Panasonic FP2 Series User manual

Safety Precautions
Observe the following notices to ensure personal safety or to prevent accidents.
To ensure that you use this product correctly, read this User’s Manual thoroughly before use.
Make sure that you fully understand the product and information on safety.
This manual uses two safety flags to indicate different levels of danger.
WARNING
If critical situations that could lead to user’s death or serious injury is assumed by
mishandling of the product.
-Always take precautions to ensure the overall safety of your system, so that the whole system
remains safe in the event of failure of this product or other external factor.
-Do not use this product in areas with inflammable gas. It could lead to an explosion.
-Exposing this product to excessive heat or open flames could cause damage to the lithium battery
or other electronic parts.
CAUTION
If critical situations that could lead to user’s injury or only property damage is assumed
by mishandling of the product.
-To prevent excessive exothermic heat or smoke generation, use this product at the values less than
the maximum of the characteristics and performance that are assured in these specifications.
-Do not dismantle or remodel the product. It could cause excessive exothermic heat or smoke
generation.
-Do not touch the terminal while turning on electricity. It could lead to an electric shock.
-Use the external devices to function the emergency stop and interlock circuit.
-Connect the wires or connectors securely.
The loose connection could cause excessive exothermic heat or smoke generation.
-Do not allow foreign matters such as liquid, flammable materials, metals to go into the inside of the
product. It could cause excessive exothermic heat or smoke generation.
-Do not undertake construction (such as connection and disconnection) while the power supply is on.
It could lead to an electric shock.
Copyright / Trademarks
-This manual and its contents are copyrighted.
-You may not copy this manual,in whole or part,without written consent of PanasonicElectric
Works.,Ltd.
-Windows and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the
United States and/or other countries.
-All other company names and product names are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.
-Matsushita Electric Works,Ltd. pursues a policy of continuous improvement of the
Design and performance of its products, therefore,we reserve the right to change the manual/
product without notice.
BNTN

i
Table of Contents
Precautions Concerning Compatibility with the FP3 v...........
Transmission Speed and Transmission Format vii................
Flow Control xiii.........................................................
Chapter 1 Functions of Serial Data Unit
1.1 Features and Parts Number of Serial Data Unit 1 −3........................
1.1.1 Features 1 −3.................................................
1.1.2 Part Number of Unit 1 −3........................................
1.2 Function of Serial Data Unit 1 −4........................................
1.3 Restrictions on Units Combination 1 −5...................................
1.3.1 Restrictions on Current Consumption 1 −5........................
1.3.2 Restrictions on Unit Installation Position 1 −5......................
Chapter 2 Parts and Functions
2.1 Parts and Functions 2 −3...............................................
2.1.1 Name of Parts 2 −3............................................
2.1.2 Operation Status Display LEDs 2 −4..............................
2.1.3 COM.1 and COM.2 Ports (9 pins) 2 −5............................
2.1.4 Transmission Format Setting Switch 2 −5.........................
Chapter 3 Confirming the Unit Settings and Design Contents
3.1 Signals of RS232C Connector 3 −3......................................
3.2 Setting the Transmission Speed and Transmission Format 3 −5..............
3.2.1 Transmission Format Settings Set Using Switches 3 −6.............
3.2.2 Transmission Format Settings Using the Shared Memory 3 −6.......
3.3 Confirming the I/O Contacts and Slot Number 3 −10.......................
3.3.1 The Role of Input/Output Contacts 3 −10.........................
3.3.2 Allocation of I/O Contacts 3 −10.................................
3.3.3 Confirming the I/O Allocation and Slot Number 3 −11...............
3.3.3.1 Confirming the I/O Number Allocations 3 −11............
3.3.3.2 Confirming Slot Number 3 −12........................

