher indication = 1 -> DB value = 3

3.5.2.10 NominalValue and Percentage GUID-90447438-C591-4418-8A7C-E1C2CD9446A9 v1

An alternative for the Delta parameter are parameters NominalValue and Percentage to reduce the
amount of process object updating messages from the NET to the base system. This setup may be
useful in big systems where continuous analog updates cause useless load to system servers or
control centers. If these parameters are set, a dynamic deadband functionality is used in which the
deadband value varies depending on the given NominalValue, Percentage and the received value.

The dynamic calculation of the deeadband value guarantees that small changes in value still update
the process objects although the received values are remarkably smaller than the given nominal
value. For this functionality both NominalValue and Percentage parameters need to be set and the
Delta parameter of the topic must be set to value 0.

If the NominalValue and Percentage are given, a base deadband value is calculated from the given
values with formula

BASE_DEADBAND = NOMINALVALUE * PERCENTAGE / 100

For example with NominalValue 6000 and Percentage 0.5% the base deadband value is (6000 * 0.5 /
100) = 30.

For all received analog values that are larger than the NominalValue the deadband is always equal to
the base deadband value:

USED_DEADBAND = BASE_DEADBAND

For analog values smaller than the NominalValue a scaled deadband is calculated with the following
formula:

USED_DEADBAND = BASE_DEADBAND - ( ( BASE_DEADBAND / ( 1 +

( CURRENT_VALUE * PERCENTAGE / 100 ) ) - 1 )

If a new analog value differs from the last stored value more than the USED_DEADBAND value, an
update is sent to the process object in the base system and the received value is stored for the next
comparison.

The NominalValue range is 0 – 2147483647 and the Percentage value range is 0– 100%.

The filtering is necessary especially when the values are reported to the network control center using
the COM500i application or when the PC-NET is running in a different computer than the database

38 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

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1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 3
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receiving the data. If reported without filtering and there are plenty of analog updates from the IEDs,
small analog changes may cause useless load in the control center.

Deadband values are calculated using floating point arithmetics, which means that rounding errors
are possible when calculating if the value should update or not. Rounding errors are present also
when the received values are integer values.

Example:
NominalValue is 6000 and the change Percentage is 0.5% and thus the base deadband value is +-30. Using the
formula the used deadband value is calculated for values smaller than the NominalValue:
For updated value 10000 the next used deadband = 30 (is bigger than NominalValue)
For updated value 1000 the next used deadband = 30 - ((30 / (1 + (1000 * 0.5/100)) - 1) = 26
For updated value 100 the next used deadband = 30 - ((30 / (1 + (100 * 0.5/100)) - 1) = 11
For updated value 10 the next used deadband = 30 - ((30 / (1 + (10 * 0.5/100)) - 1) = 2
If the last updated value was 100 and value 110 is received, the process object is not updated.
If the last updated value was 100 and value 114 is received, the process object is updated.
If the last updated value was 1000 and value 1025 is received, the process object is not updated.
If the last updated value was 10000 and value 9960 is received, the process object is updated.

3.5.2.11 An example configuration of data topics GUID-E93F1D67-B55A-4250-B15A-A88BC680F9B6 v1

The following example shows how to configure data topics of a PLC device.

#SET STA1:SIU=0
#SET NET1:SIU4=0

; INIDICATION BLOCK
; OA 28673..28673, IO_BIT, SINGLE INDICATION, BASE ADDRESS 1
#SET STA1:STP(1)=( 1,1,1,7,000,1,1000,0)

;DIGITAL VALUE BLOCK

; OA 36865..36866, WORD_TYPE, DIGITAL VALUE, BASE ADDRESS 400
#SET STA1:STP(2)=(1,1,2,9,400,4,1000,000)

;DIGITAL VALUE BLOCK

; OA 36867..36868, INPUT REGISTER TYPE, DIGITAL VALUE, BASE 400
#SET STA1:STP(2)=(1,3,4,9,400,10,1000,000)

;ANALOG VALUE BLOCK

; OA 24576..24577, INT_TYPE, ANALOG VALUE, BASE ADDRESS 200
#SET STA1:STP(3)=(1,1,2,6,200,4,10000,10)

;ANALOG VALUE BLOCK

; OA 24578..24578, LONG TYPE, ANALOG VALUE, BASE ADDRESS 400
#SET STA1:STP(4)=(1,3,3,6,400,6,1000,00)

;ANALOG VALUE BLOCK

; OA 24579..24579, LONG TYPE, ANALOG VALUE, BASE ADDRESS 200
; NOMINALVALUE 6000, PERCENTAGE 0,5%
#SET STA1:STP(5)=(1,4,5,6,200,4,2000,0,6000,0.5)

;OBJCET COMMAND BLOCK

; OA 4097..4126, IO_BIT, OBJECT COMMAND, BASE ADDRESS 1
#SET STA1:STP(6)=(1,1,30,1,0,1,0,0)

;DIGITAL SETPOINT
; OA 12288..12288, WORD TYPE, DIGITAL SETPOINT, BASE ADDRESS 254
#SET STA1:STP(7)=(1,1,3,3,254,5,0,0)

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Section 3 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Communication system configuration

;ANALOG SETPOINT
; OA 16385..16387, INT TYPE, ANALOG SETPOINT, BASE ADDRESS 314
#SET STA1:STP(8)=(1,1,3,4,314,4,0,0)

;ANALOG SETPOINT
; OA 16388..16390, INT TYPE, ANALOG SETPOINT, BASE ADDRESS 320, FUNC16
ALWAYS USED
#SET STA1:STP(9)=(1,4,7,4,320,4+64,0,0)

#SET NET1:SIU4=1
#SET STA1:SIU=1

Example of a topic using function 04:

; OA 24578..24578, IN_LONG TYPE, ANALOG VALUE, BASE ADDRESS 400 #SET

STA'STA':STP(1)=(1,3,3,6,399,13,1000,0 )

Examples of a topic using the Bitcount parameter:

; INDICATION BLOCK
; OA 28673..28673, IO_BIT, SINGLE INDICATION, BASE ADDRESS 1 (12 bits
requested)
#SET STA1:STP(1)=( 1,1,1,7,0,1,1000,0, 12)

; INDICATION BLOCK
; OA 28673..28674, IO_BIT, SINGLE INDICATION, BASE ADDRESS 1 (28 bits
requested)
#SET STA1:STP(1)=( 1,1,2,7,0,1,1000,0, 12)

3.5.3 Address conversion between RTU and Modbus GUID-43590943-3344-47BC-8773-0C090235D967 v1

3.5.3.1 Addressing system of Modbus protocol GUID-6E3BD051-37F7-4076-8EF2-A579614035C1 v1

The Modbus protocol and Modicon PLCs divide addressable memory into four different areas as
shown below.

