The Siemens Industry Automation Division is expanding its Teleservice and Telecontrol ranges with new products for remote access via mobile radio, such as the CP 1242-7 module, the IE Basic TeleService Adapter and the Telecontrol Server Basic control centre software. The CP 1242-7 communications processor adds a GSM/GPRS interface to the Siemens S7-1200 controller. It enables plant operators to cost-effectively diagnose, maintain, monitor and control remote stations throughout the world via GPRS and internet. All that is needed to run a CP 1242-7 is a mobile radio contract with a SIM card or a special M2M (machine-to-machine) contract. In service, the system informs the personnel via SMS (short message service) of the status of the plant or of any faults that have occurred. The CP 1242-7 also opens up remote access via the Internet. Access is provided by a computer with internet access and Step 7 V11 software. Another field of application is M2M communications, in which physically separated plants are directly connected
with one another, and processes are co-ordinated.
The Telecontrol Server Basic control centre software acts as an OPC server for the Simatic S7-200 and Simatic S7-1200
controllers linked via the radio network. This enables the data from up to 5,000 connected stations to be brought together and made available via an OPC interface to HMI systems (human machine interface) or SCADA systems (supervisory control and data acquisition). Application
examples are the continuous data exchange and central
monitoring of widely branched infrastructure facilities, such as
water supply and waste water systems. One system
integrator can operate an OPC server for several
customers.
The third innovation in the field of remote access is the IE
Basic TeleService Adapter. It can be fitted, among other
things, with a Teleservice GSM module, which enables wireless
access via a GSM dial-up connection to a Simatic S7 or
to another subscriber with an Ethernet interface.
Mobile radio communications are becoming
ever more important for remote access applications
because it is not only more flexible than cable-connected
systems but also frequently less expensive. The worldwide
GSM network provides the basis for various data transfer
services in the field of industrial automation. With
CSD (circuit switched data), the data is transferred by
setting up a dial-up connection via the mobile radio network.
With SMS, messages are sent in the form of short text
messages. GPRS enables mobile internet connections to
be set up for data transfer.
With the previously available products, such as quadband
mobile radio modems, and the newly introduced components,
Siemens offers industry a wide range of solutions for
teleservice and telecontrol via the mobile radio network.