Control Network Newsletter

Contemporary Controls Joins the Modbus Organization

January 2011 - Contemporary Controls develops products such as the BAS Remote that allow users to integrate Modbus devices into BACnet networks. Modbus remains a popular protocol for Contemporary Controls customers. To support the continued use and application of Modbus,
Contemporary Controls has joined the Modbus Organization, a nonprofit trade group based in Massachusetts, USA.

Modbus was introduced in 1979 by the company Modicon, a leader in the infant programmable logic controller (PLC) market.  It was intended as the internal point-to-point communications protocol between Modicon PLCs and programming panels used to program the controllers. 

"The Modbus protocol continues to thrive because it is easy to understand and many engineers have cut their protocol teeth on Modbus," said George Thomas, President of Contemporary Controls. "Products like the BAS Remote make Modbus to BACnet integration easy."

The Modbus Organization is group of independent users and suppliers of automation devices interested in promoting the Modbus communication protocol suite. The organization provides the infrastructure to obtain and share information about Modbus protocols, application and certification.

In today's industry, there are two implementations of Modbus. The traditional implementation of Modbus over a serial line is called Modbus Serial. The more modern implementation of Modbus operating over a TCP/IP network is called Modbus TCP.  Both implementations remain popular. Using the BAS Remote allows users to keep their existing Modbus devices and integrate them with larger BACnet networks.

Visit Contemporary Controls' Modbus page to learn more about the BAS Remote and Modbus.