Address: Description:
0xxxx Discrete outputs and discrete coils
1xxxx Discrete inputs
3xxxx Input registers
4xxxx Holding registers

The external communication unit refers to these address areas by using different message functions
as shown below.

Function: Description:
01 Read coil status (0xxxx)
02 Read input status (1xxxx)
03 Read holding registers (4xxxx)
04 Read input registers (3xxxx)
05 Force single coil (0xxxx)
06 Write single register (4xxxx)
15 Force multiple coils (0xxxx)
16 Write multiple registers (4xxxx)

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1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 3
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Many third party Modbus protocol converters (for example Siemens CP525) do not
separate input and memory areas, which means that functions 01 and 02, as well as 03
and 04 point to the same address area.

A REF 542plus related function uses the following Modbus function codes:

20 Read General Reference

21 Write General Reference

See Section Section 3.5.3.3 and Section 3.5.3.3 for more information about the REF 542plus related
functions.

3.5.3.2 Addressing systems of RTU process objects in SYS600 GUID-B5E3436A-9A10-44DA-B782-395FE49242D8 v1

These rules apply to topic types 1...9 only. For topic type SPA_EVENT (101), see Section 3.5.4.

The object address (OA) of the RTU type process objects are packed 16 bit values, which contain
the actual address and also the type of data as shown below:

OA = 4096*Object_Type + Object_Address

Object_Type is one of the object types described in the table below.

Table 4: Object type codes and their process object types

Object_Type Code Process object type

1: Object command
3: Digital set-point
4: Analog set-point
6: Analog value
7: Indication (single or double)
8: Pulse counter
9: Digital value
101: SPA Event
102: REF 542plus Time Synchronization

3.5.3.3 Addressing Modbus objects from SYS600 GUID-DCA2501D-B3E2-4057-8E30-98CFB06CC3C4 v1

This section describes the addressing of Modbus objects from SYS600. The following table shows
the relationship between the Modbus message functions and topic parameters.

Table 5: Modbus message functions and topic parameters

Function Topic Topic format

type
01 7 M_BIT
02 7 IO_BIT
03 6, 8, 9 CHAR, WORD, INT, LONG, FLOAT
04 6, 9 IN_WORD, IN_CHAR, IN_INT, IN_LONG, IN_FLOAT, IN_MSB_LONG,
IN_MSB_FLOAT
05 1 IO BIT or M BIT
Table continues on next page

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 41

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Section 3 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Communication system configuration

Function Topic Topic format

type
06 3, 4 CHAR, WORD, LONG, FLOAT
15 1 M BIT (only when writing to the DI attribute
16 3, 4 CHAR, WORD, LONG, FLOAT (when vector written)

Topic type = Process object type

3.5.4 REF 542plus event reading and time synchronization GUID-7CE297AD-E0E1-4C94-80B8-18228385468E v1

The topic type SPA_EVENT 101 is used to read the event table contents from the REF 542plus relay.
The events are stored in four alternative tables, which are RCE files. The selected event table is
defined using the Base Address parameter of the topic. No more than one topic of type 101 can be
configured to each STA object.

If the topic of type 101 is configured, the number of available events is continuously polled with the
interval given with the topic parameter Interval. If the event count is bigger than zero, the event table
reading sequence starts and the contents of the event table is transmitted to a bitstream process
object with OA= FirstObjectAddress. The events are read in blocks of max. 8 events.

If the configured event table number is 2 or 5 (no clear operation made by the REF 542plus relay), an
automatic event clearing command is sent to the relay when the events have been transmitted
successfully to the bitstream process object. A SCIL application is needed to process the contents of
the bitstream process object.

If an event buffer overflow situation occurs in the REF 542plus device, the device status point is
updated with status PLCP_EVENT_BUFFER_OVERFLOW = 13829 and a GI is issued automatically,
if it is enabled with the RM attribute bit 1. The process database is kept in a valid state in the overflow
situation.

The topic type REF 542plus time synchronization 102 is used to send the time synchronization to a
REF 542plus relay. The synchronization is made cyclically if the Interval parameter of the topic is
bigger than 0. If the Interval parameter is 0, the synchronization can be made from the SCIL
application using the station attribute SY. Synchronization is needed in order to have the correct
timestamps for the events.

3.6 Communication adjustment guidelines GUID-EB610D92-1FF1-44B2-832B-78E33044F0BE v1

MicroSCADA has multiple adjustable attributes that affect the communication. The default values
might not be suitable for each system and can sometimes cause communication problems. Here are
listed the steps of what should be done when the communication is not working correctly. Note that
these advices are for serial line only.

3.6.1 Basic checks GUID-5A6CCFD7-26F3-4AD1-9DB3-F9447FBAA9E7 v1

In case of a communication does not start properly, following checks are worth to do before any
further investigation:

• Check that the serial port defined with line attribute SD matches with the computes serial port.
Check also that no error is reported to the notify window when the system or PC_NET is started.
• Check that the stations addresses match in master and slave.
• Check that the baud rates and other Data Transmission Attributes (in MicroSCADA System
Configuration Tool) match in master and slave.
• Check the length limitations for analog value requests and confirm that the analog topic
parameters are within those limitations.

42 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

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1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 3
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3.6.2 Message sending GUID-889A0F3E-07C4-4C01-AF35-949A4BF36C86 v1

If the remote end does not receive the messages sent from the line in question, following hints may
help:

• Check the FIFO buffers of the used serial port. If RTS signal is used to control the data carrier,
communication may function better if the FIFO buffers are disabled (or set to 1).
• Check the RTS Keepup Delay (RY) attribute value. If the RTS signal is used to control the data
carrier and it is reset too early, the end of the message might be left out when the message is
sent. With RY attribute the closing of the RTS signal can be delayed. On the other hand, if the
RY delay is too long, the remote device may start transmission when the data carrier is not
available. This causes an error.
• Check the COM Port Mode (CM) attribute. With the bit 3 setting the length of the message is
used to calculate the RTS keep up time. See attribute documentation for more information.

3.6.3 Message reception GUID-BA3D8518-E510-4304-AB23-9536D4830CA0 v1

If the remote end send message but those are not received correctly by the line in question, following
hints may help:

• Carrier Block (CB) attribute might be blocking the incoming messages. If the CB attribute is 0,
carrier blocking is not used and messages are received regardless of the DCD state. If the CB
attribute is 1, carrier blocking is used and the DCD must be signaled while characters belonging
to the message is received.
• Check the DE attribute values. The DE attribute delays the sending of the message after the
RTS signal is raised.
• Check that the Header Timeout (HT) and Response Timeout (TI) attributes lengths are long
enough for the communication. The TI time could be too short in cases when the response is
long and the baud rate small.
• If the messages are sent and received correctly but are not processed, check CRC or other
errors from the Diagnostic Counters in System Configuration Tools online-mode.
• The usage of the protocol analyzer and the bit 1 or line attribute AU (Analyzer usage) will help in
the tuning of the attributes DE, HT, TI, RI and RY. If bit 2 of the attribute AU is set, internal
information related to completion of the write operation to the serial driver is display in the
analyzer output.

