Hardware channels can be connected only to a function block input or output. A hardware connection can be established with Application Configuration or Signal Matrix.
When a hardware channel is connected, a graphical symbol appears in Application Configuration. The connection is also indicated in Signal Matrix with a cross mark. All hardware channels are always visible in Signal Matrix.
There are three types of supported hardware channels.
- Binary input channels
- Binary output channels
- Analog input channels
Hardware binary input channels may have multiple connections. A hardware binary output channel is taken from the list of available channels when a new channel is requested. This prevents using the same hardware binary output channel twice.