The SCADA DP Master is a sub-system of the entire SCADA application, dedicated to the acquisition of data.

Typically, SCADA systems include hardware and software components. The hardware gathers and feeds data into a computer that has SCADA software installed. In the RFieldbus Manufacturing Field Trial, the hardware responsible for the gather of data is the _isPRO multiboard, provided by IFAK, thus the application uses a hardware specific API to access the data and process it in a timely manner.

The data is originated from the several equipments in the system (Slaves), which communicates via PROFIBUS with a central PC (Master), responsible for the coordination of the system. The _isPRO multiboard is a PROFIBUS card, in this case acting as a PROFIBUS Master, that incorporates the defined extensions for the RFieldbus project.

At system initialisation time the DP Master is responsible for correctly configure all the Slaves in the system and initiate the appropriate cyclic data transfers in a timely manner.