3.6.4 Data updating GUID-95B4B883-8B70-479B-8BA5-275CE79926FD v2

If the remote end sends messages and it seems like those are received correctly by the line in
question but the process objects are not updating, following hints may help:

• Check that the attached process objects addresses are correct.

• Check that the requested process objects addresses are correct in the topics.
• Check that the STA object is allocated to the MicroSCADA application in which the process
objects are located. Related STA object attributes are AL (Allocation) and AS (Allocating
application).
• If the base system attribute TN (Translated Number) or ND (Node number) for the STA object
has been modified by the SCIL application, check that those refer to correct STA object in
correct PC_NET node

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 43

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
44
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 4
Using the Modbus Master Protocol

Section 4 Using the Modbus Master Protocol GUID-E5E7C53B-8603-4D46-BEFE-738A602D3A22 v1

This chapter describes how to transfer data between SYS600 and an external device by using the
Modbus protocol serial line or TCP network.

4.1 Requirements GUID-44AFAF32-A4F2-4A47-9C9E-9992D6EDBAED v1

The following software is required:

• SYS600
• Operating system - Windows

General knowledge about the Modbus protocols and PLC programming is also a requirement.

Install the software as described in their respective manuals. The installation of SYS600 is described
in SYS600 Installation and Administration Manual.

4.2 Accessing Modbus data using process objects GUID-947D26AF-BF03-4BD1-A73F-3A78BBEB441B v1

The most straightforward way to read data from a PLC device is to use the tools in the SYS600
package. The first step is to create topics to PC-NET, for example in System Configuration Tool and
then request data from the device. Creating topics is explained in Section 3.5.2

Below is an example of a topic for indication data:

GUID-6C0448C8-88D4-424D-9977-83A027FC640C V1 EN-US

Figure 12: Example of topic configuration

The requested data can be used by the SYS600 database, if the RTU type process objects are
created. The Object Navigator Tool can be used to create these objects. To be more specific, the
process objects' type needs to be RTU-200 for the Modbus master. The following example shows a
process object suitable for the topic above.

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 45

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Section 4 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Using the Modbus Master Protocol

GUID-D8EFF628-EE72-470A-B462-9EA29E6008A2 V1 EN-US

Figure 13: Example of process object

The topic requests data in the Modbus address space from bit address 17 to 48 (2*16). One SYS600
block object address contains 16 bits. The block address needs to be a value between the First and
the Last Object Address defined in the topic. The single indication process object in the example
above uses the bit 1 of block address 4 and the corresponding Modbus address of that bit is
17+(4-3)*16+1=34. For the rest of the binary data in the same topic, a process object must be
created for every bit. With double binary, each process object uses two consecutive bits and the
process objects' type is the double binary RTU object. While double binary uses 2 bits, the values
stored can be in the range 0..3.

Analog format data handling is similar, except that no bit handling is used. The process object used
refers to the defined Modbus register address. For instance, the topic for analog input is defined in
the object addresses 100-101 and the Modbus base address is 10. In this case, the process object
with the address 100 shows data from the Modbus register address 10 and a process object with the
address 101 shows data from the register address 11.

4.3 Configuring the device attribute interface GUID-92374D00-5B80-4B08-AE38-6D9AA82F0777 v1

Another way to read data from a PLC device is to use the NET attribute interface. A PLC station
contains its own database based on the created topics. The database can be accessed via the
attributes described below.

4.3.1 Attribute interface of a PLC device GUID-8BF3013B-C150-4184-84AB-B139142DC0CF v1

The attribute interface of a PLC device is described in the following.

46 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

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1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 4
Using the Modbus Master Protocol

4.3.1.1 Communication attributes GUID-FCB682DC-65BF-4382-8BA8-5A8CA1A55C77 v2

The base system communicates with the PLC by using communication attributes. If a communication
attribute is accessed from SCIL, the information stored to topics created for the station objects is
used to form a modbus request. When the SCIL application writes or reads the communication
attribute, the data is written or read to/from the process device as described in the attribute
descriptions below. Data read or written using the attributes BV, SI, DI, AV or DV is not stored in the
database in NET. It is sent to the process device or returned to the SCIL application as such. With
attributes BV, SI, DI, AV or DV, the given indices of the attribute must match some of the created
topics with the corresponding topic type. The formulas for the index calculations are described in the
attribute descriptions below. The index must be between IndexFirst and IndexLast.

The communication attributes are as following:

BV Bit Value
This attribute refers to a vector of bits in the PLC memory or IO. When this attribute is written, the type of the topic
must be 1 = Object Command, Writing to this attribute causes the transmission of command function 15 (Force
multiple coils) to the Modbus line, even when there is only one item.
When this attribute is read, the type of the topic must be 7 = Indication. Reading this attribute returns a single
indication value or a vector of single indications.
With format = 1 (IO_BIT), the used Modbus function in the request is 02 (Read input status) and with format = 2
(M_Bit), the function is 01 (Read coil status).
The indices for BV attribute are calculated as follows:
index = Object_Address * 16 + bit number (when reading from the BV attribute)
index = Object_Address (when writing to the BV attribute)
First index and last index define the range of bit values to be read or written. The starting addresses in PLC are
calculated as follows:
PLC address = ((index/16) - FirstObjectAddress)*16+(index modulo 16) + Base Address (when reading from the BV
attribute)
PLC address = (index - FirstObjectAddress)+Base Address (when writing to the BV attribute)
Access: R/W
Index range: 0..65535
Value range 0..1
Example of reading
@RET=STA1:SBV(80..95)
; returns a vector of 16 single indications
; If e.g the topic contains settings FirstObjectAddress = 4,
BaseAddress=300, the PLC addresses 316..331 are read

Example of writing
#SET STA1:SBV(16..19)=(1,1,1,1)
; issues a 'Force multiple coils' command to addresses 16..19
; If e.g. the topic contains settings FirstObjectAddress = 16,
BaseAddress=1000, the PLC addresses 1000..1003 are written

SI Single Indication
This attribute refers to a single bit in the PLC memory or IO. Writing to this attribute changes the status of one bit in
the PLC. The SI attribute can only be used with topics whose type is bit. The index for the SI attribute is calculated as
follows:
index = Object_Address * 16 + bit number (when reading from the SI attribute)
index = Object_Address (when writing to the SI attribute)
Access: R/W
Index range: 0...65535
Value range: 0...1

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 47

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Section 4 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Using the Modbus Master Protocol

