Amplicon has introduced the Acromag EtherStax ES2113, which features 96 discrete I/O channels that can be configured for any mix of digital inputs and outputs. These new Ethernet I/O blocks feature a copper or fibre-optic interface and support Modbus TCP/IP and peer-to-peer i2o communication. Housed in a rugged, stackable aluminium enclosure they include dual power connections and a communications watchdog for enhanced system reliability.
Each model includes a built-in switch that provides dual Ethernet ports. This enables redundant communications compatible with STP, RSTP and proprietary schemes with two 10/100 Base-T copper ports. Alternatively, one copper and one multi-mode fibre port can be selected for longer distance communications.
Like the Acromag 900EN series of Ethernet-based distributed I/O modules, the EtherStax I/O uses Modbus/TCP for communication with LANs or WANs. Peer-to-peer i2o communication allows the inputs of one EtherStax I/O device to automatically update the outputs of another over the Ethernet. A change of state detection can be transmitted in less than 5ms between EtherStax I/O blocks.