FP2 Serial Data UnitTable of Contents
ii
Chapter 4 Communication with External Devices
4.1 Overview of Communication with External Devices 4 −3....................
4.1.1 Sending Data to External Devices 4 −3...........................
4.1.2 Receiving Data from External Device 4 −5.........................
4.2 Programming When Data is Sent 4 −7....................................
4.2.1 How Timings and Flags (Contacts) Work 4 −7.....................
4.3 Programming When Data is Received 4 −10..............................
4.3.1 How Timings and Flags (Contacts) Work 4 −10...................
4.4 Sample Program 4 −14................................................
4.4.1 Sample Program <FP series PLC (MEWNETCOL−COM)> 4 −14....
4.5 Data Sent and Received with the Serial Data Unit 4 −20...................
Chapter 5 Precautions Regarding Serial Data Unit Operation
and Programs
5.1 Precautions Regarding Basic Operation of the Unit 5 −3....................
5.1.1 Shared Memory Values When the Power Supply is Off 5 −3.........
5.2 Precautions Concerning Communication 5 −4.............................
5.2.1 Precautions When a Start Code is Valid 5 −4......................
5.2.2 End Codes for Communication 5 −5..............................
5.2.3 Operation If a Communication Error Occurs 5 −5...................
5.2.4 Precautions Concerning a Software Reset 5 −6....................
5.2.5 Precautions When Setting the Control Signals
CS and CD to “Valid” 5 −6.......................................
Chapter 6 Operation If an Error Occurs
6.1 Operation If an Error Occurs 6 −3........................................
6.1.1 If the ALARM LED on the Serial Data Unit Lights 6 −3..............
6.1.2 When the Serial Data Unit ERROR LED Lights 6 −4................
6.2 What To Do If An Error Occurs 6 −5......................................
6.2.1 If the ALARM LED Lights on the Serial Data Unit 6 −5..............
6.2.2 If the ERROR LED on the Serial Data Unit Lights 6 −5..............
6.2.3 If Data cannot be Sent or Received with the Serial Data Unit 6 −6....

Table of Contents
FP2 Serial Data Unit
iii
Chapter 7 Specifications
7.1 Tables of Performance Specifications 7 −3................................
7.2 Table of Shared Memory Areas 7 −5.....................................
7.3 Table of I/O Contacts 7 −6..............................................
7.4 Transmission Format 7 −8..............................................
Chapter 8 Sample Programs
8.1 Sample Programs 8 −3.................................................
8.1.1 Adding a BCC (block check code) 8 −3...........................
8.1.1.1 An Overview of the BCC 8 −3.........................
8.1.1.2 BCC Automatic Addition Sent Program 8 −5.............
8.1.1.3 Received Program with BCC Check 8 −7...............
8.1.2 Time Out and Retry 8 −9........................................
8.1.2.1 An Overview of the Time Out and Retry Functions 8 −9...
8.1.2.2 Time Out and Retry Program 8 −9.....................
8.2 Table of ASCII Codes 8 −11.............................................
Record of changes R−1..............................................

FP2 Serial Data UnitTable of Contents
iv

Precautions Concerning Compatibility with the FP3
FP2 Serial Data Unit
v
Precautions Concerning Compatibility with
the FP3
Hardware compatibility
Please be aware that the following items are different for the FP2 and FP3 Serial Data
Units.
The DIP switch settings are different.
With the FP2 Serial Data Unit, the contents that can be set with the DIP switches are
limited to the transmission speed and data length. The settings for the parity, stop bit
length, and the start code/end code, as well as the control signal CS / CD effective/valid
settings, are fixed in the initial status, but can be changed by writing different values to
the shared memory.
There is no external reset switch.
The FP2 Serial Data Unit has no reset switch.
Both are connected to serial devices in the same way.
The specifications for the RS232C interface on the FP2 Serial Data Unit are the same
as those of the FP3.
Software compatibility
The FP2 and FP3 Serial Data Units are compatible in terms of software.
Program operations are mostly the same.
With the FP2, operations such as I/O allocations, shared memory addresses, and
access to reading and writing data are the same as with the FP3. Most of the programs
can be used on both models.
next page

