Hilscher gateways

Notice: Refer to the Installation manual supplied with the RK1x and RM1x Series routers for further information during installation operations.

To use an IBH Hilscher board in combination with Runtime proceed as follows:

  1. Connect the NL50-MPI / NT50-MPI gateway to the network interface of the HMI/IPC and power it.
  2. To use the IBH Hilscher board, download the gateway driver (IBH Net) and related updates from the Download section of the Hilscher website http://www.ibhsoftec.com onto the device that you wish to use to access UBIQUITY Manager.
    Note: IBH Net runs on SIMATIC Step 7
  3. Install the IBH Net.
  4. Once the IBH Net is installed, reboot the device.
  5. Access SIMATIC Step 7 and open the Set PG/PC Interface window to create a new station.
  6. Select the IBHNet(MPI) entry in the listed interfaces.
  7. Select Properties. The IBH Network (MPI) dialog box opens up.
  8. Click on IBH network settings.
  9. Open the Station window.
  10. In the Name field, provide a name for the new station.
  11. In the IP Address or name in network field, enter an IP address to be assigned to the gateway.
  12. In the Profile section, select among MPI, Profibus and PPI.
  13. In the Type section, select IBH Link S7 / IBH Link S7 ++.
  14. In the Timeout field, you may increase the milliseconds value for remote assistance applications (for example 10,000 or 15,000).
  15. In the Advanced connection settings section, select Test network connectivity (recommended).
  16. Click on Apply.
  17. Access UBIQUITY Manager and establish a VPN connection with the device where Runtime is installed and to which the Hilscher gateway is connected.
    Note: See Explorer to learn more about how to register a device to a domain and establish a VPN connection with it.
  18. Access SIMATIC Step 7 again and open the Multiple Network Cards detected window.
  19. Select UBIQUITY Ethernet Adapter (where the NL50-MPI/NT50-MPI is located) and confirm by selecting OK.
  20. The network scan operation shall return the connected gateway as available. Select it and click on Settings. The Settings dialog box opens up.
    Note: If the Hilscher gateway has never been configured before, you need to assign a valid IP address to it.
    Note: At this point, the assigned IP address is not permanent yet and gets lost if you power cycle the gateway.
  21. In the IBHLink Settings window, enter the gateway network configuration. In the MPI/Profibus tab, enter the following settings:
    • Communication speed: Enter the baudrate.
    • Own device Address: Enter the MPI/PPI/Profibus address to be assigned to the gateway port. This address node must be unique in the network.
    • Maximum device address: Enter the highest node number in the MPI/Profibus/PPI network.
    • Bus Profile: Select MPI/PPI or Profibus.
  22. Select Save permanently.
Note: The Enable spoofing of MAC addresses entry in the IBH Net driver enables the use of the processes normally required for establishing a VPN connection.

Warning symbol appearing next to UBIQUITY interfaces in the Set PG/PC Interface window

A warning symbol next to the UBIQUITY interfaces may appear as a consequence of an  incorrect update of the interface list after upgrading the UBIQUITY VPN virtual interface driver. To solve this issue, you will need to delete the driver database created by the SIMATIC Step 7 software for each communication interface.

  1. If running, close SIMATIC Step 7.
  2. Access the driver log and back up any register keys related to UBIQUITY interfaces.
    Note: The driver database consists of .xml files.
  3. Delete all the register keys related to UBIQUITY interfaces.
  4. Restart SIMATIC Step 7 to get the driver database entries automatically re-created.

Setting PG/PC interfaces in SIEMENS Step 7

If the interfaces listed in Set PG/PC Interface are set to the Auto mode, SIMATIC Step 7 can dynamically assign an IP address to the computer interfaces to communicate with the PLC nodes.

For a combined use with UBIQUITY Manager, access the Properties - UBIQUITY Ethernet Adapter.TCPIP.Auto.1 > IE- PG Access tab and disable the Do not assign IP addresses automatically entry. Indeed, this procedure is not needed, as UBIQUITY assigns a real IP address to the UBIQUITY VPN adapter by default, that is compatible with the remote subnetwork.

Network configuration in SIEMENS Simatic Step 7 NetPro

The use of the MPI gateway service requires a specific network configuration of the SIMATIC Step 7 project. The configuration is executed in the SIMATIC Step 7 NetPro utility.

The settings required by the device, are defined through an IP address assigned to the computer where the SIMATIC Step 7 is running. To view the required settings, access the Properties - Ethernet Interface window and select the Parameters tab.

The UBIQUITY Router object is a component of the Simatic PC Station.

NetPro supports default configuration block imports. To support a network setup carried out by the user, a specific configuration block named ASEM UBIQUITY MPI.cfg can be directly imported in the NetPro software. The block can be downloaded in the Support section in the UBIQUITY section on the ASEM website.

  1. Access NetPro and the Edit menu and select Import.
  2. Select the ASEM UBIQUITY MPI.cfg file.
  3. The gateway gets imported into the network configuration.
  4. Double-click on the green IE General box to open the Gateway Ethernet interface configuration screen.
    Note: In the Parameters tab, make sure NOT to select Set MAC address/ Use ISO protocol.
  5. Enter the IP address of the UBIQUITY Router LAN port in the IP address field. Enter the same mask corresponding to the subnetwork that you are configuring in the mask field.
  6. In the in the Gateway section, select Without Router.
  7. Add a PG/PC station to the network layout using the AddNetwork elements path.
  8. Double-click on the PG/PC station to add an unconnected PG/PC station.
  9. Right-click on PG/PC and click on Object properties….
  10. Select the Interface tab and press New type….
  11. Select Industrial Ethernet and select OK.
    Note: Make sure that Set MAC address/Use ISO protocol is not selected in the Parameters tab (item 2).
  12. Set the IP address and the subnet mask assigned to the UBIQUITY VPN virtual network interface when the VPN connection is established.
  13. Select the Without router box.
  14. In the Subnet section at the bottom of the window, select the network to which the Asem UBIQUITY MPI device is connected. Double-click on OK to close both windows.
  15. The newly configured network layout shows up.
  16. Right-click on PG/PC and click on Assign PG/PC.
  17. In the Assign tab of the Unassigned PG/PC interface parameterizations properties, select the interface used to establish a connection through Ethernet.
  18. Enable the TCP/IP (Auto) > UBIQUITY Ethernet Adapter for UBIQUITY use.
  19. Select Assign and click on OK to confirm.
  20. A newly configured network layout shows up.
    Note:
    • The PG/PC connection indicates that the PG/PC object will be used to access the network.
    • Orange backgrounds next to the objects indicate that the last changes were not saved nor compiled.
  21. Select NetworkSave and compile… to save and configure the network layout of your project.