DI Double Indication
This attribute also refers to the PLC bit memory or bit IO. Double indication has (as single indication) two logical
states (0 and 1), but in the double indication both directions have their own bits ( 0 -> 01, 1->10). The DI attribute can
only be used with topics whose type is bit. The index for the DI attribute is calculated as follows:
index = Object_Address * 16 + bit number, when reading from the DI attribute
index = Object_Address, when writing to the DI attribute
The use of Double Indication needs support from the PLC application program, because the PLC program language
does not directly support double indication data type.
Access: R/W
Index range: 0..65535
Value range: 0... 3

AV Analog Value
This attribute refers to the register data in the PLC memory. The register is always a 16-bit word in the PLC memory,
but the PLC program can use registers in 1, 2 or 4 byte format. The PLC program can also use successive registers
in different formats. If the format (=data type) of the topic is not the same as in PLC, the data type conversion must be
made in the MicroSCADA application. If the data is requested using only the AV-attribute, the topic interval must be
set to 0.
If AV is read, the type of the topic must be 6 (analog value) and the returned value is a vector of values read from the
registers of the PLC. The meaning of the indices are:
First index = First object address
Last index = Last object address
First and last index of the AV reading do not need to be the same as the defined object addresses for the topic.
Returned vector length is (last index - first index + 1). If the given indices do not match any configured topic of type
Analog Value, a SCIL error is returned. See also the data read examples below.
If the format is 8 bits, the order of the bytes within a word is not the same as the transmission order. The first value in
SCIL is the lower byte of the register and in the response message it is the second byte of the register.
Correspondingly, the second value in SCIL is the higher byte of the register and in the response message, it is the
second byte of the register. This applies to all registers in a message. The maximum amount values returned to SCIL
is 114 for topic formats using 8 bits or 16 bits and 57 for topic formats using 32 bits. If more registers are needed, the
attribute AD (Additional Data) can be used. One modbus response message can contain a maximum of 125
registers. The starting PLC register address of the read request is calculated using the information defined for the
topic as follows:
8 bit format -> PLC address = Base Address + (first index - FirstObjectAddress)/2 (rounded downwards)
16 bit format -> PLC address = Base Address + (first index - FirstObjectAddress)
32 bit format -> PLC address = Base Address + (first index - FirstObjectAddress)*2
If AV is written, the type of the topic must be 4 (analog setpoint) and a message of func 6 = Write Single register
or func 16 = Write Multiple registers is formulated. The indices are:
first index = First object address
last index = Last object address
The amount of registers written is dependent on the format of topic:
8 bit format -> (last index - first index + 1)/2 registers is written
16 bit format -> (last index - first index + 1) registers is written
32 bit format -> (last index - first index + 1)*2 registers is written
First and last index of the AV writing need not to be the same as the object addresses defined for the topic. If the
given indices do not match any topics of type 'Analog Setpoint', a SCIL error is returned. See also the data write
examples below.
If the format is 8 bits, the order of the bytes within a word is not the same as the transmission order.
The first value from SCIL is the lower byte of the register and it is transmitted after the higher byte. Correspondingly,
the second value from SCIL is the higher byte of the register and it is transmitted before the lower byte. The
maximum amount values given from SCIL are 123 for topic formats using 8 bits or 16 bits and 61 for topic formats
using 32 bits. The starting PLC register address of the write request is calculated using the information defined for the
topic as follows:
PLC address = Base Address + (first index - FirstObjectAddress)
Access: R/W
Index range: 0..65535
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1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 4
Using the Modbus Master Protocol

AV Analog Value
Value range: -2147483647..2147483647 (for topic types other than float) The value range in the message
is limited according to the format of the topic
Example 1
Topic is defined to be of type Analog Value with format 4 - one register from PLC's memory. The addresses are
FirstObjectAddress = 600, LastObjectAddress = 620 and BaseAddress = 1000.
@x=STA1:SAV(600..609) ; read 10 registers starting from PLC address 1000 to variable x
@x=STA1:SAV(602..609) ; read 8 registers starting from PLC address 1002 to variable x
Example 2
Topic is defined to be of type Analog Setpoint with format 4 - one register from PLC's memory. The addresses are
FirstObjectAddress = 500, LastObjectAddress = 520 and BaseAddress = 2000.
#set SAV1:SAV(500..509)=(80,80,80,80,80,80,80,80,80,80) ; write value 80 to 10 registers starting from PLC address
2000
#set SAV1:SAV(502..509)=(80,80,80,80,80,80,80,80) ; write value 80 to 8 registers starting from PLC address 2002
Example 3
Topic is defined to be of type Analog Value with format 8 - floating point. The addresses are FirstObjectAddress =
700, LastObjectAddress = 720 and BaseAddress = 1500. One floating point value requires two registers.
@x=STA1:SAV(700..709) ; read 20 registers (10 floating values) starting from PLC address 1500 to variable x
@x=STA1:SAV(702..709) ; read 16 registers (8 floating values) starting from PLC address 1504 to variable x
Example 4
Topic is defined to be of type Analog Setpoint with format 8 - floating point. The addresses are FirstObjectAddress =
800, LastObjectAddress = 820 and BaseAddress = 2500. One floating point value requires two registers
#SET STA1:SAV(800..809) = (80.1,80.1,80.1,80.1,80.1,80.1,80.1,80.1,80.1,80.1) ; write value 80.1 to 20 registers
starting from PLC address 2500
#SET STA1:SAV(802..809) = (80.1,80.1,80.1,80.1,80.1,80.1,80.1,80.1) ; write value 80.1 to 16 registers starting from
PLC address 2502

DV Digital Value
This attribute refers to the register data in the PLC memory.
If the data is requested using only the DV-attribute, the topic interval must be set to 0. Unlike the attribute AV, DV
does not support data formats of 8 bits and 32 bits.
If DV is read, the type of the topic must be 9 (digital value) and the returned value is a vector of values read from the
registers of the PLC. The meaning of the indices are:
First index = First object address
Last index = Last object address
The first and last index of the DV reading do not need to be the same as the defined object addresses for the topic.
Returned vector length is (last index - first index + 1). If the given indices do not match any configured topic of the
type Digital Value, a SCIL error is returned. See also the data read examples below.
The maximum amount value returned to SCIL is 114. If more registers are needed, the attribute AD (Additional Data)
can be used. One Modbus response message can contain a maximum of 125 registers. The starting PLC register
address of the read request is calculated using the information defined for the topic as follows:
PLC address = Base Address + (first index - FirstObjectAddress)
If AV is written, the type of the topic must be 3 (digital setpoint) and a message of func 6 = Write Single register or
func 16 = Write Multiple registers is formulated.
The indices are:
first index = First object address
last index = Last object address
The register count written is (last index - first index + 1).
The first and last index of the DV writing do not need to be the same as the defined object addresses defined for the
topic. If the given indices do not match any topics of the type Digital Setpoint, a SCIL error is returned. See also the
data write examples below.
The maximum amount value given from SCIL is 123.
The starting PLC register address of the write request is calculated using the information defined for the topic as
follows:
PLC address = Base Address + (first index - FirstObjectAddress)
Access: R/W
Index range: 0...65535
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Section 4 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Using the Modbus Master Protocol

