Modbus la mt giao thc truyn thng ni tip c cng b bi Modicon nm 1979 s dng cho PLC.

Tuy nhin no a tr thanh giao thc truyn thng chun trong cng nghip. Modbus cho php giao tip gia nhiu thit b trong cng mt mng, v d nh s dng my tnh gim st kt qu ca h thng o nhit v m. Modbus thng c s dng trong cc h thng iu khin gim st v thu thp d liu (SCADA). Vi nm tr li y, vi s pht trin ca giao thc Ethernet, Modbus TCP ra i nh l mt phng thc truyn thng mi, cho php Modbus giao tip vi nhng thit b c h tr Ethernet. Theo ARC Advisory Group, th trng cho Ethernet cng nghip nm 2011 s t trn 900 triu la. iu ny c ngha l hu nh thit b lin lc no trn th gii u c th l mt phn ca th trng ny. Giao din ca cc thit b ni tip cn c chuyn i theo kp vi cc xu hng Ethernet.

Ngun: ARC Advisory Group Theo bo co ti hi ngh Giao Thc Ethernet Cng Nghip ARC 2008(ARC 2008 Industrial Ethernet Protocols), Modbus TCP/IP s vt qua tt c cc giao thc khc, t thnh giao thc dn u trong Ethernet cng nghip. iu cho thy rng cc thit b h tr Modbus RTU/ASCII hin nay cn phi giao tip c vi thit b h tr Modbus TCP/IP, v ngc li. V vy, cc cng d liu Modbus (Modbus data gateways) l cc thit b v cng quan trng trong thi im hin ti, vi mt th trng y tim nng.

Ngun: ARC Advisory Group Modbus l mt h thng master-slave c thit lp truyn thng master-slave/clientserver gia cc thit b thng minh. Master thng l mt PLC, PC, DCS (Distributed Control System) hoc RTU (Remote Terminal Unit). Cc slave thng l cc thit b di ng, thit b thng minh (intelligent device) v cc cm bin (sensor). Khi mt Modbus RTU master mun ly thng tin t mt thit b, master gi mt thng bo c cha a ch ca thit b (slave), thng tin v d liu c yu cu, v mt checksum pht hin li. Tt c cc thit b khc trn mng (network) u thy thng bo ny, tuy nhin ch c thit b ng a ch mi tr li. Cc thit b salve trn mng Modbus khng th ch ng giao tip vi nhau. V d, Adam-4000 series ca Advantech cho php ngi dng kt ni tn hiu tng t (analog signal) v tn hiu s (digital signal) t xa vi mt Modbus master thng qua i cp xon.

C ba phin bn Modbus thng c s dng: Modbus/RTU Modbus/ASCII Modbus/TCP Tt c cc thng bo Modbus c gi i u cng mt nh dng. S khc bit duy nht gia ba loi Modbus l cch m ha cc thng bo. Trong Modbus/ASCII, tt c cc thng bo c m ha dng hexadecimal, s dng cc k t ASCII 4-bit. Trong Modbus/RTU, d liu c m ho dng nh phn (binary), tc t 1200 n 115K baud. Modbus/RTU l giao thc Modbus c s dng ph bin nht. Modbus/TCP thng c gi l Modbus qua Ethernet. TCP/IP l mt giao thc Internet ph bin, cung cp c ch truyn nhn d liu ng tin cy gia cc thit b. Ethernet ngy nay tr thnh tiu chun trong h thng mng cho nh my v doanh nghip. a ch IP c s dng thay th cho a ch ca cc thit b slave. Mt li th ca Modbus/TCP l kh nng h tr nhiu master. Modbus/TCP cho php nhiu master gi thng bo n cng mt slave trong cng mt lc. N linh hot hn nhiu so vi Modbus/RTU v Modbus/ASCII.