Mode of operation

Coupling to FM 458-1 DP

The EXM 438-1 is connected directly to the FM 458-1 DP basic module via the internal bus. This makes the connection between the FM 458-1 DP and the I/O devices very fast. Only the power supply is obtained from the backplane bus of the SIMATIC rack, data transfer is not handled here. Access to the I/O is via configurable function blocks.

Configuration

Configuration instead of programming with CFC

The FM 458-1 DP is configured using the well-known software tools STEP 7 and CFC (Continuous Function Chart) which are also used to program the SIMATIC S7-400 controller.

CFC is an intuitive Windows-based program that is easy to learn. The CFC has been expanded to include the function blocks and the optimized operating system using the D7-SYS add-on software package.

For further information on D7-SYS, refer to "SIMATIC Software/Engineering Tools".