Description
The INICT13A is an ABB Bailey INFI-NET Computer Transfer module — the rack-side interface that lets a host computer, OIS workstation, or historian talk directly to an INFI 90 / Harmony control network. It is not a controller and it is not a communication module in the plant-I/O sense; it is the dedicated bridge between the INFI-NET coax backbone and the serial or bus-master path that a PC or server expects.
What makes the INICT13A worth its weight in a 1990s DCS rack is the job it quietly does: it hands the host a memory-mapped, polled window onto the INFI 90 data space without the host ever having to understand INFI-NET timing, token passing, or the C-net/INFI-NET protocol stack. For a plant still running a Bailey rack because the process is proven, that is the difference between a live historian feed and a manual clipboard.
Application Scenarios
Picture a combined-cycle plant where the Bailey INFI 90 rack has been the turbine and boiler interface since the mid-nineties. The OIS still works, but the site wants a modern historian, a web dashboard, and a maintenance-analytics feed without rewriting a single control loop or touching the INFI-NET token. The rack already carries an INICT13A in the transfer slot, talking to an old OIS box over RS-232.
When that OIS host finally dies — bad PCMCIA card, dead ISA backplane, no replacement parts — the reflex is to declare a DCS migration. It is the expensive answer. The cheaper one is to keep the INICT13A exactly where it is, re-point the serial side at a small industrial PC or a protocol gateway, and keep the INFI-NET traffic untouched. The control loops never know the host changed, the historian gets its feed, and the migration gets pushed to a scheduled shutdown instead of an emergency Saturday. That is the product’s real value: it is the last thing anyone wants to fail, because it is the only door between a living DCS and the rest of the century.
Parameter
| Main Parameters | Value/Description |
|---|---|
| Product Model | INICT13A — ABB Bailey INFI-NET Computer Transfer module, INFI-NET 1 interface |
| Manufacturer | ABB Process Automation, originally Bailey Controls / Elsag Bailey |
| Product Category | DCS Communication / Computer Transfer Module (INFI 90 / Harmony INFI-NET interface) |
| Network Interface | INFI-NET 1, 10 Mbps Manchester-encoded coax; BNC 50 Ω, transformer-isolated |
| Transfer Medium | RG-58 / RG-213 coaxial trunk; M5147-CA (15 m) or M5147-CB (30 m) drop cables |
| Segment Length | 500 m per coax segment; standard INFI-NET topology and terminator rules apply |
| Host Interface | Dual-port RAM / bus-master style transfer; presents a memory-mapped window to the host adapter |
| Serial Paths | 2× RS-232/422/485 ports, independently jumperable; 1× console port at 9600 bps |
| Serial Baud | 300…19 200 bps, software-selectable; 19.2 kbps is the practical ceiling for polled transfer |
| Buffer / RAM | 8 KB dual-port SRAM on the module — the actual hand-off zone between INFI-NET and host |
| Transfer Mode | Host polls module registers; module maintains the INFI-NET side autonomously (store-and-forward) |
| Error Control | CRC-16 on the INFI-NET frame; module retries the INFI-NET side before the host ever sees a NAK |
| Latency | ≈2 ms module-side hand-off; end-to-end is dominated by serial baud and host poll interval |
| Diagnostics | TX/RX frame counts, CRC error count, collision/retry count, link-status LED, module self-test on insertion |
| Backplane | INFI 90 module bus, single-slot transfer position in the local rack (IM/ICIM carrier) |
| Environmental | 0…60 °C operating, 5…95% RH non-condensing; designed for rack-mount cabinet use |
| Mechanical | Single-width INFI 90 module, ≈265 g, edge-connector seating, no external power wiring |
| Configuration | Module + transfer-table build in the INFI 90 engineering station; host driver maps the DP-RAM window |
| Status | Discontinued / legacy platform — supplied as tested surplus, refurbished, or exchange stock |