EMERSONM-series Virtual I/O Module 2

 Non-intrusive DeltaV™ I/O simulation

 Powerful integration solution

 Easy to use

 Modular, flexible packaging

Introduction

The DeltaV M-series Virtual I/O Module 2 (VIM2) 

provides nonintrusive simulation of the DeltaV Mseries I/O Cards and digital bus field devices for 

process simulation when used with MYNAH 

Technologies’ MiMiC Simulation Software. DeltaV 

Control strategies and system configurations can be 

fully tested with this powerful simulation interface.

The VIM2 also provides an interface to Ethernet I/O 

networks and devices that use the Modbus TCP/IP

or Ethernet/IP protocol drivers. DeltaV M-series 

controllers can read and write signals from plant 

floor devices connected to Ethernet I/O networks 

such as PLC’s, Motor Control Centers, and Weigh

Scales.

Benefits

Non-Intrusive DeltaV I/O simulation. Use the VIM2

in conjunction with the MYNAH Technologies’ MiMiC 

Simulation Software to simulate your DeltaV M-Series

I/O and digital bus field devices. 

 Supports DeltaV I/O modules. Provides completely 

non-intrusive simulation of all DeltaV M-series I/O 

Modules. Supports autosensing of I/O and accurate 

testing of controller loading. DeltaV configuration can 

be fully tested without modifying the control 

strategies.

 Digital bus support. Provides simulation of all 

DeltaV Digital Busses and Foundation Fieldbus 

function blocks. Supports Foundation Fieldbus control 

in the field configuration testing.

 Powerful simulation solution. Provides full 

simulation of up to 64 DeltaV I/O modules per 

controller. Simulation execution is fast and efficient; 

the DeltaV controller thinks it’s talking with real IO.

Powerful integration solution. Use the VIM2 in 

conjunction with the MYNAH Ethernet I/O drivers to 

integrate your DeltaV system with your Ethernet I/O device

networks.

 Large device capacity. Each VIM emulates four

DeltaV Serial Cards and support up to 128 Serial 

Card Datasets of information from 32 network devices 

in simplex installations and 16 devices in redundant 

installations. Communication over the Ethernet I/O 

device network is fast and efficient.

 Flexible networking. User configurable IP 

addressing allows the VIM2 to be used in almost any 

plant environment regardless of networking scheme. 

The VIM2 and the Ethernet I/O devices must be on 

the same IP subnet to communicate.

 1:1 Redundancy. Redundancy can be added to any 

Ethernet I/O system by adding a second VIM2 and 

configuring the two cards as a redundant pair. The 

VIM2 appears as four redundant DeltaV Serial Card 

pairs. Automatic switchover of primary to standby 

cards is handled like the DeltaV Serial Card. The 

operator is given clear notification of a switchover at 

the operator display. Manual switchover can be 

controlled in DeltaV Diagnostics.

Easy to use. The VIM2 is easy to use and well 

integrated into the DeltaV system. Specific ease of use 

features include:

 Automatic updates. Simulation I/O driver updates for 

the VIM2 are included with the MiMiC software 

releases. Updates are quick and easy over the 

simulation network.

 Seamless Ethernet I/O integration. When used with 

the MYNAH Ethernet I/O drivers, the VIM2 is seen by 

the DeltaV M-series controller as four DeltaV Serial 

Cards. Commissioned VIM2s are auto-sensed by the 

DeltaV controller as DeltaV Serial Cards.

 Configured in DeltaV Explorer. Serial dataset 

configuration used for Ethernet I/O integration is done 

in the DeltaV Explorer in the same manner as a 

DeltaV Serial Card. Ethernet I/O signals can be used 

in DeltaV Control Modules, displayed on DeltaV 

Operate graphics and stored in the DeltaV 

Continuous Historian.

 Intuitive setup. The VIMNet Explorer application 

provides plug-n-play capability making setup of the 

VIM2 easy and intuitive. Graphical, drag-n-drop, 

functionality makes setting up multiple VIM2s almost 

effortless. VIMNet Explorer is integrated with DeltaV 

Explorer to make setup of the VIM2 easy and intuitive.

Modular, flexible packaging. The VIM2 mounts in the 

same manner as the DeltaV controller. It mounts in the 

controller slot of a DeltaV 2-wide horizontal or 4-wide 

vertical carrier and uses a standard DeltaV Power Supply. 

The advanced design of the VIM2 will provide years of 

uninterrupted use

Product Description

The VIM2 may be used for either DeltaV I/O simulation or 

Ethernet I/O device integration. The VIM2 mounts on a 2-

wide horizontal or 4-wide vertical carrier on the left-handside of the DeltaV controller. A dedicated DeltaV power 

supply is required. 

IO Simulation When used with MYNAH’s MiMiC 

Simulation Software, the VIM2 supports I/O simulation all 

DeltaV M-series I/O cards including classic IO, Foundation 

Fieldbus, ProfibusDP, DeviceNet, ASi-bus and Serial.

MiMiC Simulation Software provide dynamic simulation for 

DeltaV system software acceptance testing and operator 

training. The MiMiC software works by simulating the 

DeltaV I/O. It also simulates field devices using 

Foundation Fieldbus, ProfibusDP, DeviceNet and AS-i 

buses. In order for MiMiC to do this, the real I/O cards are 

disconnected from the control system. The MiMiC driver 

writes to the I/O subsystem of the DeltaV controller. 

Process models in MiMiC simulate realistic process 

reactions to control system output signals.

Each process controller being simulated uses one MiMiC

Dataset. A MiMiC server can have up to 32 datasets or 

ports. Each dataset can support up to 4000 MiMiC

simulation tags.

