Specifications

MBX Bridge Help
Cyberlogic Technologies Inc. - 9 -
ROUTING MESSAGES WITH THE MBX BRIDGE
Schneider Electric provides a number of network solutions that allow communication to a
variety of its own—as well as third party—hardware products. The main communication
networks are Modbus, Modbus Plus and Modbus TCP (Ethernet). It is common to find
combinations of these networks in use in the same industrial plant. In most cases, these
networks must be linked together to allow cross-network communications.
Hardware Solutions from Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric provides a number of hardware products that allow users to bridge
Modicon-brand industrial networks. For example, the Bridge/MUX (BM85) allows Modbus
networks to be bridged to Modbus Plus networks. Bridge Plus (BP85) provides routing
between two Modbus Plus networks. The Modbus Plus to Ethernet Bridge (174CEV20040)
links Ethernet devices to a Modbus Plus network. These are dedicated products and are
well-suited for many installations.
Software Solution: the MBX Bridge
The MBX Bridge combines the functionality of all hardware-bridging products currently
offered by Schneider Electric into a single software product. It routes messages between
all MBX compatible devices in a variety of inter-network arrangements.
Configuration can be done online without stopping or restarting the routing software.
The MBX Bridge operates transparently in the background, like a device driver, and
allows other software to communicate concurrently over the same MBX devices and
drivers. In most installations, the MBX Bridge is more flexible and cost effective than a
dedicated hardware solution.
How Messages Are Routed
The MBX Bridge uses two methods to route messages. These are called static and
dynamic routing.
Static Routing
The more common method is static routing. To implement this, the bridge allows you to
create a table of routing records that specify how the messages are to be passed from
one network to another. At runtime, the bridge identifies the proper record for an
incoming message, and uses the information in that record to send the message to the
intended destination. Most of the examples shown here are for static routing.
Dynamic Routing
With dynamic routing, the nodes that initiate messages must tell the bridge at runtime
how to route them. For a detailed explanation of how to configure dynamic routing, refer
to Appendix A: Dynamic Routing.