Fdt/Dtm Technology - Omron GRT1-PNT - DATASHEET 2 Operation Manual

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FDT/DTM Technology

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The FDT/DTM concept specifies the interface between the engineering
systems called Field Device Tools (FDT), and the device-specific software
components called Device Type Managers (DTM). FDT/DTM is the most
recent advancement in Configurators.
The FDT/DTM concept separates the device-dependent functionality (which is
in the DTM) from the application. It provides separate interfaces for device
configuration, monitoring and maintenance solutions, which before largely
depended on the manufacturer of the application. Because of this concept,
any type of network can be configured and accessed, provided the appropriate
DTMs are available.
An FDT container application facilitates configuration of network devices and
parameterizing and/or manipulating their operational modes. All device-
dependent functionality is concentrated in the DTM.
FDT container applications can be stand-alone tools or can be part of other
engineering tools such as web browsers providing FDT interfaces. Since FDT
standardizes the interfaces, it allows devices from different manufacturers to
be integrated in any automation system, regardless of the fieldbus system.
CX-ConfiguratorFDT is an example of an FDT container application.
DTMs are provided by the manufacturer of the device. A DTM is comparable
to a printer driver, which allows interactive configuration and diagnostics. The
DTM provides not only the configuration, manipulation and monitoring
functions for a device including the user interface functions, it also provides
the connection technology to the device.
A DTM provides all the options for configuration and monitoring of a device,
which it can present to the user through its own user interface. The user
interface for a DTM is provided using ActiveX windows. In general multi-
language user interface windows, including DTM-specific Help files are
supported by the DTM.
In general, a device configuration DTM is accompanied by a communication
DTM. This specific DTM facilitates device-specific communication, e.g. for
downloading a configuration to a PROFINET IO Controller Unit and/or for
retrieving monitoring information from a PROFINET IO Controller Unit. It may
incorporate the specific communication protocol or rely on other available
drivers.