DV Digital Value
Value range: 0...65535
Example 1
Topic is defined to be of the type Digital Value with format 5 - one register from PLC's memory (unsigned). The
addresses are FirstObjectAddress = 700, LastObjectAddress = 800 and BaseAddress = 600.
@x=STA1:SDV(700..799) ; read 100 registers starting from PLC address 600 to variable x
@x=STA1:SDV(702..799) ; read 98 registers starting from PLC address 602 to variable x
Example 2
Topic is defined to be of the type Digital Setpoint with format 5 - one register from PLC's memory (unsigned). The
addresses are FirstObjectAddress = 100, LastObjectAddress = 110 and BaseAddress = 300.
#SET STA1:SDV(100..109)=(80,80,80,80,80,80,80,80,80,80) ; write value 80 to 10 registers starting from PLC
address 300
#SET STA1:SDV(102..109)=(80,80,80,80,80,80,80,80) ; write value 80 to 8 registers starting from PLC address 302

GD General Request of Data

This attribute is not exactly a communication attribute. It is a request to send all the internal PLC NET database data
to SYS600. It does not perform any communication between the NET and a remote PLC. When data is sent, the PLC
station sends the system's status message to SYS600. When reading, the value of GD is 1 until the update is ready.
Access: R/W
Index range: none
Value range: 0...1

SY Synchronize
The SY attribute is used to accurately time-synchronize the Modbus device. Currently REF 542plus is supported. The
sent time is taken from the internal clock of the MicroSCADA X computer controlling the Modbus line. A topic of type
102 (REF 542plus time sync) must be configured before this function can be used.
Data type: Integer
Value: 1 = time sync for REF 542plus (no other values supported)
Access: Write-only
When events are polled using the topic type 101 from the REF 542plus device, the corresponding static data needs
to also be requested in order to ensure that the database is in a consistent state. The maximum value for the static
data polling of a input data is currently 65 seconds, which can be too small in some situations and result in useless
traffic in the serial line. A new attribute is presented to give an alternate way to initiate the static data transmission.

GI General Interrogation
This attribute can be used to request all configured input topics in the following way: If the topic is normally polled,
meaning that its interval is > 0, the polling is speeded up. If the topic is not polled, meaning that its interval = 0, it is
requested if the bit 0 of the RM attribute is 1.
Data type: Integer
Value: 1 = (no other values supported)
Access: Write-only
The response data updates the process database although no changes have occurred. This attribute can also be
used when event polling is not used.
It is possible that the interval parameter of the input topics is set to 0 for some topics and the data is requested using
the SI, DI, AV and DV attributes. These topics are not included in the GI sequence, if they are not explicitly configured
with an RM attribute bit 0.

50 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

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1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 4
Using the Modbus Master Protocol

MM Transparent Modbus Message

Modbus messages can be sent using this attribute. The responses can be accessed by reading the attribute. The
reading can only be done once, which is why it should be stored into a variable in SCIL. If in a response data length
is larger than 228 bytes (113 registers + function code and length bytes) the response is stored into separate MM
attributes indices. The first 228 bytes are stored into index 1 and the rest into index 2. The indices can be read
separately.
Access: R/W
Index range: Writing:
Not used
Reading:
0-1 = Read index 1
2 = Read index 2
Value: Writing:
Byte array without checksum, request max length 200 bytes
Example:
Writing:
#SET STA1:SMM=(10,1,12,22,23)
Reading index 1:
@RESPONSE1 = STA1:SMM1 (or @RESPONSE = STA1:SMM)
Reading index 2:
@RESPONSE2 = STA1:SMM2
The first byte in the vectors is always the modbus function code, but the meaning of the rest of the bytes depends on
the function code used. The detailed structure of the each message is specified in the Modbus protocol available
from www.modbus.org.
The structure of the most common reading message (Function Codes 01,02,03 and 04) is:
(Function Code, Start Address high byte, Start Address low byte, Quantity high byte, Quantity low byte)
and the corresponding response vector is (Function Code, Byte Count, First data high, First data low, Second data
high, Second data low, ...)

AD Additional Data
This attribute should be read when the response vector to the previous reading of the AV, DV, DI or SI attributes is
shorter than expected.
The response to the AD attribute can be a vector of items of the same type as the previous response to the reading
of the AV, DV, SI or DI attributes.
The response to the AD reading is formed, if the answer from the device does not fit into one internal message. No
new request is made to the device when AD is read.
If a new AV, DV, DI or SI request is made or an AD is read, the stored AD response is cleared.
Error 13832 PLCC_NO_ADDITIONAL_DATA_AVAILABLE is returned to SCIL, if no data is stored.
Indexing: No
Access: Read only
Value range 0..0xFFFFFFFF, range depends on the preceding request
Example
Attribute read STA5:SDV(3001..3125) returns a vector of 114 words. Because this is less than expected, the SCIL
application should branch to make an additional read of the AD attribute (STA5:SAD, no indexing). This returns a
vector of 11 words. These two vectors may be concatenated by the SCIL application if needed.
The application should not make a new read of DV, AV, SI or DI before the AD attribute is read, otherwise the data for
AD is lost. This can be a problem in the rare case of multiple SCIL instances accessing the same STA object at the
same time.

NP Next Poll
This attribute can be used to speed up or slow down the polling interval of a topic, generate demand scans, and
enable or disable the polling of a single topic. This attribute is useful if there is a need to control the polling of the IED
from the SCIL application. The given interval can be configured to be permanent. The given index of the NP attribute
must be the same as the one given in the topic definition using the attribute TP.
Data type: Integer or a vector of two integers
Value: Vector (INTERVAL, [PERMANENT])
Index: Topic index
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Section 4 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Using the Modbus Master Protocol

NP Next Poll
Access: Write only
INTERVAL
Defines the time in milliseconds to the next poll of the topic defined with topic index.
Value = 1 generates an immediate poll even if the permanent interval is 0 (=polling disabled).
Delayed polling is not possible if the polling is disabled.
PERMANENT
A non-zero (use 1) value defines the given interval to be permanent for the topic.
If interval = 0 is set as permanent, the topic is not polled anymore.
Examples:
#SET STA'n':SNP'index' = (0,1) ;disable the polling of the topic
#SET STA'n':SNP'index' = 1 ;poll the topic once (demand scan)
#SET STA'n':SNP'index' = (20000,1) ;enable the polling of the topic
using 20 second interval
#SET STA'n':SNP'index' = (3000,0) ;speed up the polling for one poll
#SET STA'n':SNP'index' = (3000,1) ;redefine the polling interval to be
3 seconds

4.3.2 Example of using device interface commands GUID-44B32856-55BF-470D-B6FC-2B7B4BCBDC00 v1

The SYS600 application program can write data to an external device through the process database
(SYS600 generates a process message automatically, when the output type of an RTU process
object is updated). Another method of sending commands from SYS600 is to use communication
attributes as described in the following sections.

