1. Introduction Since 2005, the 4th China International Fieldbus and Industrial Automation Instrumentation Exhibition (FIA) held from April 12th to 14th and the 9th International Modern Factory/Process Automation Technology and Equipment Exhibition (FA/PA) held from June 14th to 17th in Beijing, along with numerous large-scale technical exchange activities organized by various manufacturers, have brought the industrial automation market into the spotlight. In particular, the publication of a new automation special issue in "MM Modern Manufacturing," which introduced a new concept of automation, demonstrates that the trends in the industrial automation industry are worthy of our attention. 2. Large-scale application of fieldbus by the Foundation is about to unfold The planning, research, trial production, trial use, engineering practice, and promotion of fieldbus technology is an unprecedented system engineering project. It has gathered the wisdom of many people and gained widespread praise, especially from major clients. Currently, FF has 338 members, 227 registered products, and 11 master control systems that have passed HIST interoperability testing certification. In terms of applications, 500,000 field instruments and 8,000 systems have been put into use, with China accounting for 7%, approximately 80 systems, mainly distributed in the petrochemical, chemical, oil and gas, and power generation industries. The Shanghai SECCO and CNOOC/Shell South China Sea projects are among the world's largest projects and are scheduled to go into operation this year. These will serve as demonstrations for large-scale applications in my country. Significant progress has also been made domestically in technology. Companies such as Huakong and Shenyang Institute of Automation (Zhongke Bowei) have developed and obtained FF registration qualifications for their products, and more than 10 professional books have been published. In particular, the following technologies have achieved initial popularization: H1 communication principles; H1 function block configuration and "field control" strategies; selection of field equipment auxiliary equipment and main control systems; H1 network segment design and construction installation; Device Description Language (DDL) and interoperability, etc. Furthermore, there has been great enthusiasm for new technologies such as enhanced EDDL and FISCO explosion-proof technology, all of which lay a solid foundation for future large-scale applications in China. Currently, the China Fieldbus Professional Committee (CFFC) of the China Instrument and Control Society and the Fieldbus China Market Committee (FFCMC), a foundation comprised of six foreign-invested enterprises in China, are jointly conducting activities. FF is currently in a similar phase to DCS in the late 1970s; as a new technology, its path to market is arduous, but after the growing pains, this new technology, like a newborn baby, will surely thrive. 3. Detection Technology, Identification Technology, and Information Fusion Technology Gain Attention Sensor technology has been in a transitional phase from traditional to new types of sensors in recent years, which will be discussed in a separate article. Thanks to the advancement of fieldbus technology alone, the digitalization, intelligence, and networking of monitoring instruments have made significant progress. In particular, the successful launch of multivariable transmitters has enabled a single transformer transmitter (such as Emerson's 3015S and Yokogawa's EJX) to perform a series of functions, including flow measurement and temperature and pressure compensation, flow accumulation, display of liquid volume in spherical tanks, and diagnosis of conduit blockage and steam heating. Furthermore, it is planned to add functions such as orifice plate wear monitoring, providing more useful information for equipment management. Digitalization and networking have provided a smooth channel for the rich information from field equipment, creating conditions for the transformation from single-signal to multi-information acquisition. Furthermore, advancements in detection technology, such as the emergence of sensors for temperature field measurement, have gradually made this transformation possible. Currently, a large number of transmitters in industry use linear sampling, while manual sampling is not recommended. Sampling points or equipment are fixed and continuous, while intermittent sampling, multi-point sampling, and mobile sampling rarely become useful signals in control. Besides physical and electrical quantities, chemical quantities are rarely detected; technologies such as image recognition, remote sensing, vision machines, and sound measurement, especially barcodes and radio frequency identification (RFID) which fall under the management category of tracking, searching, and capturing, are rarely used for control. Recently developed soft measurement technologies, or process algorithms, are mostly installed in host computers or control rooms as "mathematical models" for variable-level control processing. These aspects are all open to discussion according to the requirements of informatization. For example, Multi-Sensor Data Fusion (MSDF), or information fusion technology for short, has been proposed in recent years. It processes data from multiple sensors at multiple levels, aspects, and layers to generate new and meaningful information. This technology has already been applied in large-scale equipment monitoring and power system fault monitoring, and is also useful in traffic management and military combat systems. As detection technology develops towards digitalization, intelligence, and networking, information fusion technology falls under the category of intelligence. It should be combined with virtual instrumentation technology and network instrumentation technology to achieve high-speed, complex data processing, analysis, and control, which in turn promotes the development of detection technology itself and fieldbus technology, enabling intelligent equipment to generate benefits in practical applications. 