FP2 Serial Data UnitPrecautions Concerning Compatibility with the FP3
vi
Comparison of FP2/FP3 Serial Data Unit Specifications
Item Setting FP2 FP3
Transmission
speed
19200 bps • •
spee
d
9600 bps • •
4800 bps • •
2400 bps *•
1200 bps *•
600 bps *•
300 bps *•
Data length 7 bits • •
8 bits • •
Parity None *•
Odd parity • •
Even parity *•
Stop bit 1 bit • •
2 bits *•
Control signal
CS/CD
Invalid • •
CS/CD
Valid *•
End code Any code *•
CR(0DH) • •
CR(0DH) and
LF (0AH)
*•
ETX (03H) *•
Start code Invalid • •
Valid *•
External reset switch No Yes
•: These items can be set in the default settings, or using the DIP switches.
*: With the FP2, these are items which can only be set using the shared memory.

Transmission Speed and Transmission Format
FP2 Serial Data Unit
vii
Transmission Speed and Transmission
Format
The transmission speed and transmission format are decided when serial communication
is carried out. These settings must match on the transmitting side and receiving side, and
consist of the following items.
Transmission speed
With serial communication, data is sent in bit units, in sequential order, through a single
signal line. The transmission speed indicates the number of bits sent per second, and
is normally called the ”baud rate”.
FP2
External
device
The number of bits sent and received in one second is
expressed as the communication speed.
1 second
SDU
SD RD ERR SD RD ERR AL
COM.1COM.2
COM.1(RS232C)
COM.2(RS232C)
With the serial data unit, the following transmission speeds can be selected: “300 bps”,
“600 bps”, “1200 bps”, “2400 bps”, “4800 bps”, “9600 bps”, and “19200 bps”.
Data length (Character bit)
With serial communication, data (characters) are broken down into “1” and “0” signals
and transmitted. The “data length” specifies the number of bits used to represent one
character in this process.
1
One data element of 7 bits
010001 10100010
Data length 7 bits Data length 8 bits
One data element of 8 bits
With the serial data unit, either “7 bits” or “8 bits” may be selected as the data length.

FP2 Serial Data UnitTransmission Speed and Transmission Format
viii
Start bit and Stop bit
With normal communication, it is rare for a data transmission to consist of a single data
element (character). Usually, characters of a certain unit are sent in succession. With
serial communication, one “0” bit is always inserted before each data element, to
separate the various data elements being transmitted, and a “1” is added at the end of
each data element, for the same purpose. The “0” inserted before the data is called a
“start bit” and the “1” added at the end of the data is called a “stop bit”.
1
Start bit “0”
0100010
One data element (character)
01
Stop bit “1”
1
Start bit “0”
0100010
One data element (character)
011
Start bit “0”
0100010
One data element (character)
01
Stop bit “1” Stop bit “1”
With the serial data unit, the start bits and stop bits are inserted automatically.
Stop bit length
With serial communication, one bit is normally used for the stop bit, but if there is a lot
of noise on the communication circuit, or if the transmission speed fluctuates sharply,
two bits can be used as the stop bit, to differentiate one data element from the next more
clearly.
1
Start bit
0100010
One data element (character)
01
Stop bit
When the stop bit is 1 bit
1
Start bit
0100010
One data element (character)
011
Stop bit
(when 2 bits
are used)
When the stop bit is 2 bits
With the serial data unit, either “1 bit” or “2 bits” may be selected as the stop bit length.

