Supported devices for the Ethernet/IP Driver
Ethernet/IP is used to communicate with multiple generations and families of Rockwell Automation / Allen Bradley PLCs. The name can be confusing, and actually stands for [Common] Industrial Protocol over Ethernet. It is an application layer protocol, layered on top of standard TCP/IP networking.
There are two distinct families of PLCs with which this driver can be used, and they have significant operational differences. The newer devices such as ControlLogix, CompactLogix, and FlexLogix PLCs implement native CIP Protocol. This allows reads and writes using the actual tag-names from the PLC, complex tag structuring, and grouping of unrelated tags in a single message.
The older devices such as PLC5, SLC5, and MicroLogix implement PCCC/DF1 protocol, encapsulated in Ethernet/IP. These devices group their tags into very specific categories of File, Instance, and SubElement. Only requests for items within the same file can be grouped in a given request.
· Uses standard Ethernet networking hardware
· The WinCC OA system is always the master and initiates all connections and transactions (reads are polled)
· Through-routing to remote PLCs without an Ethernet connection is only supported for transparent interfaces such as the 1761-NET-ENI
· Supports WinCC OA Redundancy
Supported devices include the following:
| PLC Series | Model | Protocol | Interface |
| ControlLogix | | Native EIP | CPU Direct, 1756-ENBT 1756-ENET/B |
| CompactLogix | 1769-L32E, 1769-L35E Other models | Native EIP | CPU Direct 1768-ENBT, 1761-NET-ENI |
| FlexLogix | 1794-L34, 1794-L33, Other models | Native EIP | 1788, 1761-NET-ENI |
| PLC5E PLC5E, PLC5C | | PCCC | CPU Direct 1785-ENET, 1761-NET-ENI |
| SLC500 | SLC 5/05 SLC 5/04, SLC 5/03 | PCCC | CPU Direct 1761-NET-ENI |
| MicroLogix | MicroLogix 1100, MicroLogix 1400 MicroLogix 1100, MicroLogix 1200, MicroLogix 1500 | PCCC | CPU Direct 1761-NET-ENI |
Some older devices may require firmware updates if they were not previously being used with Ethernet/IP.
Other models supporting native EIP should also work if they have a built-in Ethernet port or an Ethernet interface card.
Other models supporting PCCC should also work if they have a built-in Ethernet port supporting EIP encapsulation, or through a transparent Ethernet to serial bridge such as a 1761-NET-ENI.
Note that the 1761-NET-ENI bridges to a PLC’s serial port, so compared to direct Ethernet, throughput will be reduced.