Glossary · Distributed automation and IEC 61499
System configuration (IEC 61499)
Also known as: IEC 61499 system configuration, System (IEC 61499)
German: Systemkonfiguration (IEC 61499)
In IEC 61499, a system configuration is the complete description of a control system: its devices with their resources, the communication segments and links between them, the applications, and the mapping of the applications' function block instances to resources, together with the parameters needed to deploy it.
- IEC 61499
- Standards
In one sentence
An IEC 61499 system configuration describes devices, resources, networks and applications and how the applications are mapped onto the hardware.
Example
The system configuration of a packaging line lists six devices on two Ethernet segments, the resources in each device, the applications Packaging and Diagnostics and which block instances run on which resource.
How it applies
- Structure: The system configuration is the top level of the IEC 61499 model. It contains the Application model of each application, the devices (see Device model (IEC 61499)) with their resources (see Resource model), and, since the second edition of IEC 61499-1, segments and links that describe the communication networks (see Segment model). The mapping says which function block instance runs in which resource.
- Deployment: Tools derive the per-device and per-resource configurations from the system configuration and download them with Management command sequences. Moving a block to another device means changing the mapping, not the application.
- Exchange: IEC 61499-2 defines an XML exchange format for system configurations, device types, resource types and function block types. A Portability profile restricts and refines it so that different tools read the same file the same way.
- Documentation: The system configuration is the single source for the architecture documentation: network diagram, device and resource list, application overview and mapping table. Generate these views from the project instead of drawing them by hand, and version them with the project.
System configuration vs. device configuration
The system configuration describes the whole system across all devices. A Device configuration is the part of it that one device receives: its resources, the function block instances mapped to them, their connections and parameters.