Symphony Plus

S+ Control: BRC410

Symphony Plus
S+ Control: BRC410
SymphonyTM Plus is the new
generation of ABBs widely
acclaimed Symphony family of
distributed control systems - the
worlds most widely used DCS
in the power generation and
water industries. In all, there are
more than 6,000 Symphony DCS
installations in operation all over
the world, more than 4,000 of
which are in power and water
applications.
1 BRC400, BRC410, HPG800

2 Symphony Plus

No other automation platform has such a long field record and

large installed base in power and water as Symphony. For more
than 30 years, ABB has evolved the Symphony family, ensuring
that each new generation enhances its predecessors and is
backwardly compatible with them - all in accordance with ABBs
long-held policy of Evolution without obsolescence.
Included in Symphony Plus is a comprehensive suite of
standards-based control hardware and software that meet the
requirements of total plant control. Following the Evolution
without obsolescence policy, S+ Control BRC410 represents
the newest addition to the Bridge Controller family and
combines the controller power of the BRC400 with the device
integration capabilities of the HPG800.

Overview
The BRC410 combines into a single module the controller
performance and capacity of BRC400 with the Modbus TCP
communications capability of HPG800. It can be used in
redundant combination with either the BRC400 or HPG800
module, thus facilitating an online upgrade of the running
controller or device gateway capabilities. The BRC410 with
Harmony Gateway Software (HGS) enables Symphony
Plus customers to upgrade existing RS232 or RS485 serial
communications interfaces to 100 MB Ethernet using the
Modbus TCP communications protocol. Moreover, BRC410
provides enough performance and capacity for multiple serial
interfaces to be merged into a single 100 MB Ethernet interface.

Online upgrades to BRC410 functionality are supported by

installing the BRC410 as the redundant backup module to both
the BRC400 and HPG800.
A functional overview of the capabilities of BRC410 is shown in
figure 2.

2 Functional overview of BRC410 capabilities

Exception reports:
AOL, DOL, etc
Control way

Third-party PLCs
Bus signals:
AIB, DIB, etc
Modbus TCP
Wireless
gateways

Harmony rack
I/O modules
Wireless transmitters

Symphony Plus 3

Symphony Plus
S+ Control: BRC410
Comprehensive I/O support
The BRC410 provides simultaneous support for all Harmony I/O
subsystems and is capable of providing closed loop control for
2,000 I/O points in less than 250 msec. Harmony I/O options
provide a wide variety of input/output and signal conditioning
capabilities, which in combination form the optimal automation
solution. Using standard function codes, the S+ Engineering
Composer tool is used to configure and maintain all the
BRC410 I/O modules and channels.

3 S+ Engineering Composer

Powerful process controller

First and foremost, the BRC410 is a high-performance
controller. Based on a 160 MHz, 32-bit Freescale Coldfire
processor, the BRC410 controller can be adapted to a broad
spectrum of applications and process requirements. Configured
by the S+ Engineering Composer tool, the BRC410 features
an extensive library of more than 150 pre-defined control
algorithms or function codes (figure 3). These functions provide
the ability to easily design complex control strategies to fit any
control application, including continuous, sequential, batch and
advanced control. In addition to standard function blocks, the
BRC410 supports C programming and batch.
BRC410 controller features include:
Enhanced controller reliability
Provides more than 10 x performance of previous generation
controllers
Simultaneous support for all Harmony I/O subsystems
Downloadable firmware
Extended user configuration memory (2 MB NVRAM)
Support for 30,000 function blocks
Flexible online configuration capability

4 Symphony Plus

The BRC410 controller can communicate with up to 64 rack

I/O modules locally with additional remote rack I/O modules
connected via the RIO22 module. Use of rack sequence
of events (SOE) I/O modules provides for one millisecond
timestamp resolution across the entire system.
In addition to traditional rack I/O modules, the BRC410
provides for integrated turbine control via a series of turbine
control specific rack modules. These include:
Hydraulic servo module (HSS)
Turbine protection module (TPS)
Turbine auto synchronization module (TAS)
Condition monitoring module (CMM)
The BRC410 remote I/O capabilities are further expanded with
S800 I/O. S800 I/O provides options for all signal types and
is designed with a small, modular DIN form factor footprint to
facilitate local mounting to sensors in the plant. Redundant
communications and modules provide for fault-tolerant
connection to S800 I/O.