4. CIP (Common Industrial Protocol) has been formed through industrial protocols . CIP was jointly launched by ODVA and CI. ODVA (Open DeviceNet Vendor Association) is an open DeviceNet vendor association, and CI (ControlNet International) is the international ControlNet organization. Both are led by Rockwell Automation and are the most representative organizations in factory automation. Based on the three-layer network architecture of DeviceNet, ControlNet, and EtherNet/IP, they adopt the CIP protocol to ensure a unified application layer, application objects, and device descriptions, enabling communication and interoperability between devices from different manufacturers. Currently, CIP device descriptions mainly target the following industries: semiconductor equipment, pneumatic valves, AC drive equipment, position controllers, and other device descriptions. Previously, Rockwell also developed the Process Logix master control system, which passed the HIST interoperability test of the Fieldbus Foundation, making it compatible with the process control industry. By applying industry standards, device-related data such as data types, parameter semantics, and application functions can be mutually understood, thus achieving interoperability. This mutual understanding capability is called interoperability. Device descriptions provide basic constructs to build device description files. This also helps to understand the general information fusion technology discussed in the previous section. These components consist of: variables, arrays (arrays), entry arrays, record blocks, data sets, variable tables, programs, domains, response codes, methods, unit relationships, refresh relationships, overall write relationships, menus, and editing displays. The device description source file begins with device description information, then specifies the attributes of blocks or block parameters and other components, collectively forming a whole. The device description source file is compiled into an object file, which can then be considered as a device driver. Interoperability device description languages ​​include DDL, enhanced EDDL (or Electronic Description Language), FDT (Field Device Tool), and network variables from Lonworks technology, all of which are closely related to device management technology in integrated control and management. CIP has also developed specifications such as CIP Safety and CIP Sync. Under the CIP Networks industrial network architecture, CIP Safety enables emergency tripping safety protection, while CIP Sync provides sequential event recording, distributed motion control, timed output, synchronized line breaks, and timestamp data entry—all crucial functions for users. The ODVA China organization, spearheaded by the Shanghai Electrical Apparatus Research Institute, is very active in the industry. At the FIA ​​exhibition, its joint booth was adjacent to FF's, and it also featured a joint ODVA booth comprised of several domestic and international manufacturers – a truly interesting and well-known example. This demonstrates that both the "electrical control industry," primarily focused on discrete control, and the "instrumentation and control industry," primarily focused on process control, are becoming part of the global stage in China. 5. Actuators, Motion Control, and AC Servo Systems are Becoming Hot Topics In the process control field, actuators are mainly electro-pneumatic valve positioners + pneumatic diaphragm control valves. Other types include cylinder-type control valves, electric actuators, hydraulic actuators (electro-hydraulic control valves), and electric control valves. In short, in pipeline-based process equipment, linear and rotary actuators aimed at changing valve opening are the mainstream equipment. In recent years, solenoid valves and valve assemblies, primarily in full-open/full-close forms, have also been widely used. However, the actuators in the discrete control field are more diverse, especially in the control of rotating equipment—primarily motors—which has seen significant development. The commonality of the actuators in both fields lies in the control domain of speed and position feedback. Inverters and soft starters are already widespread and have achieved results in energy saving, which will not be elaborated upon further in this article. In the mid-20th century, servo mechanisms, DC closed-loop speed control systems, AC closed-loop speed control systems, and stepper motor open-loop systems emerged. Since the 1990s, the term "motion control" has quietly gained popularity; it is a branch relative to electric drive and motor transmission control. Motion control refers to controlling electromechanical mechanisms such as motors to produce desired motion. Motion control involves the combined control of three parameters: speed, position, and torque, ultimately ensuring that the motion parameters and trajectory are given constant values. It covers vehicles, CNC machine tools, machining production lines, packaging equipment, textile and dyeing equipment, robots, and various civilian facilities, and therefore has received considerable attention. Recently, the performance/price ratio of AC servo systems has become competitive, especially with the development of fully digital AC permanent magnet servo motors and DSP embedded chip technology, which have gained favor and therefore have a promising future. This article focuses on the high real-time requirements of AC servo systems in motion control, such as response times of less than 1ms and synchronization and jitter of less than 1μs. In more demanding applications, these requirements may be in the nanosecond (ns) range. Distributed AC servo control systems have entered the market. Rockwell's SERCOS, Lenz's System Bus, and well-known protocols such as Profibus, Interbus, and DeviceNet can all implement distributed AC servo systems. Their upper-layer communication still uses the CIP protocol and CIPSync specification to achieve better real-time performance and interoperability. IEEE 1588 defines a Precision Time Protocol (PTP) for distributed clocks in measurement and control networks, providing a working principle for time synchronization over Ethernet. CIPSync enables high-precision (±100ns) time synchronization and distributed motion control between different devices in the network, including the coordination of multiple servo controllers and the coordination of servo controllers and multiple servo drives. It utilizes CIPSync/IEEE1588 to clock various servo drives on the network, combining time-stamped position signals for servo synchronization. It considers Ethernet-based network technology and