structure

Structure

In order to use Profibus DP, we need support by hardware as well as software. The software consists of several parts. Each part was designed to be modular. The modularity helps porting of the software to another operating system or architecture and makes extension in the future more simple.

The structure of the project consists of six groups:

• Device drivers - routines controlling the hardware. The drivers implement functions of the master station, hardware support for the frame analyzer, byte analyzer and bit analyzer. In addition they implement a unified interface between the user applications and the hardware device.

• Libraries - implementation of an API (Application Programming Interface). The API offers utilities to make programming communication with the Profibus devices easier. Beyond the API, there are several libraries supporting application programming.

• Applications - this part consists of a graphical analyzer and monitoring program. The program offers a Profibus analyzer as well a Byte and Bit analyzer. The program can be used also for the loading and configuration of modules. Another application is a TCP/IP server providing remote access to Profibus resources. A set of testing programs and examples have been created to support application development.

• Utilities - a set of scripts to support development, program testing and software use.

• Schematics - open hardware solutions are also a part of the project. The hardware will be described later in the following chapter.

• Documentation - as the project grows, so it becomes more complex, and documentation is important to help users gain familiarity with the project faster. Information is available through the wiki pages as well as the project's web page. The source code containing detailed comments will help development in the future.