Technical Information on the ASi Gateway

• ASi (short for Actuator-Sensor-Interface) is a standardized field bus communication according to EN 50295 and IEC 62026-2. It is mainly used on field device level for connecting sensors/command devices and actuators.

• Each sensor/command device and actuator is considered as ASi I/O device which obtains its address from an ASi Gateway. For the maximum number of connectable devices (safety-related and standard), consult the B+W documentation.

  Safety-related and standard devices can be simultaneously used at the ASi field bus.

• Communication on ASi field bus level: the ASi Gateway sends requests to addressed devices which respond with the requested data.

• Neither the ASi controller program nor the ASi communication is synchronized with the upstream Sercos field bus.

• Cross-communication between several ASi Gateway devices is possible via Safe Link. (Safe Link by Bihl+Wiedemann provides safety-related communication via Ethernet.)

  This way, subnetworks (which are, for example, covering different safety architectures) can be interconnected and evaluated/monitored by the same Safety Logic Controller. The PacDrive 3 safety-related system supports a maximum of 5 ASi Gateways.

  Refer to the topic "Use case: several ASi Gateways with cross-communication" for details.

• Communication between an ASi Gateway integrated into the PacDrive 3 system and the Schneider Electric SLC and LMC (ASi/Sercos data exchange) is enabled via a 64 or 96-bit device object (depending on the gateway type). From the perspective of the safety-related Safety Logic Controller application, each integrated ASi Gateway device is considered as a 64/96-bit I/O module. Detailed information can be found in the introducing topic to this documentation, section "ASi/Sercos Data Exchange (I/O mapping of ASi data)".

System limits for ASi Gateway in PacDrive 3 systems: when integrated into the Schneider Electric PacDrive 3 Safety System, the functional range of the ASi Gateway is available.