The I/O simulation driver is provided with the VIM2

hardware, pre-loaded in the VIM2. The MiMiC Simulation 

Software must be purchased separately from MYNAH

Technologies. Technical support for the MiMiC Simulation 

Software and I/O simulation driver is provided by MYNAH 

Technologies. 

Ethernet I/O Integration When used with the MYNAH

Ethernet I/O drivers, the VIM2 can communicate with 

high-speed Ethernet networks over Modbus TCP or 

Ethernet/IP. When the VIM2 is configured with the 

appropriate Ethernet I/O driver, the DeltaV Controller autosenses a commissioned VIM2 as four DeltaV Serial Cards.

 In simplex installations these cards will be sensed in 

slots 57-60 or 61-64.

 In redundant installations the redundant pairs will be 

sensed in slots 57 to 64.

Configuration of the I/O signals from the commissioned 

VIM2 is done in the DeltaV Explorer in the same manner 

as a DeltaV Serial Card.

VIMNet Explorer. The VIMNet Explorer utility allows the 

user to commission the VIM2, setup primary and 

redundant VIM2s, and the Ethernet I/O network. The user 

is able to specify the IP address, Subnet Mask, and 

Gateway of each VIM2 and set the node address and 

names of each Ethernet I/O device that is used by the 

VIM2. The VIMNet Explorer is also used to flash upgrade 

a VIM from one version of a driver to another or to replace 

an existing driver type with another. Only one Ethernet I/O 

driver may be loaded in the VIM2 at one time.

The VIMNet Explorer application must run on a 

workstation that has network connectivity to the Ethernet

I/O network. This may be a DeltaV workstation with the 3rd

network interface card (NIC) connected to the Ethernet I/O 

network or may be a non-DeltaV workstation. The VIMNet 

Explorer runs on the MS Windows XP or Windows 7 

operating system and has an intuitive, graphical user 

interface. Connection to the VIM2 is done through the RJ45 Ethernet Connection on the bottom of the VIM2.

The VIMNet Explorer software installation file for the VIM2 

is available on a DeltaV v12 and later workstation and on 

the DeltaV v12 and later software installation DVD. The 

VIMNet Explorer software installation file is also provided 

with the purchase of a MYNAH Ethernet I/O driver.

VIM Redundancy. Two VIM2s can be setup as a 

redundant pair for installations that require backup

Ethernet I/O networks. Each VIM2 will be installed on its 

own 2-wide carrier, with its own power supply to the left of 

the DeltaV Controller.

The active and standby VIM2s monitor each other with a 

continuous status command using the redundancy link 

cable supplied with each redundant pair. The active VIM2

communicates over the network to the Industrial Ethernet 

device and the standby sends an intermittent signal to the 

device to maintain communication integrity.

The Ethernet I/O drivers are not provided with the VIM2

hardware; they must be purchased separately from 

MYNAH Technologies. Technical support for the Ethernet

I/O drivers is provided by MYNAH Technologies. 

Supported Industrial Ethernet 

Protocols

Modbus TCP/IP The VIM2 with the Modbus TCP/IP 

Master Driver supports the following Modbus 

communications protocol function codes to read and write 

values to and from a Modbus slave device, as specified by 

the Modbus Application Protocol Specification from 

Modbus-IDA.org.

The VIM2 Modbus TCP/IP Driver supports the following 

Modbus function codes:

 Code 1 - Read Coil Status 

 Code 2 - Read Input Status 

 Code 3 - Read Holding Registers 

 Code 4 - Read Input Registers 

 Code 5 - Force Single Coil 

 Code 6 - Preset Single Register 

 Code 8 - Diagnostic Loop Back Test 

 Code 15 - Force Multiple Coils 

 Code 16 - Preset Multiple Registers 

The VIM2 can function as both a Modbus TCP/IP master 

and slave simultaneously. Master or slave mode is set at 

the virtual port level. In master-only mode, this driver can 

communicate with a maximum of 32 slave devices. 

Systems that use both master and slave mode can 

communicate with a maximum of 16 slaves and 16 

masters at the same time. The master and slave capability 

is available in simplex implementations only. In redundant 

applications, only master mode is supported.

Ethernet/IP The VIM2 with the Ethernet/IP Scanner Driver 

provides the following compatible functions using the 

Control and Information Protocol (CIP) as defined in the 

Ethernet/IP Specification from Open DeviceNet Vendor 

Association and ControlNet International.

The VIM2 Ethernet/IP Scanner Class Driver provides:

 Ethernet/IP Scanner Class (originator) 

functionality 

 UCMM (unconnected) messaging client and 

server Class 3 (connected) messaging client and 

server, including encapsulated DF1 message 

Class 1 (I/O) connection client and server 

DeltaV Licensing Guidelines

DeltaV Software Licensing Requirements (DST count) will 

be impacted by DeltaV Module configuration use of VIM2

registers in the same way as Serial Card registers. The 

following guidelines can be applied:

 A DeltaV Serial Card data set can contain up to 100 

values (a value can be any Boolean, 8-bit or 16-bit 

number), and up to16 data sets are supported by 

each of the 2 ports on the serial card. If the data set 

registers are configured as floating point or 32-bit 

values, then the maximum value is 50. However, the 

serial device, in general, limits the total capacity of the 

interface. 

 Each data set counts as one DST as long as a single 

module references all values in the data set. If 

multiple modules reference values in a data set, then 

the DST count for the data set is equal to the number 

of modules referencing the data set. 

 Values used in modules containing control function 

blocks will be counted as Control DSTs. 

