The C300 Processing and Memory Capacity Model has been developed to identify the major factors that influence the performance of the C300 Controller.

C300 Processing

The Figures below provides a simplified view of C300 Controller CPU usage. CPU in the C300 Controller is primarily used for three purposes – executing control strategies, communicating with the IO Links, and communicating with other entities outside the C300, such as peer nodes and displays.

C300 Control

Control requirements of a C300 are estimated in PUs, using a PU estimation spreadsheet similar to those used for C200 and ACE. The definition of a PU (see Section 1.4) does not change with the introduction of C300, because the PU definition is platform independent. C300 PU specifications are provided for the same set of typical module types (e.g. Small Analog Data Acquisition CM, Regulatory Control CM, Device Control CM, etc.) as already documented for C200 and ACE.

C300 Communication

Performance testing has determined that the following factors have the greatest influence on the amount of CPU used to communicate with peer nodes and displays. A conscious effort has been made to keep the number of input factors to a minimum to keep the C300 performance model as simple as possible while maintaining its usefulness and accuracy. The model has been refined to the point that only these major factors need be input to the spreadsheet. The XUs required to support the specified communications are calculated automatically from these inputs.