Transmission Speed and Transmission Format
FP2 Serial Data Unit
ix
Parity check
With serial communication, sometimes noise or another factor causes a bit to be
transmitted erroneously. The parity check is designed to detect data bit errors such as
these. It does this by determining whether the total number of “1” bits in the data is an
odd number or an even number.
If a parity check is used, a parity bit is inserted in front of the stop bit on the sending side,
when the data is sent. As shown in the illustration below, when the setting is set to “Even
Parity”, the parity bit is set so that the total number of “1” bits in the data is an even
number, and if “Odd Parity” is set, the parity bit is set so that the total number of “1” bits
in the data is an odd number.
1
Start bit
0010101
One data element
(character)
01
When the parity check is set to “Even” When the parity check is set to “Odd”
Parity bit
The bit is set to “1”
so that the number
of bits in the data is
an even number.
123
Number of “1” bits
in the data is 3
Stop bit
1
Start bit
0010100
One data element
(character)
01
123
Stop bit
Number of ”1” bits
in the data is 3
Parity bit
The bit is set to
“0” so that the
number of bits in
the data is an
odd number.
The data is also checked on the receiving side to see if the total number of “1” bits is
an even or odd number, and a parity error occurs if the result does not match that on
the sending side.
With the serial data unit, the parity setting can be set to “Invalid”, “Odd Parity”, or “Even
Parity”.

FP2 Serial Data UnitTransmission Speed and Transmission Format
x
Stop−and−start synchronization data format
As described in this section, the serial data unit adds a start bit to the beginning of the
data being transmitted, and a stop bit to the end of the data. This is called the
“stop−and−start synchronization” method of transmission. The following illustration
shows the overall data format, including all of the items discussed in this section.
D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 Dn Dp
1 bit
2 bits
Stop bit
Parity bit
1 character
Data bit
Start bit
Idle stateIdle state Next
data
High
Low
•On RS232C signal lines, when there are no signals (idle state), this
goes “High”.
•“n” indicates the data length. With the serial data unit, either “7 bits”
or “8 bits” can be selected.
Control signals CS and CD
In serial communication, if the receiving side cannot keep up with the sending side, a
request is made to temporarily stop the flow of data, and then to restart it. This is called
flow control.
With the serial data unit, the type of flow control used is a hardware flow, in which CS
(Clear to send), CD (Received line signal detector) and other control signals are used.
When flow control is carried out, the control signals CS and CD should be set to “Valid”.
Operation of the CS (Clear to send) signal
The CS (Clear to send) signal pin of the serial data unit is connected to the RS (Request
to send) pin on the other side.
When the serial data unit receives a request to send data from the other side, it turns
on the CS (Clear to send) signal pin and sends the data. The signal is then turned off
to stop the data transmission.
FP2
External
device
The serial data unit begins sending
data when the CS signal goes on.
CS (Clear to send) RS (Request to send)
SDU
SD RD ERR SD RD ERR AL
COM.1COM.2
COM.1(RS232C)
COM.2(RS232C)

Transmission Speed and Transmission Format
FP2 Serial Data Unit
xi
Operation of the CD (received line signal detector) signal
The CD (Received line signal detector) signal pin of the serial data unit is connected to
the ER (Data terminal ready) pin on the other side. When the CD (Received line signal
detector) signal of the serial data unit goes on, data reception processing begins, and
when the signal goes off, data reception processing stops.
FP2
External
device
CD (Received line
signal detector) ER (Data terminal ready)
The serial data unit begins reception
processing when the CD signal goes on.
SDU
SD RD ERR SD RD ERR AL
COM.1COM.2
COM.1(RS232C)
COM.2(RS232C)
Received buffer
When flow control is being carried out in the serial data unit, the control signals CS and
CD should be set to “Valid” in the transmission format settings.
Note
When using two channels (COM1 and COM2) setting the control
signals CS and CD to “Valid”, the CS of external device should
be always on.
If the CS is off, the communication service of the other channel
will stop.
End code
With the serial data unit, up to 500 characters can be sent or received at one time. The
series of consecutive data elements (characters) being sent at one time is called a
frame.
An “end code” indicates the end of this frame. If there is no end code, the serial data
unit cannot send or receive data, so always make sure the end code is provided in the
data being transmitted.
1 frame
DataDataData
FP2
External
device
End code
(CR)
−−−−−−−
The series of consecutive data being
sent at one time is called a frame.
SDU
SD RD ERR SD RD ERR AL
COM.1COM.2
COM.1(RS232C)
COM.2(RS232C)
With the serial data unit, the end code is set to “CR(H0D)” when the unit is shipped from
the factory, but this can be changed to “CR(H0D)+LF(H0A)”, “EXT(H03)”, or “Any code”
in the transmission format settings.
If “Any code” is selected, the code (1 byte) to be used as the end code should be
registered in address 1001 (COM.1) or 1002 (COM.2) of the shared memory.

