Optional I/O Expansion Modules

Presentation

I/O expansion modules can be marked as optional in the configuration. The Optional module feature provides a more flexible configuration by the acceptance of the definition of modules that are not physically attached to the controller. Therefore, a single application can support multiple physical configurations of I/O expansion modules, allowing a greater degree of scalability without the necessity of maintaining multiple application files for the same application.

Without the Optional module feature, when the controller starts up the I/O expansion bus (following a power cycle, application download or initialization command), it compares the configuration defined in the application with the physical I/O modules attached to the I/O bus. Among other diagnostics made, if the controller determines that there are I/O modules defined in the configuration that are not physically present on the I/O bus, an error is detected and the I/O bus does not start.

With the Optional module feature, the controller ignores the absent I/O expansion modules that you have marked as optional, which then allows the controller to start the I/O expansion bus.

The controller starts the I/O expansion bus at configuration time (following a power cycle, application download, or initialization command) even if optional expansion modules are not physically connected to the controller.

The following module types can be marked as optional:

oTM3 I/O expansion modules

oTM2 I/O expansion modules

NOTE: TM3 Transmitter/Receiver modules (the TM3XTRA1 and the TM3XREC1) and TMC4 cartridges cannot be marked as optional.

You must be fully aware of the implications and impacts of marking I/O modules as optional in your application, both when those modules are physically absent and present when running your machine or process. Be sure to include this feature in your risk analysis.

Marking an I/O Expansion Module as Optional

Shared Internal ID Codes

Controllers and bus couplers identify expansion modules by a simple internal ID code. This ID code is not specific to each reference, but identifies the logical structure of the expansion module. Therefore, different references can share the same ID code.

You cannot have two modules with the same internal ID code declared as optional without at least one mandatory module placed between them.

This table groups the module references sharing the same internal ID code: