Regarding daisy chain of PM5000 or PM8000 or ION9000 series

[Tomohiro-Okada]

Hi,

I'd like to know about the ethernet port of PM5560 or PM8000 or ION9000.

They have two ethernet ports for daisy chain connection.

Do these ports act as L1 HUB or L2 switching HUB?

Thank you,

@Tomohiro-Okada 

[Mehran_Mehrnia]

Hi @Tomohiro-Okada 

In all ION and PM series with 2 Ethernet ports, they act as an Ethernet switch to simplify network connections and the second Ethernet port just helps to reduce installation time and costs, by having shorter Ethernet cable runs between devices without needing additional Ethernet routers or repeaters. The ports cannot be connected to two different Ethernet networks.

Therefore both ports act such as L1 HUB (Layer 1 Hub) that simply connects multiple devices in a network and transmits data packets to devices without filtering or directing traffic.

Note: ION meter’s dual port Ethernet connections enable you to use straight-line or network loop (ring) topology if RSTP option is enabled.

Best Regards,

-Mehran

L3 Expert Advanced metering

[Tomohiro-Okada]

Hi @Mehran_Mehrnia,

Thank you for your prompt reply!

I understand it.

Regards,

Okada

[Tomohiro-Okada]

Hi @Mehran_Mehrnia,

I have one more question.

Is the PAS600L(Panel Server series) same?

Thanks,

Okada

[Mehran_Mehrnia · Accepted solution]

Hi @Tomohiro-Okada 

You're welcome.

Dual Ethernet ports in PAS series are a bit different and depending on how the Ethernet ports are configured, the data transmission behavior is either:

1- Switched mode(default mode), where the two Ethernet ports are connected to the internal Ethernet switch of PAS(dual ports with same IP).
2- Separate mode, where Ethernet port ETH1 is connected to the upstream network while Ethernet port ETH2 is used to create a downstream network, means two different IPs.

In either case, I believe the PAS is NOT like a Layer 2 switch that can manage traffic by directing data to the desired destination based on MAC addresses.
For more information, you can post your question on Gateways and Energy Servers forum.

Best Regards,

-Mehran

L3 Expert Advanced metering

[Tomohiro-Okada]

Hi @Mehran_Mehrnia,

Thank you for your kind reply.

I understand about Ethernet ports of PAS series.

Regards,

Okada

[Vishal_Jadhav]

Hi @Mehran_Mehrnia,

Can we connect more than 2 ION9000 PQM in Daisy chain using Ethernet port. like how we connect in HSR protocol same connection we will make here is it will work. if works means what all the setting we have to make in meter?

[Mehran_Mehrnia]

Hi @Vishal_Jadhav 

Yes, as mentioned above, the second Ethernet port acts as an Ethernet switch to help simplify network connections:

Straight-Line

In this case, no settings need to be applied to the meter unless an Ethernet loop topology(Ring) is required, in which case RSTP must be enabled.

Best Regards,

-Mehran

L3 Expert Advanced Metering

[geir_eas_no_bfo]

Question; What is maxium of schneider devices using "ethernet switch mode", is recomended in a daisy chain toplogy? 

<10? <50?

BR

GIA

[Charles_Murison]

Hello @geir_eas_no_bfo ,

There is no fixed limitation. Each system will have different requirements and desired so something for 1 system may not work for another. The main items to consider are bandwidth, latency, and risk of a meter going down.

When all meters are going through a single line to network, the first meter on the line will see the most traffic, the last meter will see the least. As the number of meters on the line increase more data is funneled through a single point. In most systems this will not be an issue. Each meter has a switch that will receive the packet, determine if packet is for the meter and if not for the meter send the packet to next meter. This will add a very slight delay per meter. Again is most systems this delay will be hard to detect.

The largest factor is the risk that if a meter losses power, all devices downstream from the meter will no longer communicate. 

So in summary, we cannot give a hard limit as there are other factors that will likely play more of a role before any technical limitations to the number of devices added.

Regards,

Charles