FP2 Serial Data UnitTransmission Speed and Transmission Format
xii
Start code
The start code designates one frame of the data being transmitted as the start of the
data. If the start code is made valid in the transmission format settings, the data received
between the STX and the next end code is considered to be one frame.
1 frame
DataData
FP2
External
device
End code
(ETX)
−−−−−−−
One frame extends from the start code to
the end code.
Start code
(STX)
SDU
SD RD ERR SD RD ERR AL
COM.1COM.2
COM.1(RS232C)
COM.2(RS232C)
With the serial data unit, the start code can be set to either “Invalid” or “Valid”.

Flow Control
FP2 Serial Data Unit
xiii
Flow Control
In serial communication, if the receiving side cannot keep up with the data being sent,
the received buffer overflows, and subsequent data is discarded. In order to avoid this
kind of situation, a type of control called flow control is used, in which data transmission
can be temporarily stopped and then restarted.
With the serial data unit, signal lines such as RS (Request to send) and ER (Data
terminal ready), CS (Clear to send) and CD (Received line signal detector) are available
for flow control. These are separate from the SD (Sent Data) and RD (Received Data)
signal lines, and are used in hardware flow control.
When the serial data unit is connected to the external device with an RS232C, the wiring
is connected differently, depending on whether or not flow control is used. The
differences are explained here using two typical examples of wiring, shown below.
3−line connection (no RS or ER control) with no flow control
These are connected with the SD (Sent Data) and RD (Received Data) of the two
devices crossed. This is the basic method used to connect the serial data unit to the
external device.
1
Pin No. Abbrev. Pin No.Symbol
FP2 serial data unit side (9 pins) RS232C device side
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
FG
SD
RD
RS
CS
SG
CD
ER
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
20
FG
SD
RD
RS
CS
SG
CD
ER
Protective ground
Sent data
Received data
Request to send
Clear to send
Signal ground
Received line signal detector
Data terminal ready
Signal name
Shielding wire
DR
Not used
Notes
•When the serial data unit is being used with no control
signals, it is not necessary to connect the RS and CS signals,
or the CD and ER signals, but we recommend making the RS
— CS and CD — ER signal connections as shown above.
The RS — CS connection should also be made on the RS232C
device side.
•When the power supply is turned on, the “Control Signals CS
and CD” setting in the transmission format settings is set to
“Invalid”.

FP2 Serial Data UnitFlow Control
xiv
Connections when using flow control (RS and ER control used)
As when no flow control is being used, connections are made with the SD (Sent Data)
and RD (Received Data) of the two devices crossed, but in addition, the signal lines of
the RS (Request to send), CS (Clear to send), and ER (Data terminal ready), and CD
(Received line signal detector) signals are used when the wiring is connected.
1
Pin No. Abbrev. Pin No.Symbol
FP2 serial data unit side (9 pins) RS232C device side
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
FG
SD
RD
RS
CS
SG
CD
ER
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
20
FG
SD
RD
RS
CS
SG
CD
ER
Protective ground
Sent data
Received data
Request to send
Clear to send
Signal ground
Received line signal detector
Data terminal ready
Signal name
DR
Shielding wire
Not used
With the serial data unit, the signal lines of RS and ER are normally on.
Notes
•When using flow control with the serial data unit, the “Control
Signals CS and CD” setting in the transmission format
settings should be set to “Valid”. For information on the
transmission format settings, refer to section 3.2.
•The RS (Request to send) and ER (Data terminal ready) signals
of the serial data unit are normally on.
•When using two channels (COM1 and COM2) setting the
control signals CS and CD to “Valid”, the CS of external device
should be always on.
If the CS is off, the communication service of the other
channel will stop.

