Application Scenarios:
A packaging machine builder had a well-proven wrapping line running on a conventional S7-300-class CPU, and after adding a registration-mark correction stage plus a second flying knife the scan time crept beyond 10 ms. The symptom was not a fault but a quality drift: cut-length tolerance widened at high line speed, and every attempt to tighten it meant either splitting the program across more cycles or replacing the whole controller family. Both options meant re-validating software the customer had signed off on years earlier.Dropping a 317-2AJ12 into the existing rail solved the problem at the hardware layer. Because the module is programmed in the same STEP 7 environment with an S7-400-compatible instruction set, the application program was downloaded essentially unchanged, and the 0.01 µs bit execution time returned the cycle budget needed for the new registration logic. Where the application genuinely needed response faster than the serial backplane bus can deliver, the SPEED-Bus on the left of 317-2AJ12 carried the fast I/O directly, leaving the standard bus for the rest of the rack.The second pressure in that project was connectivity. 317-2AJ12 already carries an integrated PROFIBUS-DP master at up to 12 Mbit/s with up to 125 slaves, so the distributed drives and remote I/O drops were on-boarded without an extra communication processor, and the built-in Ethernet PG/OP channel gave commissioning engineers and the HMI a direct TCP/IP path for programming, monitoring and diagnostics. The switchable PtP RS485 port took the barcode scanner and the serial weigh controller with ASCII and 3964R, again with no add-on card.This pattern — more speed, more connectivity, no software rewrite — is why 317-2AJ12 shows up in packaging and printing machinery, material handling, water and wastewater skids, and process plants running a mature System 300S or mixed S7-300 installation.
Parameter:
| Main Parameters | Value / Description |
|---|---|
| Product Model | 317-2AJ12 (Type: CPU 317SE/DPM) |
| Manufacturer | VIPA GmbH, Germany (now under Yaskawa) |
| Product Category | PLC central processing unit / SPEED7 processor module |
| Processor Technology | SPEED7 32-bit RISC with programming and communication co-processor |
| Command Processing Time | Bit 0.01 µs; word 0.01 µs; double-integer 0.01 µs; floating-point 0.06 µs — roughly an order of magnitude faster than a conventional microsecond-class PLC CPU |
| Work Memory | 2 MB integrated (1 MB code / 1 MB data), expandable to 8 MB (4 MB / 4 MB) via MCC card; load memory 8 MB integrated; MMC card slot up to 1 GB |
| Integrated Interfaces | 1 × PROFIBUS-DP master / PtP RS485 (switchable), 1 × MPI, 1 × Ethernet PG/OP (twisted pair, RJ45 under the front flap), MMC/MCC card slot |
| PROFIBUS-DP Performance | DP-V0 / DP-V1 master, up to 12 Mbit/s, up to 125 slaves; 1 integrated DP master, expandable to 4 via CP |
| PtP Protocols | ASCII, STX/ETX, 3964R, USS and Modbus master (ASCII, RTU) on the potential-separated RS485 port — activated via the VIPA SPEEDBUS GSD |
| Expansion & Bus System | SPEED-Bus high-speed parallel bus to the left of the CPU for fast VIPA I/O; standard S7-300-compatible serial backplane bus to the right; max. 4 racks, 32 modules in single-rack or 8 per rack in multi-rack configuration |
| Address Areas & Resources | 8192 byte input / 8192 byte output address area; 2048 S7 timers, 2048 S7 counters, 16384 flag bytes, 8190 data blocks (max. 64 KB each) |
| Power Supply | DC 24 V rated (permitted 20.4–28.8 V), reverse-polarity protected; no-load 200 mA, rated 1.5 A, inrush 5 A (I²t 0.5 A²s); max. 4 A drain at backplane bus; power loss 6.5 W |
| Real-Time Clock | Battery-buffered RTC, vanadium rechargeable lithium cell, min. 6 weeks buffering (20 h charge to 50%, 48 h to 100%), max. deviation 10 s/day; 8 operating-hours counters; MPI master/slave time synchronisation |
| Dimensions & Environment | Approx. 40 × 125 × 117 mm, 0.45 kg; 0 °C to +60 °C operating, −40 °C to +70 °C storage, 5–95% RH non-condensing, IP20 for cabinet installation |
| Engineering & Lifecycle | Programmable with STEP 7 / SIMATIC Manager or VIPA WinPLC7 (S7-400-compatible instruction set); SPEED-Bus modules configured via the VIPA SPEEDBUS GSD. Note: discontinued by the manufacturer, with 317-2AJ23 as the official successor |
Technical Principles and Innovative Values:
- Innovation Point 1 — SPEED7 as an architectural decision, not a clock bump. 317-2AJ12 pairs a 32-bit RISC core with a dedicated communication co-processor, so protocol handling on PROFIBUS, MPI and the serial port does not steal cycles from the user program. That separation is what lets the module hold 0.01 µs bit execution while simultaneously running a 12 Mbit/s DP master — a conventional single-core design has to trade one against the other.
- Innovation Point 2 — Two buses, two speed classes. The SPEED-Bus on the left of 317-2AJ12 is a parallel high-speed bus that bypasses the serial backplane entirely, driving fast VIPA modules such as the 321-1BH70 input card with an adjustable input filter from 2.56 µs to 40 ms and the 322-1BH70 output card at up to 100 kHz. Standard S7-300 modules remain on the serial bus to the right. The practical value is that you only pay for speed where the process actually needs it.
- Innovation Point 3 — One port, two roles. The RS485 interface on 317-2AJ12 is switchable between PROFIBUS-DP master and PtP serial communication, and the PtP side speaks ASCII, STX/ETX, 3964R, USS and Modbus master in both ASCII and RTU. A machine that needs a DP network today and a serial weigh controller tomorrow uses the same hardware slot — no spare slot reserved, no extra module bought.
- Innovation Point 4 — Memory granularity matched to real programs. The 2 MB integrated work memory is split 50% code / 50% data and can be extended to 8 MB (4 MB / 4 MB) with an MCC card, on top of 8 MB integrated load memory and MMC support to 1 GB. For retrofit projects this matters more than raw performance: a program that was outgrowing its original CPU is moved across without restructuring data blocks or squeezing the code.
- Innovation Point 5 — Protection of the software investment. 317-2AJ12 is engineered in STEP 7 / SIMATIC Manager or WinPLC7 with an S7-400-compatible instruction set, on a mechanically S7-300-compatible rail. An upgrade therefore consumes engineering hours measured in days, not the months of a platform migration — and the existing I/O, field wiring and operator stations stay exactly as they are.
- Innovation Point 6 — Diagnostics designed into the front panel. Separate LED banks for the integrated PROFIBUS-DP master and for the CPU state, plus an operating mode switch under the front flap, mean a technician can distinguish a DP slave failure from a CPU stop at the cabinet door. On a distributed machine with dozens of DP nodes, that distinction is usually the difference between a five-minute reset and a shift of fault-finding.
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