4.3.2.1 Writing object commands GUID-027320AD-DBB2-4857-B019-06FF6831648B v1

Object commands (e.g. switching device open/close commands) are sent as control relay output
block messages. This message is a multi-purpose command. This section gives an example of how
to write object commands.

Topic configuration GUID-14D8D073-431A-4F89-AB00-A9C8DAB1EE31 v1

#SET STA1:STP(5)=(1,1,30,1,0,1,0,0)

Process object configuration

Name: PLC_1_OC Station: 1
Index: 2 OA: 2
Type: Object command

The following commands set the same binary output (OUT_BIT1) in the PLC:

#SET PLC_1_OC:P2 = 1
#SET STA1:SSI(2) =1 ;-> index = object_address

4.3.2.2 Writing analog setpoints GUID-82702F2C-90CF-4088-902A-846729A1C0F6 v1

Process object configuration

Name: PLC_1_AS Station: 1
Index: 1 OA: 1
Type: Analog setpoint

If 16-bit values are used: GUID-F4159080-5A2E-4A17-9DE9-6095454EE343 v1

Topic Configuration

#SET STA1:STP(7)=(1,1,3,4,313,4,0,0)

52 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

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1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 4
Using the Modbus Master Protocol

The following commands set the register value 314 to 1234 in the PLC:

#SET PLC_1_AS:P1 = 1234

#SET STA1:SAV(1) = 1234

The following command updates a vector in the PLC (reg 314 = 1234, reg 315 = 1, reg 316=2)

#SET STA1:SAV(1..3) = (1234,1,2)

If 32-bit values are used: GUID-615F9C08-0CAC-4D25-ACB5-79E3BAA018E3 v1

Configuration

#SET STA1:STP(7)=(1,1,3,4,313,6,0,0)

The following commands sets the register value 314 to 1 and the register value 315 to 57920 in the
PLC:

#SET PLC_1_AS:P1 = 123456

#SET STA1:SAV(1) =123456

If the topic format is 7 (MSB_LONG), the values in the registers are used in opposite
order.

If float values are used: GUID-BADE4D72-C43E-4990-8806-62CDBCFC92DD v1

The configuration is:

#SET STA1:STP(7)=(1,1,3,4,313,8,0,0)

The following command sets the value 3.21 to registers 314, 315

#SET STA1:SAV(1)=3.21

4.3.2.3 Writing digital setpoints GUID-94247849-82E4-4950-98D0-26EEAB0064D8 v1

Process object configuration:

Name: PLC_1_DS Station: 1
Index: 1 OA: 1
Type: Digital setpoint

Topic configuration GUID-29884796-DBDA-4EF4-A875-1008C62FB55D v1

#SET STA1:STP(6)=(1,1,3,3,253,5,0,0)

The following commands set the register value 254 to 1234 in the PLC:

#SET PLC_1_DS:P1 = 1234

#SET STA1:SDV(1) =1234

Updating a vector (reg 254 = 1234, reg 255 = 1, reg 256=2)

#SET STA1:SDV(1..3) = (1234,1,2)

4.3.3 Configuration examples GUID-57F75CE5-2FB8-47B1-90A5-885C0C8D777D v1

As previously described, the NET continuously scans the PLC memory. Only data changes are sent
to SYS600. The PLC station sends data to the SYS600 process database.

The process database object address is calculated as:

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 53

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Section 4 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Using the Modbus Master Protocol

OA = ((PLC_address - Topic_Base_Address) + StartOA)+4096*Topic_Type

It is also possible to read data from the PLC using communication attributes as described in the next
sections.

4.3.3.1 Reading indications GUID-5146ADB5-3875-402A-B21F-E39FD8713DD4 v1

Process object configuration:

Name: PLC_1_SI Station: 1
Index: 1 OA: 1
Type: Indication OB: 0

Topic configuration GUID-57DF3496-6EA3-46C0-A9DA-B37881639CBD v1

#SET STA1:STP(1)=( 1,1,1,7,0,1,1000,0)

Scanning GUID-98314362-C2AB-4E16-8ED7-A3C973E72B43 v1
The NET reads the state of 16 input bits starting from BIT0 with an interval of 1 second. The process
value PLC_1_SI:P1 is updated, if the state of BIT0 of PLC is changed.

The direct reading of the INPUT BIT0 state is possible with the following SCIL command:

@BIT = STA1:SSI(16) ;-> index = 16*objcet_address + bit_address

and reading vector (16 values):

@BIT_V = STA1:SSI(16..31)

4.3.3.2 Reading analog values GUID-008AC17B-3143-453D-ABB2-29030AB8C797 v1

Process object configuration

Name: PLC_1_AV Station: 1
Index: 1 OA: 1
Type: Analog value

Topic configuration GUID-CA7FA537-94A1-46B0-A85A-D416B2C78609 v1

#SET STA1:STP(3)=(1,1,20,6,199,4,10000,10)

Scanning GUID-33AF09BA-A608-4845-846E-111E6C285199 v1
The NET unit reads 20 registers from the PLC starting from register 200 with an interval of 10
seconds. The process value PLC_1_AV:P1 is updated, if the register 200's value is changed.

The direct reading of the register 200 value is possible with the following SCIL command:

@VALUE = STA1:SAV(1)

and reading a vector:

@VALUE = STA1:SAV(1..20)

54 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 4
Using the Modbus Master Protocol

4.3.3.3 Reading digital values GUID-DBCBB756-4851-4366-9E04-A27105F18E8B v1

Process object configuration

Name: PLC_1_DV Station: 1
Index: 1 OA: 1
Type: Digital value

Configuration GUID-A0B434CD-5501-4E63-BB88-7ED0A72B85D3 v1
#SET STA1:STP(2)=(1,1,2,9,399,4,1000,000)

Scanning GUID-939FBC1F-8C45-4B13-A0B8-FE96CF495D4D v1
The NET reads two registers from the PLC memory starting from register 400 with an interval of 1
second.