Chapter 1
Functions of Serial Data Unit
1.1 Features and Parts Number of Serial Data Unit 1 −3......
1.1.1 Features 1 −3...............................
1.1.2 Part Number of Unit 1 −3......................
1.2 Function of Serial Data Unit 1 −4.......................
1.3 Restrictions on Units Combination 1 −5.................
1.3.1 Restrictions on Current Consumption 1 −5.......
1.3.2 Restrictions on Unit Installation Position 1 −5....

FP2 Serial Data UnitFunctions of Serial Data Unit
1−2

Functions of Serial Data UnitFP2 Serial Data Unit
1−3
1.1 Features and Parts Number of Serial Data Unit
1.1 Features and Parts Number of Serial Data Unit
1.1.1 Features
The FP2 serial data unit is a communication interface unit which is installed in the
Programmable Controller FP2 in order to connect it to devices with an RS232C interface.
It can be used to read data from an image checker, bar code reader, or other device, and
to output data to a printer or similar device.
RS232C
Image checker
Bar code reader
Printer
Data is read with the
high−level instruction
F150 (READ).
Data is written with the
high−level instruction
F151 (WRT).
Data input/output processing
takes place between the shared
memory in the CPU of the unit
and input/output devices.
Data is read and written using the ladder program in the FP2 CPU unit
Data is read from and written to an external device connected to the RS232C port
through the shared memory installed in the serial data unit.
Two RS232C ports installed
There are two RS232C ports installed in the unit, and these can be used in three ways:
for input only, for output only, and for both input and output.
Up to 500 characters of data can be transferred in each frame.
1.1.2 Part Number of Unit
Name Part number
FP2 serial data unit FP2−SDU
Two D−sub connectors (9 pins) are provided as accessories with the serial data unit.

FP2 Serial Data Unit
Functions of Serial Data Unit
1−4
1.2 Function of Serial Data Unit
1.2 Function of Serial Data Unit
The CPU unit and serial data unit handle reading and writing of data through a shared
memory installed in the serial data unit.
When data is read from and written to the CPU unit and the serial data unit via the shared
memory in the latter, it is done using the F151 (WRT) and F150 (READ) instructions in
a ladder program. Handshaking with the CPU unit, transmission of error signals and
other functions are handled by X and Y contacts allocated to the serial data unit.
FP2 CPU unit FP2 serial data unit
Shared memory
RS232C device
On/off of contact Communication is carried out by controlling contacts such
as the “Reception Completed flag” and “Sending Directive”
allocated to the serial data unit.
Reading and writing of data
Data is read from and written to the
shared memory in the serial data
unit using the F150 (READ) and
F151 (WRT) instructions.
Data sending and reception
Data sending to and from external devices con-
nected to the RS232C port is handled through
the shared memory in the serial data unit.
FP2 serial data unit
Shared memory
Data reception
Data is read using
the F150 (READ)
instruction
“Reception completed flag” contact goes on
FP2
CPU unit FP2 serial data unit
Shared memory
Data sending
RS232C
device
“Sending directive” contact goes on
Data is written using
the F151 (WRT)
instruction
RS232C
device
Reading data
Data input from the RS232C port is stored
in a received buffer in the shared memory,
and the “Reception Completed flag” is
turned on. This data is then read using the
F150 (READ) instruction of the ladder
program, and is stored in the data regis-
ters of the CPU unit and other areas.
Writing data
After the data to be output is written to the
sent buffer in the shared memory, using
the F151 (WRT) instruction, the “Send-
ing Directive” contact is turned on. This
causes the data to be output from the
RS232C port.
FP2
CPU unit