Industrial Ethernet

Industrial Ethernet switch

Industrial Ethernet (IE) is the use of Ethernet in an industrial environment with protocols that provide determinism and real-time control.[1] Protocols for Industrial Ethernet include EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, POWERLINK, SERCOS III, CC-Link IE, and Modbus/TCP.[1][2] Many Industrial Ethernet protocols use a modified MAC (Media Access Control) layer to provide low latency and determinism.[1] Some microcontrollers such as Sitara provide Industrial Ethernet support.

Industrial Ethernet can also refer to the use of standard Ethernet protocols with rugged connectors and extended temperature switches in an industrial environment, for automation or process control. Components used in plant process areas must be designed to work in harsh environments of temperature extremes, humidity, and vibration that exceed the ranges for information technology equipment intended for installation in controlled environments.

The use of fiber Ethernet reduces the problems of electrical noise and provides electrical isolation to prevent equipment damage. Some industrial networks emphasized deterministic delivery of transmitted data, whereas Ethernet used collision detection which made transport time for individual data packets difficult to estimate with increasing network traffic. Typically, industrial uses of Ethernet employ full-duplex standards and other methods so that collisions do not unacceptably influence transmission times.

Application environment

Industrial plant use requires consideration of the environment in which the equipment must operate. Plant-floor equipment must tolerate a wider range of temperature, vibration, and electrical noise than equipment installed in dedicated information-technology areas. Since closed-loop process control may rely on an Ethernet link, economic cost of interruptions may be high and availability is therefore an essential criterion. Industrial Ethernet networks must interoperate with both current and legacy systems, and must provide predictable performance and maintainability. In addition to physical compatibility and low-level transport protocols, a practical industrial Ethernet system must also provide interoperability of higher levels of the OSI model. An industrial network must provide security both from intrusions from outside the plant, and from inadvertent or unauthorized use within the plant.[3]

Industrial networks often use network switches to segment a large system into logical sub-networks, divided by address, protocol, or application. Using network switches allows the network to be broken up into many small collision domains. This reduces the risk of a faulty or mis-configured device generating excess network traffic. When an industrial network must connect to an office network or external networks, a firewall system can be inserted to control exchange of data between the networks. To preserve the performance and reliability of the industrial network, general office automation systems are separated from the network used for control or I/O devices. Some Industrial Ethernets use a ring topology to avoid collisions and provide deterministic performance.[2]

Advantages and difficulties

PLC (Programmable logic controller) communicate using one of several possible open or proprietary protocols, such as EtherNet/IP, Modbus, Sinec H1, Profibus, CANopen, DeviceNet or FOUNDATION Fieldbus. The idea to use standard Ethernet makes these systems more inter-operable.

Some of the advantages over other types of industrial network are:

Difficulties of using Industrial Ethernet include:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lin, Zihong (2013). An inside look at industrial Ethernet communication protocols (PDF). Texas Instruments.
  2. 1 2 Zurawski, Richard (2014). Industrial Communication Technology Handbook, (Second ed.). CRC Press. ISBN 978-1482207323.
  3. ↑ Perry S. Marshall, John S. Rinaldi (2004). How to Plan, Install and Maintain TCP/IP Ethernet Networks. ISA. ISBN 1-55617-869-7. pp. 1–4.
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