GE-FanucIC697CPU731XSeries 90-70 Single-Slot CPU Module, 12 MHz 80C186, 32 KB Battery-Backed Memory, 512 I/O

Product Description

What this part is

This is a GE Fanuc Series 90-70 CPU module, catalogue number IC697CPU731 — the processor that scans and solves the ladder program in a Series 90-70 rack. It is a CPU-tier module, not an I/O card and not an expansion or communications board. It holds the user program and the reference tables, and the rack does nothing without it. It occupies a single slot, where larger 90-70 CPUs take two or more slots and reduce I/O capacity.

Decoding the catalogue number

IC697: the GE Fanuc Series 90-70 family prefix.

CPU: the module class, central processing unit. Compare CMM (communications), MDL (I/O), ALG (analog) and BEM (bus expansion). The three letters are the functional identity.

731: the CPU model within the range, 12 MHz, 32 KB, single slot.

A trailing letter as in IC697CPU731X, -H or -L is the firmware and hardware revision level. It is not a different model, and on a 90-70 the revision governs which programming software can store to the CPU.

Firmware and revision

Series 90-70 CPUs pair with a specific band of programming-software versions: Logicmaster 90-70 under MS-DOS, later VersaPro and Proficy Machine Edition under Windows. The connection is made either over the SNP serial port or over Ethernet through a separate Ethernet interface module. A CPU at a revision the software cannot store to connects, reports, and then refuses the download. This is the most common reason a physically-good 90-70 CPU appears faulty on arrival.

Published specifications

Processor: 80C186 at 12 MHz.

User memory: 32 KB battery-backed CMOS, with the program/data split user-configurable.

Scan performance: 0.4 µs per Boolean instruction.

Discrete I/O: up to 512 points, in any mix of inputs and outputs.

Slot usage: single slot in a Series 90-70 rack.

Programming: Logicmaster 90-70 (MS-DOS) or Windows-based software, via the SNP serial port or over Ethernet TCP/IP through an Ethernet interface module.

Memory and scan

32 KB is the constraint that decides whether this CPU suits an application, rather than the clock speed. A machine-control ladder with a few hundred rungs and modest data tables fits; a recipe-driven process with large arrays, string handling or extensive analog scaling calls for a larger CPU in the range. The 0.4 µs Boolean figure keeps the module adequate for fast discrete logic, because scan time on a 512-point discrete machine is dominated by I/O service rather than by the processor. The user memory is battery-backed CMOS, so the battery is a maintenance item: a flat battery on a stored or unpowered CPU means the program is gone.

Quantity and configuration

One CPU module ships. No rack or baseplate, no power supply, no battery, no I/O modules, no Ethernet or communications module, no programming cable and no software or licence are included.

Interchange guidance

Searched as IC697CPU731, IC697CPU731X, IC697-CPU731, IC697 CPU731, IC697CPU-731 and Series 90-70 CPU 731. Revision-suffixed builds IC697CPU731H, IC697CPU731L and IC697CPU731X are the same module at different firmware and hardware revisions, carried as cross-references, with the revision level being the difference for software compatibility. Higher CPUs in the same rack family (IC697CPU771, IC697CPU781, IC697CPU788) offer more memory and speed, are not slot-for-slot equivalents, and need their own firmware and software support. Brand and support history for search reach: GE Series 90-70, GE Fanuc Automation, GE Intelligent Platforms, now Emerson. The platform’s migration path is Emerson’s PACSystems RX7i and RX3i, which is a project rather than a swap.