Device integration capabilities

Beyond controller functions, the BRC410 with Harmony
Gateway Software provides a bi-directional, real-time
communication interface between controller applications and
Modbus TCP devices, such as intelligent electronic devices
(IEDs), third-party PLCs, or HART wireless transmitters.
Harmony Gateway Software maps function blocks to Modbus
points and communicates those points over the controllers 100
MB Ethernet port using the Modbus TCP protocol. Unlike OPC
communication interfaces, the BRC410 high-speed interface
presents device data as system points; this allows the data to
be integrated within the control application.
Standard Harmony function blocks are configured on the
BRC410 using S+ Engineering Composer. The controller is
capable of importing and exporting data from the systems
process controllers and system nodes, and accepts control
commands for operators and computers connected to the
network. Using the Modbus TCP interface, the BRC410 also
provides peer-to-peer communications with AC 800M or AC
500 controllers.

The BRC410 device integration features include:

100 MB Ethernet port using the Modbus TCP protocol
Bi-directional communication of up to 4,000 Modbus points
High availability and fault tolerance in a redundant pair
configuration
Can operate as client, server, or server/client
(concurrently) on the Modbus TCP network
To illustrate the last point, when connecting third-party devices
to Symphony Plus, the BRC410 can operate as a client, server,
or client/server concurrently on the Modbus TCP network.
This capability provides ultimate flexibility with regard to the
Modbus devices that are directly connected to the Symphony
Plus system. Standard industrial grade off-the-shelf network
switches, routers and Ethernet cables provide for easy and
flexible connection options (figure 4).

4 BRC410 Ethernet connection options

AC 800M

CAT 5 or
better media

BRC410

AC 800M

AC 500

Hubs /
Switches

Fiber optic link

Fiber cable
switch

Fiber cable
switch

IEDs

Hubs /
Switches

Symphony Plus 5

Symphony Plus
S+ Control: BRC410
5

5 BRC400 and BRC410 | 6 HPG800 and BRC410

Seamless upgrade path protects installed investments

True to the ABB Evolution without obsolescence policy, the
BRC410 retains previous Network 90, INFI 90 or Harmony
controller hardware and software architectures, including
support for all existing function code executions and custom
user programs. In order to provide ultimate evolution flexibility,
the BRC410 also supports traditional RS232 or RS485 serial
communications interfaces. This provides for a predictable
and risk-free evolution for an installed systems execution
environment.

6 Symphony Plus

The BRC410 is a form/fit/function replacement for either

BRC400 or HPG800 modules. By installing the BRC410 as the
redundant backup to existing BRC400 or HPG800 modules,
it is possible to seamlessly upgrade the existing controller or
device gateway functionality without interruption to its running
applications.

ABB Inc.
Power Generation
Wickliffe, Ohio, USA
Phone: +1 440 585 3087
Email: powergeneration@us.abb.com
ABB AG
Power Generation
Mannheim, Germany
Phone: +49 621 381 3000
Email: powergeneration@de.abb.com
ABB Pte. Ltd.
Power Generation
Singapore
Phone: +65 6776 5711
Email: powergeneration@sg.abb.com
www.abb.com/powergeneration

Copyright 2011 ABB

All rights reserved. Specifications subject to change without notice. Pictures,
schematics, and other graphics contained herein are published for illustration
purposes only and do not represent product configurations or functionality.
User documentation accompanying the product is the exclusive source for
functionality descriptions.
Symphony is a registered or pending trademark of ABB S.p.A.

3BUS095379 EN US Letter Power Generation 0611

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