Industrial Ethernet is becoming increasingly widespread, and industry professionals are becoming more familiar with it. This article will explain the six main types of industrial Ethernet . If you are interested in industrial Ethernet, please continue reading.
Currently, the widely used industrial Ethernet standards mainly include the following six types:
( 1 ) MODBUS TCP / IP
Schneider Electric has adopted a development strategy based on collaborative automation solutions using Industrial Ethernet. MODBUS systems can be easily upgraded to MODBUS TCP / IP without requiring users to reinvest in their existing systems. For MODBUS serial connections, such as RS485 , suitable products are available to easily update or upgrade existing MODBUS systems to MODBUS TCP / IP . If other networks are used, appropriate gateways can be applied to integrate or upgrade them into the Ethernet system.
( 2 ) Ethernet / IP
Ethernet / IP is an industrial application layer protocol for industrial automation applications. It was developed by Rockwell Automation, the company behind the ControlNet fieldbus, to bring Ethernet into the automation field. Built on top of the standard UDP / IP and TCP / IP protocols, it utilizes fixed Ethernet hardware and software to define an application layer protocol for configuring, accessing, and controlling industrial automation equipment. The Ethernet / IP protocol consists of three parts : the IEEE 802.3 physical layer, the data link layer standard protocol, and the Control and Information Protocol (CIP) .
( 3 ) EthernetPOWERLINK
EthernetPOWERLINK is a technology that addresses the real-time data transmission requirements in industrial control and data acquisition applications using standard Ethernet media. EthernetPOWERLINK leverages Ethernet 's high-speed, open interface and CANopen's well-defined SDO and PDO data definitions for industrial applications. In a sense, POWERLINK is CANopen on Ethernet ; the physical and data link layers utilize the Ethernet medium, while the application layer retains the original SDO and PDO object dictionary structure.
( 4 ) PROFInet
PROFINET, launched by the PROFIBUS International Organization, is a next-generation automation bus standard based on industrial Ethernet technology. PROFINET encompasses current hot topics in the field of automation, such as real-time Ethernet, motion control, distributed automation, fail-safety, and network security. As a cross-vendor technology, it is fully compatible with industrial Ethernet and existing fieldbus technologies (such as PROFIBUS ), protecting existing investments.
( 5 ) SERCOSIII
Sercos ( Serial Real-Time Communication System) has been widely used in factory automation applications (suitable for mechanical engineering and construction) for 25 years. SercosIII , the third-generation protocol, was developed in 2003. This efficient and deterministic communication protocol integrates real-time data exchange via the Sercos interface with Ethernet. SercosIII is a product of combining the mature communication mechanism of Sercos with industrial Ethernet, possessing both the real-time characteristics of Sercos and the features of Ethernet.
( 6 ) EtherCAT
EtherCAT was originally developed by Beckhoff Automation GmbH in Germany. EtherCAT sets a new standard for real-time system performance and topology flexibility, while also meeting or reducing the cost of using fieldbus systems. Other features of EtherCAT include high-precision device synchronization, optional cable redundancy, and a functional safety protocol ( SIL3 ).
Based on the implementation method of the slave devices, industrial Ethernet can be divided into three types:
The first category uses general-purpose hardware and the standard TCP / IP protocol. Modbus / TCP , PROFInet / CbA , and Ethernet / IP all use this approach. Using the standard TCP / IP protocol and a general-purpose Ethernet controller, all real-time data (such as process data) and non-real-time data (such as parameter configuration data) are transmitted via TCP / IP . Its advantages are low cost, ease of implementation, and full compatibility with standard Ethernet. In specific implementations, some products may achieve better performance by modifying or optimizing the TCP / IP protocol, but real-time performance is always limited by the underlying architecture.
The second type employs general-purpose hardware and defines a real-time data transmission protocol. EthernetPowerlink and PROFInet / RT use this approach. It uses a general-purpose Ethernet controller but does not use the TCP / IP protocol to transmit real-time data. Instead, it defines a dedicated real-time data transmission protocol with a real-time layer to transmit data with high real-time requirements. The TCP / IP protocol stack may still exist for transmitting non-real-time data, but its access to Ethernet is limited by the real-time layer to improve real-time performance. The advantages of this architecture are strong real-time performance and hardware compatibility with general-purpose Ethernet.
The third category employs dedicated hardware and a custom real-time data transmission protocol. EtherCAT , PROFInet / IRT , and SERCOS - III use this method. This approach builds upon the second category by using a proprietary Ethernet controller to further optimize performance. Its advantages include strong real-time performance, but its disadvantages include higher cost and the need for proprietary protocol chips, switches, etc.
The above is the content related to " Industrial Ethernet " brought to you by this editor . Through this article, we hope that everyone will have a certain understanding of the classification of industrial Ethernet types.
