1. CODESYS Group
  2. Products
  3. Runtime

CODESYS® Virtual PLC Demo

This overview shows the exemplary structure of a CODESYS Virtual Control.

Demo Setup

Demo
vPLC
vSafePLC
Virtual PLC
2 x CODESYS Virtual Control SL
1 x CODESYS Virtual Safe Control SL
1 x CODESYS Edge Gateway
2 x CODESYS Virtual Control SL
2 x CODESYS Virtual Safe Control SL
1 x CODESYS Edge Gateway
Container
Podman enabled for Intel® Time
Coordinated Computing (TCC) with
Cache Allocation Technology (CAT)
1 x CODESYS Edge Gateway
Docker
Operating system
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 9.2
with PREEMPT_RT, kernel-based on
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Real Time
Debian 13 with PREEMPT_RT kernel
Hardware of target device
Multi-core IPC with Intel® TCC and CAT
- Multicore IPC with Intel® CPU
- ARM-based device from Toradex with NXP-CPU
Network
Cisco Catalyst Industrial
Ethernet switches with vLAN technology
Integrated Ethernet ports on target device
Fieldbus
Two independent Ethernet-based fieldbus systems from
one Ethernet port using vLAN, powered by XDP
EtherCAT/FSoE and PROFINET/PROFIsafe
via dedicated Ethernet ports

Bundle setup data for the vPLC demo

Structural design

This overview shows the exemplary setup with the CODESYS Automation Server.

Application

100 FB calls
100 operators
50 Profisafe host instances
Simple mapping Input → Output
Cycle time 5 ms

CODESYS Virtual Control SL

With AI workload, Intel CAT deactivated

Cycle time 27 µs
Max. Task jitter: 77 µs
Average Ethernet send time: 4.5 µs
Average Ethernet receive time: 3.4 µs

With AI workload, Intel CAT activated

Cycle time: 20 µs
Max. Task Jitter: 11 µs
Average Ethernet Send Time: 2.8 µs
Average Ethernet Receive Time: 3.2 µs

Cycle Time: 2.3 ms
Roundtrip time safe protocol: 25 ms

CODESYS Virtual Safe Control SL

With AI workload, Intel CAT deactivated

Cycle time: 2.3 ms
Roundtrip time safe protocol: 25 ms

With AI workload, Intel CAT activated

Cycle time: 1.6 ms
FSoE roundtrip time safe protocol: 10 ms

Advantages of Virtual PLCs:

Cost savings

Replace n physical PLCs with a single platform with n virtual controllers.

Scalability

Do you need a small controller for a small logic task? Or a fully-fledged motion controller? No problem - with CODESYS Virtual Control you can implement both on a suitable device at the click of a mouse. The corresponding license turns the whole thing into a small controller or a motion controller.

Less space and wiring required

Is the space in your control cabinet full? Is your 24VDC power supply already working to capacity? Don't worry: You don't need new cables or an additional power supply on your central computer for an additional CODESYS Virtual Control. As for your I/Os, you can connect them via Industrial Ethernet anyway.

Flexible orchestration

Are you a Linux nerd? Do you like using web tools? Do you want to concentrate exclusively on your automation tasks? Simply use Linux scripts and tools such as Kubernetes/OpenShift to set up CODESYS Virtual Control - or use the CODESYS Automation Server. This administration platform works without any knowledge of Linux. And the bonus of the latest Intel platforms with Intel® TCC Cache Allocation Technology: They guarantee the real-time capability of your CODESYS Virtual Control PLCs!

Security-by-Design

Protect your control system by intelligently splitting up application parts and encapsulating them in the container. For updates or in the event of attacks, you can simply shut down and restart affected parts - without affecting the overall system. CODESYS Virtual Control makes it easy for you - just like microservices in IT.

Maintenance made easy

Security vulnerability identified! Hundreds of PLCs are affected. You need to update the firmware or the application as soon as possible. This can take days, weeks or even months! Except your PLCs run as virtual systems on a central computer. In this case, you can carry out the update in a few seconds. CODESYS Virtual Control makes it possible!

Flexibility

New function in your machine = new hardware? Not necessarily! Simply add a new virtual PLC and use it to implement the new function. With CODESYS Virtual Control, you no longer need to use new hardware to implement new functions.

SoftSafety

Realize virtual safety control in accordance with IEC 61508 SIL3 through Diversified Encoding.

Efficiency through consolidation of the workload

Take full advantage of the latest Intel platforms with Intel® TCC Cache Allocation Technology: Run your performance-intensive AI workloads, such as error detection or object segmentation, in parallel with your CODESYS Virtual Control PLCs on the same system - while maintaining the real-time capability of the PLCs!