The design of SIMATIC fault-tolerant systems comprises two aspects: hardware selection, which necessitates fault-tolerant CPUs (F-CPU) and fault-tolerant modules (F-IO); and software installation, which requires the SIMATIC Fault-Tolerant Software Package and the development of fault-tolerant programs. In today's article, we will delve into the installation and use of the Siemens SIMATIC S7-Distributed Safety software package.
The SIMATIC S7 Distributed Safety software package can be utilized for configuring and programming Siemens fault-tolerant CPUs (F-CPU), S7-300 fault-tolerant modules, fault-tolerant power supply modules, and IO modules within ET200 distributed systems (ET200S, ET200M, ET200Pro, ET200eco). It meets the safety level requirements of SIL3 in the IEC 61508:2000 standard, as well as the requirements of category 4 in the ISO 13849-1:2006 standard.
The SIMATIC S7-Distributed Safety software package offers the following functionalities:
- Support for configuring fault-tolerant modules (F-IO) using S7 F-Config software package within Step7.
- Facilitation of creating safety programs and integrating error detection functionalities within them.
- Provision of standard safety application libraries (F-Library) for use within safety programs.
Upon completion of the installation of the SIMATIC S7-Distributed Safety software package, it is automatically integrated into Step7. There is no need for separate initiation; simply launching any Step7 application enables the utilization of S7 Distributed Safety for configuration and programming. However, S7-Distributed Safety imposes certain requirements on the Step7 version, for instance, S7 Distributed Safety V5.4 SP5 necessitates Step7 version Step7 V5.5 or higher.
The composition of the SIMATIC safety system and software packages can be referenced in the following diagram:
The installation process of S7 Distributed Safety V5.4 SP5 UP1 is straightforward. Simply click "Next" to proceed, as shown in the following image:
The S7 F-Configuration Package software package within S7 Distributed Safety can also be installed separately. If the system has the S7 F-Configuration Package installed but not the S7 Distributed Safety software package, it allows for the configuration of fault-tolerant hardware but does not enable the writing of fault-tolerant programs. Existing fault-tolerant programs can only be opened in read-only mode.
In the Win10 environment, it is necessary to use S7 F-Configuration Pack V5.5 SP13 or higher. The installation process is also simple; just click "Next" to proceed, as shown in the following image:
Here is the version information supported by the Win7 and Win10 systems:
- S7 Distributed Safety V5.4 SP5: This version supports the Windows 7 operating system (32-bit). It comes with S7 F-ConfigPack SP6. Before installation, Step7 V5.5 or higher version needs to be installed.
- S7 Distributed Safety V5.4 SP5 UP1/UP2: This version supports the Windows 7/10 operating systems (64-bit). Before installation, Step7 V5.5 SP1 or a higher version needs to be installed.
That's all for the introduction to the SIMATIC S7-Distributed Safety/S7 F-Configuration Package software packages.