FC2001-4A Beckhoff
Wake Industrial LLC is not an authorized distributor of this product.
The Beckhoff FC2001-4A is part of the FC Lightbus Cards series and features a 32-bit Plug & Play PCI interface, supporting the Lightbus optical fiber fieldbus. It offers 4 kB dual-port RAM, 512 kB RAM, and 256 kB flash memory per channel, with a maximum of 255 bus devices and up to 65280 I/O points per channel. The card operates at a data rate of 2.5 Mbit/s and includes 1 status LED plus 2 diagnostic LEDs for hardware monitoring.
Internal Product Review
The FC2001-4A is a Beckhoff FC Lightbus card with a 32-bit Plug & Play PCI interface and Lightbus optical fiber connectivity. Performance is impressive, with a 2.5 Mbit/s data rate and capacity for up to 255 bus devices. Built-in diagnostics using 1 status LED and 2 diagnostic LEDs make the card a strong choice for dependable fieldbus integration.
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Product Description:
The FC2001-4A is an optical-fiber fieldbus interface card produced by Beckhoff for the FC Lightbus Cards series. Installed in a host PC, the card connects the computer’s processor to a Lightbus network. Control software can exchange deterministic I/O data with distributed devices in real time, supporting automation tasks in packaging lines, conveyor cells, and machining centers. The optical connection provides electrical isolation from network cabling and supports reliable communication in industrial environments where electromagnetic interference may affect conventional copper links.
The card occupies a 32-bit Plug & Play PCI slot and draws 5 V at 385 mA from the backplane, making it compatible with standard industrial PCs. A Lightbus channel on the card sustains a serial transfer rate of 2.5 Mbit/s, allowing large telegrams to circulate quickly over plastic or glass optical fiber. Each channel has 4 kB of DPRAM for dual-port access between the PC and the bus controller, along with an additional 512 kB of local RAM that buffers process images during cyclic exchanges. These memory areas separate high-priority fieldbus cycles from the operating system’s task scheduling, helping the card maintain deterministic response when the host processor is handling other workloads.
Nonvolatile program or parameter blocks can be stored in 256 kB of flash per channel, preserving configuration data across power cycles. The card can address up to 65,280 discrete I/O points per channel, organized as eight logical communication channels that share one optical interface and support as many as 255 downstream modules. The card provides two independent IRQs that allow the driver to notify the host when telegrams are complete or communication errors occur, reducing the need for continuous polling. User payloads move efficiently because the controller transfers 32 bits in 25 µs, supporting control loops that require prompt data updates. Status and diagnostic LEDs on the bracket indicate link activity and fault conditions, allowing fiber continuity and network operation to be checked directly at the card.