The process value PLC_1_DV:P1 is updated, if the register 400 is changed. The following SCIL
command reads the value of register 400 from the PLC:

@VALUE = STA1:SDV(1)

and reading a vector:

@VALUE = STA1:SAV(1..2)

4.3.3.4 Reading digital values from input registers GUID-3F306383-1734-4878-9905-688DF89CBB59 v1

Process object configuration

Name: PLC_1_IR Station: 1
Index: 1 OA: 1
Type: Digital value

Configuration GUID-A89EBCA5-00ED-4105-A077-AFF9B9943FD0 v1
#SET STA1:STP(2)=(1,1,2,9,399,10,1000,0)

Scanning GUID-4148876C-1F1A-4DF0-8BB3-1F6FE60F7DE2 v1
The NET reads two input registers from the PLC memory, starting from register 400 with an interval
of 1 second.

The process value PLC_1_DV:P1 is updated, if the register 400 is changed. The following SCIL
command reads the value of input register 400 from the PLC:

@VALUE = STA1:SDV(1)

4.3.4 Modbus TCP/IP protocol configuration examples GUID-48341C9D-8EE1-4650-832B-D132A2309B8D v1

A setup of one station:

@NET=2

@STA = 1
@LINE = 1
#SET NET'NET':SPO'LINE'=25
#SET NET'NET':SDV(28)=('STA','LINE')
#SET NET'NET':SSD'LINE'="TCP"
#SET NET'NET':SEN'LINE'=3
#SET NET'NET':SLD'LINE'="10.0.10.1"
#SET NET'NET':SMS'LINE'='NET'
#SET NET'NET':SPM'LINE'=0

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 55

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
Section 4 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Using the Modbus Master Protocol

#SET NET'NET':SIU'LINE'=1
#SET NET'NET':SIU'LINE'=0

#SET STA'STA':SAL=1
#SET STA'STA':SSA=1
#SET STA'STA':SIA="10.0.10.10"
#SET STA'STA':SET=3
#SET STA'STA':SIU=1
#SET NET'NET':SIU'LINE'=1

A setup of three stations:

@NET=2
@LINE = 1

#SET NET'NET':SPO'LINE'=25
#SET NET'NET':SDV(28)=(1,'LINE')
#SET NET'NET':SDV(28)=(2,'LINE')
#SET NET'NET':SDV(28)=(3,'LINE')
#SET NET'NET':SSD'LINE'="TCP"
#SET NET'NET':SEN'LINE'=3
#SET NET'NET':SMS'LINE'='NET'
#SET NET'NET':SPM'LINE'=0
#SET NET'NET':SIU'LINE'=1
#SET NET'NET':SIU'LINE'=0

@STA = 1

#SET STA'STA':SAL=1
#SET STA'STA':SSA='STA'
#SET STA'STA':SIA="10.0.10.101"
#SET STA'STA':SIU=1

@STA = 2

#SET STA'STA':SAL=1
#SET STA'STA':SSA='STA'
#SET STA'STA':SIA="10.0.10.102"
#SET STA'STA':SIU=1
@STA = 3

#SET STA'STA':SAL=1
#SET STA'STA':SSA='STA'
#SET STA'STA':SIA="10.0.10.103"
#SET STA'STA':SIU=1

#SET NET'NET':SIU'LINE'=1

4.3.4.1 TCP additions for LAN/WAN network GUID-C0C83F13-57F4-4399-BEAB-18AA57FBFFF3 v1

If not explicitly specified with line attribute LD, SYS600 Modbus TCP uses the default IP address
provided by the operating system.

The created Modbus TCP line reserves a port number for its internal use:

2501+linenumber

In TCP/IP mode (connection-oriented), the connection is established to the standardized port of the
slave device:

502

56 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 4
Using the Modbus Master Protocol

The slave device must accept connections from this port. If not explicitly specified, only one
connection to each Modbus TCP server is established at the same time. The second example below
describes the gateway configuration. The IP address of the slave is configured with the IA attribute of
the station object. In case the Modbus TCP server uses a special TCP port number instead of the
standardized one, the device attribute IA provides a special notation for the definition of the port.

4.3.4.2 Example topologies: GUID-2B40E36D-5EB5-49A1-830D-B8000B2C39F6 v1

GUID-6EB28CFF-1BC6-49E4-BD2B-21E2427C6461 V1 EN-US

Figure 14: SYS600 as Modbus TCP master in multidrop environment

GUID-69011B71-A40A-4CAC-9FDA-5CCA3C7AD77C V1 EN-US

Figure 15: SYS600 as Modbus TCP master in multidrop environment with gateway
Example 1

;connection made to port 502 of each IP-address

;one TCP session established to address 62.236.145.119 (most common case)

Station 1 IA="62.236.145.119"

Station 2 IA="62.236.145.119"

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 57

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
Section 4 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A
Using the Modbus Master Protocol

Station 3 IA="62.236.145.119"

Station 4 IA="62.236.145.120"

Example 2

;connection made to port 502 of each IP-address

;three concurrent TCP sessions established to address 62.236.145.119

Station 1 IA="62.236.145.119"

Station 2 IA="62.236.145.119:2"

Station 3 IA="62.236.145.119:3"

Station 4 IA="62.236.145.120"

4.4 Interoperability list GUID-3B02D297-27B6-4AD3-8E47-0B0FA6708995 v1

Functions and parameters:

Supported by SYS600 Modbus Master

Not supported by SYS600 Modbus Master

4.4.1 Network Configurations GUID-BE6B7840-6293-4C18-A075-7F93B5C0EDCE v1

Point-to-point Multipoint star

Multiple point-to-point

4.4.2 Physical Layer GUID-8CA37164-463E-4606-9813-50B2487C6223 v1

Electrical Interface

RS-232 RS-485

Ethernet

4.4.3 Link Layer GUID-0C1ADB0C-B38C-49CE-8EBA-7BCF3596AE55 v1

Protocol Mode

ASCII RTU

Message Length

255 Maximum length L (number of characters)

58 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Section 4
Using the Modbus Master Protocol

4.4.4 Transmission Speed (only serial) GUID-DE68F8D6-DBCC-4C2A-B385-B171894E34F7 v1

300 bit/s 600 bit/s

1200 bit/s 2400 bit/s

4800 bit/s 9600 bit/s

19200 bit/s 38400 bit/s

57600 bit/s

4.4.5 Transmission Settings (only serial) GUID-075A0C15-5DE5-435C-8943-71C4D70375AD v1

Parity Check

No parity check Even parity check Odd parity check

Stop Bits

1 stop bit 2 stop bits

4.4.6 Application Layer GUID-3CCBAA27-3C90-4B34-9F4D-D1CBFE33B1E0 v1

Function Codes

<1> Read Coil Status <2> Read Input Status

<3> Read Holding Register <4> Read Input Registers

<5> Force Single Coil <6> Write Single Register

<7> Read Exception Status <8> Diagnostics

<11> Get Communication Event Counter <12> Get Communication Event Log

<15> Force Multiple Coils <16> Write Multiple Registers

<17> Report Slave ID <20> Read File Record

<21> Write File Record <22> Mask Write Register

<23> Read/Write Multiple Registers <24> Read FIFO Queue

PLC Device communication attribute MM Transparent Modbus Message may provide a

SCIL solution for unsupported function codes. See attribute description for details.

