This driver is a member of the TOP Server Modbus Suite OPC Server. When you download or purchase the Modbus Suite, this driver is included along with all the TOP Server built-in features. This driver provides connectivity to devices supporting Modbus TCP/Ethernet protocol. This driver implements master and slave capabilities in the same driver, allowing configuration of Master or Slave devices.
Protocols Supported:
Modbus TCP/Ethernet Protocol Master or Slave
Click here for details on supported variations of these protocols
When using this driver in slave mode, Static tags must be configured in the TOP Server for this driver to receive messages.
Maximum Number of Channels & Devices Supported:
Master
Slave
Channels - 1024
Channels - 1024
Devices - 1024
Devices - 1024
Modbus Function Codes Supported:
Decimal - 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 08, 16
Hexadecimal - 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 08, 10
Standard Modbus Features
Full Address Range Support: (Application Note)
Output Coils: 000001 - 065536
Input Coils: 100001 - 165536
Internal Registers: 300001 - 365536
Holding Registers: 400001 - 465536
Decimal or Hex Addressing Support
Supports all memory types and data types such as Float, Long Word, and BCD
String Data Type support for Internal Registers
String Block Read Support
Base Modbus device model supports 32-Bit Data Types as Two Registers
Modbus Bridging/Routing to Modbus Plus, RTU, & ASCII supported
See CSV Import to build your tag configuration quickly
Tag configuration supports dynamic tags from your client application
Advanced Driver Features:
Applicom device model for use of Applicom-type address syntax with 3 Sub-Models (See Applicom Addressing in Modbus Ethernet Help File for details)
Generic Modbus
TSX Premium
TSX Quantum
Address-level Byte and/or Word Switching Modifiers (Applicom Models Only)
Adjustable Address Base ( 0 or 1 )
Selectable Function Code for Single Address Writes
Word Order Swapping for Float and Long Data Types
Byte Order Swapping on all 16 bit and 32 bit values
User Definable Read Block Sizes
Holding register memory as string data (HiLo or LoHi byte order)
Configurable Inter-request delay
Automatic Tag Database Generation (from Concept or ProWORX)
Optimized communications allow each device to have a separate thread/channel of communications (up to 256 devices)
Configure up to 10 TCP sockets per device, maximizing throughput for devices supporting multiple socket connections.
Channel Serialization (Virtual Channels allow multi-protocol support on the same communication channel)
Specify a Network Interface Card at the channel level (Details)
Standard TCP/IP Address support or DNS Naming for Device IDs
Modbus Plus Bridging Connectivity Support
Modbus Unsolicited/Slave support using loopback address or local PC IP Address (Note: No Channel Serialization for Unsolicited Devices)
Maximum unsolicited socket connections: 256
User-selectable socket connection termination on device response timeout
Support for Double-precision Unsigned Long encoding for integers and unsigned integers.
Support for expanded blocking modes for CEG device mode
Modbus Driver
If you have programming experience and are looking for the cheapest solution, there is a free Java driver for Modbus called 'jamod.' I have successfully implemented about 10 projects using it to create a PC control/monitoring system for Modbus devices. It works either on TCP/IP and serial RS232 (RTU and ASCII).