PDO Parameterization

Even though the majority of CANopen networks operate satisfactorily with the default settings, i.e. with the minimum of configuration effort, it is wise at least to check whether the existing bus loading is reasonable: 80% bus loading may be acceptable for a network operating purely in cyclic synchronous modes, but for a network with event-driven traffic this value would generally be too high, as there is hardly any bandwidth available for additional events.

Consider the Requirements of the Application

The communication of the process data must be optimized in the light of application requirements which are likely to be to some extent in conflict. These include

Little work on parameterization - useable default values are optimal
Guaranteed reaction time for specific events
Cycle time for regulation processes over the bus
Safety reserves for bus malfunctions (enough bandwidth for the repetition of messages)
Maximum baud rate - depends on the maximum bus length
Desired communication paths - who is speaking with whom

The determining factor often turns out to be the available bus bandwidth (bus load).

Baud rate

We generally begin by choosing the highest baud rate that the bus will permit. It should be borne in mind that serial bus systems are fundamentally more sensitive to interference as the baud rate is increased. The following rule therefore applies: just as fast as necessary. 1000 kbit/s are not usually necessary, and only to be unreservedly recommended on networks within a control cabinet where there is no electrical isolation between the bus nodes. Experience also tends to show that estimates of the length of bus cable laid are often over-optimistic - the length actually laid tends to be longer.

Determine the Communication Type

Once the baud rate has been chosen it is appropriate to specify the PDO communication type(s). These have different advantages and disadvantages:

Cyclic synchronous communication provides an accurately predictable bus loading, and therefore a defined time behavior - you could say that the standard case is the worst case. It is easy to configure: The SYNC rate parameter sets the bus loading globally. The process images are synchronized: Inputs are read at the same time, output data is set valid simultaneously, although the quality of the synchronization depends on the implementation. The BECKHOFF FC510x PC cards / EL6751 CANopen terminal are capable of synchronizing the CANopen bus system with the cycles of the application program (PLC or NC).

The guaranteed reaction time under cyclic synchronous communication is always at least as long as the cycle time, and the bus bandwidth is not exploited optimally, since old data, i.e. data that has not changed, is continuously transmitted. It is however possible to optimize the network through the selection of different SYNC multiples (transmission types 1...240), so that data that changes slowly is transmitted less often than, for instance, time-critical inputs. It must, however, be borne in mind that input states that last for a time that is shorter than the cycle time will not necessarily be communicated. If it is necessary for such conditions to be registered, the associated PDOs for asynchronous communication should be provided.
Event-driven asynchronous communication is optimal from the point of view of reaction time and the exploitation of bus bandwidth - it can be described as "pure CAN". Your choice must, however, also take account of the fact that it is not impossible for a large number of events to occur simultaneously, leading to corresponding delays before a PDO with a relatively low priority can be sent. Proper network planning therefore necessitates a worst-case analysis. Through the use of, for instance, inhibit time, it is also necessary to prevent a constantly changing input with a high PDO priority from blocking the bus (technically known as a "babbling idiot"). It is for this reason that event driving is switched off by default in the device profile of analog inputs, and must be turned on specifically. Time windows for the transmit PDOs can be set using progress timers: the telegram is not sent again before the inhibit time has elapsed, and not later than the time required for the progress timer to complete.
The communication type is parameterized by means of the transmission type.

It is also possible to combine the two PDO principles. It can, for instance, be helpful to exchange the set and actual values of an axis controller synchronously, while limit switches, or motor temperatures with limit values are monitored with event-driven PDOs. This combines the advantages of the two principles: synchronicity for the axis communication and short reaction times for limit switches. In spite of being event-driven, the distributed limit value monitoring avoids a constant addition to the bus load from the analog temperature value.

In this sample it can also be of value to deliberately manipulate the identifier allocation, in order to optimize bus access by means of priority allocation: the highest priority is given to the PDO with the limit switch data, and the lowest to that with the temperature values.

Optimization of bus access latency time through modification of the identifier allocation is not, however, normally required. On the other hand the identifiers must be altered if masterless communication is to be made possible (PDO linking). In this sample it would be possible for one RxPDO for each axis to be allocated the same identifier as the limit switch TxPDO, so that alterations of the input value can be received without delay.

Determining the Bus Loading

It is always worth determining the bus loading. But what bus loading values are permitted, or indeed sensible? It is first necessary to distinguish a short burst of telegrams in which a number of CAN messages follow one another immediately - a temporary 100% bus loading. This is only a problem if the sequence of receive interrupts that it caused at the CAN nodes cannot be handled. This would constitute a data overflow (or CAN queue overrun). This can occur at very high baud rates (> 500 kbit/s) at nodes with software telegram filtering and relatively slow or heavily loaded microcontrollers if, for instance, a series of remote frames (which do not contain data bytes, and are therefore very short) follow each other closely on the bus (at 1 Mbit/s this can generate an interrupt every 40 µs; for example, an NMT master might transmit all its guarding requests in an unbroken sequence). This can be avoided through skilled implementation, and the user should be able to assume that the device suppliers have taken the necessary trouble. A burst condition is entirely normal immediately after the SYNC telegram, for instance: triggered by the SYNC, all the nodes that are operating synchronously try to send their data at almost the same time. A large number of arbitration processes take place, and the telegrams are sorted in order of priority for transmission on the bus. This is not usually critical, since these telegrams do contain some data bytes, and the telegrams trigger a sequence of receive interrupts at the CAN nodes which is indeed rapid, but is nevertheless manageable.

Bus loading most often refers to the value averaged over several primary cycles, that is the mean value over 100-500 ms. CAN, and therefore CANopen, is indeed capable of managing a bus loading of close to 100% over long periods, but this implies that no bandwidth is available for any repetitions that may be necessitated by interference, for asynchronous error messages, parameterization and so on. Clearly, the dominant type of communication will have a large influence on the appropriate level of bus loading: a network with entirely cyclic synchronous operation is always in any case near to the worst case state, and can therefore be operated with values in the 70-80% range. The figure is very hard to state for an entirely event-driven network: an estimate must be made of how many events additional to the current state of the system might occur, and of how long the resulting burst might last - in other words, for how long the lowest priority message will be delayed. If this value is acceptable to the application, then the current bus loading is acceptable. As a rule of thumb it can usually be assumed that an event-driven network running with a base loading of 30-40% has enough reserve for worst-case scenarios, but this assumption does not obviate the need for a careful analysis if delays could have critical results for the plant.

The BECKHOFF FC510x CANopen master cards / EL6751 CANopen master terminal display the bus load via the System Manager. This variable can also be processed in the PLC, or can be displayed in the visualization system.

The amount data in the process data objects is of course as relevant as the communication parameters: the PDO mapping.