ISPSoft User Manual 20.1.2 Basic Knowledge Before creating networks, users need to have some basic knowledge. The basic knowledge is introduced in this section. Device and network A device is the most basic element in a network. It is a PLC, a module, or equipment defined by users. A network is a collection of devices which are interconnected. Every network is assigned a network number. There are RS-485 networks and Ethernet networks. Besides, a physical interface that a device uses to connect to a network is a port of the device. If there are more than two ports on a device, the device can connect to networks which are assigned different network numbers.
Please refer to section 20.2.2 for more information about the marking of a port in NWCONFIG. PLC name “ AH-01 ”, “ AH-02 ”, and “ AH-03 ” in the figure above are PLC names. The PLC name of an AH5x0 series CPU module depends on the setting in HWCONFIG. Users can identify a device in a network by means of the PLC name of the device. Please refer to section 3.3.2.1 for more information. However, the PLC name of a device which is not an AH5x0 series CPU module is like a comment on the device. It has little significance. Node and node number consists of a CPU module and a network module.
The network module cannot operate by itself, and A node is a basic unit which can operate independently in a network. ~ in the figure above are nodes. therefore the CPU module and the network module are regarded as one node. Besides, AH5x0 series CPU modules can forward packets and perform routing. For example, in the figure above can be monitored through . Before routing is performed, users have to create paths along which data is sent, and assign node numbers to the nodes which forward the data along the paths. Only AH5x0 series CPU modules can be assigned node numbers, and the node number of a node in a network cannot be the same as the node number of another node in the network.
After the paths created are downloaded to 20-4