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 59

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
60
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Appendix A
Appendix: Serial cable wiring diagram

Appendix A Appendix: Serial cable wiring

diagram GUID-0C92B3FB-50B6-4B66-98F6-A423EBEC9387 v1

When connecting the Modbus master to a SYS600 slave using a direct serial cable, the wiring
illustrated by the following figure can be used:

GUID-52AFE9A0-02C6-443F-978E-1D6699A1F6EB V1 EN-US

Figure 16: Serial cable wiring diagram

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 61

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
62
1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A Index

Index

A ET.................................................................... 31
AC....................................................................22 Exception Address...........................................28
Accessing Modbus data.................................. 45 F
AD....................................................................51 FirstObjectAddress.......................................... 34
Additonal Data................................................. 51 Float values......................................... 46, 52, 53
Address conversion................................... 25, 40 Format............................................................. 35
AL.................................................................... 26
Allocating Application...................................... 26 G
Allocation................................................... 26, 34 GD................................................................... 50
Analog format.................................................. 46 General Interrogation.......................................50
Analog Value................................................... 48 General Request of Data.................................50
Analog values............................................ 36, 54 GI.....................................................................50
AS..............................................................22, 26 H
Autocaller AT S Register................................. 25
Autocaller Enabled.......................................... 22 Header Timeout...............................................14
Autocaller State............................................... 22 HT....................................................................14
AV.................................................................... 48 I
B IA..................................................................... 30
Base Address.................................................. 35 Ignore Suspension...........................................31
Basic line attributes......................................... 10 Indication data................................................. 45
Baud Rate........................................................11 Internet Address.............................................. 30
Binary output................................................... 52 Interoperability list............................................58
Bit handling......................................................46 Interval.............................................................36
Bit Value.......................................................... 47 In Use........................................................ 10, 25
Block object address....................................... 46 IS..................................................................... 31
BR....................................................................11 IU............................................................... 10, 25
Buffer Pool Size............................................... 11 IU attribute....................................................... 10
BV....................................................................47 L
C LastObjectAddress.......................................... 34
Carrier Blocking............................................... 18 LD.................................................................... 20
CB....................................................................18 LI......................................................................25
CE....................................................................27 Line attributes.................................................. 10
CL.................................................................... 23 Line Number.................................................... 25
CM................................................................... 12 Link Type......................................................... 18
CN................................................................... 23 LK.................................................................... 18
Communication attributes................................47 Local Address..................................................20
Communication Enabled................................. 27 M
COM Port Mode...............................................12 Maximum Length............................................. 27
Connected Station........................................... 23 MBAP header.............................................. 6, 18
Connecting Timeout........................................ 30 MC................................................................... 24
Connection...................................................... 23 Message Application................................. 17, 26
Connection Time............................................. 23 Message Identification...............................17, 26
Connection Time Limited.................................23 MI...............................................................17, 26
CRC Checking.................................................18 ML....................................................................27
CS....................................................................23 MM...................................................................51
CT..............................................................23, 30 Modbus TCP/IP attributes............................... 30
CTS................................................................. 13 Modbus TCP master attribute..........................20
D Modem Command........................................... 24
Data transmission attributes............................ 11 Modem Signal..................................................16
DC....................................................... 19, 22, 27 Modicon........................................................... 40
DD................................................................... 23 MS............................................................. 17, 26
DE....................................................................13 Multi-drop network topology.............................. 9
Delta.......................................................... 36, 38 N
Device attribute interface.................................46 NET attribute interface.....................................46
DI............................................................... 42, 48 Next Poll.......................................................... 51
Diagnostic Counters............................ 19, 22, 27 NominalValue.................................................. 38
Digital Value.....................................................49 NP....................................................................51
Double Indication.............................................48
DV..............................................................25, 49 O
OA............................................................. 34, 41
E Object commands............................................52
EA....................................................................28 OM...............................................................6, 17
EN....................................................................16 Operating Mode...............................................17
Enquiry Limit....................................................16

MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5 63

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
Index 1MRK 511 655-UEN Rev. A

P TP.................................................................... 33
Parity................................................................11 Transaction ID Checking................................. 17
PC....................................................................24 Transaction ID checking, one byte.................. 18
PC-NET........................................................... 45 Transmitter Data Bit Count.............................. 12
PD....................................................................13 Transparent Modbus Message........................51
Percentage...................................................... 38 Type.................................................................34
PLC..................................................................47 W
PLC device...................................................... 45 Wiring.............................................................. 61
PLC station...................................................... 46 Write Multiple Registers...................................36
PM................................................................... 17 Writing object commands................................ 52
PO................................................................... 10
Point-to-point network topology......................... 9
Polling Delay....................................................13
Polling Period.................................................. 18
PP....................................................................18
Protocol........................................................... 10
Protocol Mode................................................. 17
PS.................................................................... 11
Pulse Dialing....................................................24
PY.................................................................... 11
R
Radio Connection Wait Time........................... 24
Radio Disconnection Delay............................. 23
RC................................................................... 24
RD....................................................................11
Read data........................................................ 45
Receive Interrupt Enable Delay.......................15
Receiver Data Bit Count.................................. 11
rEconnecting Timeout......................................31
Register address............................................. 46
Remote Calls Enabled.....................................24
Request data................................................... 45
Response Timeout.......................................... 14
RI..................................................................... 15
RM................................................................... 27
RTS Keepup Delay .........................................15
RTS signal....................................................... 13
RTU................................................................. 45
Running Mode................................................. 27
RW...................................................................24
RY....................................................................15
S
SA....................................................................25
SB....................................................................12
SD....................................................................11
Serial over IP............................................... 6, 18
SG................................................................... 16
SI..................................................................... 47
Single
Bit.......................................................... 47
Indication............................................... 47
SR....................................................................25
Station Address............................................... 25
Stop Bits.......................................................... 12
SY....................................................................50
Synchronize.....................................................50
SYS600 database............................................45
System Configuration Tool.........................33, 45
System Device Name...................................... 11
System
Messages.............................................. 17
T
TD....................................................................12
TI..................................................................... 14
Topic
Configuration......................................... 33
Parameters............................................33

64 MicroSCADA X SYS600 10.5

Modbus Master Protocol
© 2023 Hitachi Energy. All rights reserved.
65
Hitachi Energy Finland Oy
Grid Automation
PL 688
65101 Vaasa, Finland

https://hitachienergy.com/microscadax Scan this QR code to visit our website

1MRK 511 655-UEN

© 2023 Hitachi Energy.

All rights reserved.