The following types of interface are differentiated in respect of the link between the SIMATIC Panels and SIMATIC S7 controllers:

• PROFINET interface:
  Coupling of SIMATIC Panel to SIMATIC S7 controllers via Industrial Ethernet TCP/IP using the integrated PROFINET interface of the CPU or, alternatively, a PROFINET interface module.
• MPI/PROFIBUS interface:
  Coupling of SIMATIC Panel to SIMATIC S7 controllers via MPI/PROFIBUS using the integrated MPI/PROFIBUS interface of the CPU or the integrated PPI interface of the CPU in the case of S7-200 or, alternatively, a PROFIBUS interface module in the case of S7-1200, S7-1500, S7-300 and S7-400.
• PPI interface:
  Coupling of SIMATIC Panel to SIMATIC S7-200 via PPI network using the integrated PPI interface of the CPU

The maximum possible number of S7 connections of one CPU is determined by its performance capacity (see Catalog ST 70); from the point of view of SIMATIC Panel, the following restrictions apply:

• Basic Panel, Comfort Panel 4", Mobile Panel 177: max. 4 connections
• Comfort Panels from 7" to 22", Mobile Panel 2^nd Generation: max. 8 connections
• Mobile Panel 277: max. 6 connections
• PC with WinCC Runtime Advanced: max. 8 connections

PPI interface

The PPI interface is a point-to-point connection between a SIMATIC Panel (PPI master) or alternatively a PG (PPI master) and an S7-200 (PPI slave).

MPI/PROFIBUS interface or PROFINET interface

The corresponding multipoint-enabled SIMATIC Panel and SIMATIC S7 communication interfaces are used.
The following are possible:

• Interface between one or more SIMATIC Panels (MPI master) and one or more S7-1200/S7-1500/S7-300/S7-400s or WinAC (MPI master) (possible network topology: MPI/PROFIBUS or Industrial Ethernet, TCP/IP)
• Interface between one or a number of SIMATIC Panels (MPI master) and one or a number of S7-200s (MPI slave)¹⁾ (possible network topology: PPI, MPI/PROFIBUS)

Unlike PPI connections, MPI connections are static connections that are set up during booting and then monitored.

In principle this type of information exchange between SIMATIC Panels and SIMATIC S7 is independent of the network used, PPI, MPI/PROFIBUS or Industrial Ethernet: SIMATIC Panels are S7 clients and SIMATIC S7 CPUs are S7 servers.

• System interface possible

- System interface not possible

1) Mobile Panel connection via special connecting cable and junction box (see Mobile Panel), see Manual for cable layout

2) Controllers can be combined as desired

3) Basic Panel PN and Mobile Panel 177 PN only

4) Basic Panel DP and Mobile Panel 177 DP only

5) Connection via integrated MPI/PROFIBUS interface; in the case of a standard PC, a communications processor (CP) is to be used (e.g. CP 5611 A2)

6) Only on passive S7-200

7) Can be interfaced via PPI to max. 1 x S7-200 (PPI); network operation (parallel PG, etc.) is possible

Note:

Detailed information regarding cable layout can be found in the online help for WinCC.