Hilscher cifX and netHost – Universal Fieldbus Interfaces
The cifX series PC cards by Hilscher allow PC-based devices to be easily and quickly integrated into industrial fieldbus environments. Applications include system and machine control via PC, user interfaces (HMI) for machine monitoring and operation, test benches for devices with fieldbus interfaces, simulation systems or robotics solutions. cifX cards are available in all relevant form factors, such as PCI Express, PCI, Mini PCI, M.2, Mini PCI Express, CompactPCI, PCI 104. For industrial PCs and embedded systems that only have Ethernet interfaces Hilscher netHOST LAN gateways are available.
cifX PC cards and netHost LAN gateways can be used as both master and slave, are multi-protocol capable and can map a wide range of fieldbus and Real-Time Ethernet protocols (Profinet, EtherCAT, SERCOS III, Ethernet / IP …). Thanks to a standard platform strategy, all hardware formats and protocols use the same drivers, configuration tools and API.
Our LabVIEW libraries are based on this API and provide not only cyclic bus communication but also on-the-fly switching of the real-time Ethernet protocol and bus configuration. In addition, bus-specific functions are available for identifying the bus participants (bus scan) and for their configuration (e.g. setting the Profinet station name).
LabVIEW and DIAdem Integration
Our interfaces for Hilscher cifX and netHost are based on customer applications that have been tried and tested over many years. In addition to LabVIEW libraries, components for use in NI DIAdem are also available.
LabVIEW libraries for Hilscher cifX and netHost
The following libraries for integration into your LabVIEW application are available as turn-key solutions:
Bus interface for Hilscher cifX
- Cyclic read and write access to the interface
- available for all bus protocols supported by cifX (EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, Sercos III, EtherCAT, Open Modbus/TCP, POWERLINK, VARAN)
- Optionally master or slave
Bus configuration for Hilscher cifX
- Exchange of firmware (Real-Time Ethernet protocol)
- Exchange of the configuration (Sycon.net project)
Profinet configuration for Hilscher cifX
- Setting the Profinet station name of IO devices
- Setting the IP address of IO devices
- Resetting IO devices to factory settings (resetting the station name and IP address)
- Bus scan (identification of IP address, subnet mask, gateway, name, product type and MAC address of the connected IO devices)
EtherCAT bus scan for Hilscher cifX
- Bus scan (identification of vendor ID, product code, revision number, serial number and port status of the connected EtherCAT slaves)
Data sheet for download: LabVIEW libraries for Hilscher cifX