is suitable for synchronization of complex systems with microsecond-level precision. Besides CIPSync, there is also the SynqNet motion control network, developed by Motion Engineering, which supports high-performance centralized control. It has many servo motor manufacturers supporting it and features self-healing fault tolerance, precise capture technology, and ease of use. Therefore, distributed and centralized AC servo control system technologies should be combined. As a major manufacturing country, my country attaches great importance to AC servo system technology. Companies such as Hollysys (Sitong Motor) and Time Technology have concentrated strong technical resources and developed a number of new products. At the FIA ​​and FA/PA exhibitions, many domestically produced PLC products were showcased, such as the KDN-K3 small PLC from KDEN, which is quite distinctive. However, domestic PLCs still need to work hard in the development of AC servo controller modules to catch up with world-class levels. This section concludes with a performance comparison table (Table 1) of AC frequency converters, synchronous servos, and asynchronous servos, for reference only. 6. Industrial Ethernet Technology Enters a New Stage of Development The Foundation Fieldbus's FF/HSE, CIP, and EtherNet/IP mentioned above are all commonly known as Industrial Ethernet. Also included is PROFINET from companies like Siemens, showcased at this FA/PA exhibition. All three have passed the IEC 61158 and IEC 61784 standards. Furthermore, in January 2004, four working groups, including IEC/SC 65C/JWG10-13, approved six Ethernet technologies in the IEC PAS common usable specification document: China's EPA, Beckhoff's EtherCAT, and Schneider Electric's MODBUS TCP (RTPS). Of course, besides these nine, many other industrial Ethernet technologies use EtherNet/TCP (UDP)/IP. EPA (EtherNet for Plant Automation) employs a segmented structure and deterministic communication scheduling and control strategy, solving problems related to communication determinism, interoperability, and openness. It can be directly applied to communication between field devices such as frequency converters, actuators, remote I/O, and field controllers, achieving "EtherNet to the end," and is currently in the industrialization stage. Given that the previous section already discussed how CIPSync or Ethernet/IP using the IEEE 1588 precise time synchronization protocol achieves microsecond-level real-time performance to meet the high real-time requirements of motion control systems (which requires adding an "acceleration" chip), this article will not elaborate further on solutions for improving the real-time performance of industrial Ethernet. Instead, this article aims to provide a general overview of the numerous general industrial Ethernet networks with less stringent real-time requirements. As we know, general Ethernet networks offer advantages such as wide application, low cost, abundant hardware and software resources, significant potential for sustainable development, and ease of connection to the Internet. By leveraging these advantages and expanding from commercial to industrial applications, industrial Ethernet networks have been developed, enhancing their environmental adaptability, reliability, security, and ease of installation. These features now meet the needs of data acquisition systems and integrated management and control systems in many low-cost automation applications. In recent years, with the popularization of technologies such as 100M and 1000M high-speed Ethernet, switched Ethernet, and ring network redundancy, the determinism, security, and real-time performance of communication have been greatly improved. Coupled with the application of technologies such as full-duplex communication, virtual LANs, and quality of service, the real-time response time of general industrial Ethernet has reached 5-10ms. This meets the requirements of safety systems in process industries and general factory automation systems and integrated control systems in discrete manufacturing industries. Therefore, significant efforts should be made domestically to form an industrialized team capable of producing complete sets of equipment, engineering design, construction, and installation. Corresponding industrial standards must also keep pace. This will allow general industrial Ethernet to generate benefits in practical applications, thereby promoting the development of industrial Ethernet technology. Choosing Ethernet also requires ensuring the effective application of Internet technologies such as Web in industry. In other words, relevant personnel should be able to confidently browse field data, thereby changing production methods and promoting productivity development. 7. System integration, electrical control and instrumentation integration , and management and control integration are still arduous tasks. The term "system integration" became popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, with the prevalence of system solutions, the distinction between "integrated system" and "system integration" has gradually become blurred. The evolution from DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) to OPC (Object Linking and Embedding) in the hardware interface between PLCs and HMIs represents a significant advancement. Recently, it has been combined with EDDL (Electronic Data Linking) to address interoperability issues. Furthermore, IEC 61131-3 significantly impacts system integration in terms of configuration. The emergence of various fieldbuses and industrial Ethernet has enriched communication interface products. Now, not only are there multiple interfaces on a single product, but there are also numerous interconnect interface cards available. Both exhibitions featured several companies offering interface products, such as Woodhead and Prosoft, with dozens of options to meet system integration needs. System integration technology has now entered a standardization phase. The ISO 15745 standard, released in 2003, addresses the two fundamental issues of application requirements and interfaces in system integration. Its full name is: Industrial Automation Systems and System Integration—Open Systems Application Integration Framework, and it consists of four parts: a general reference description, a reference description of control systems based on the ISO 11898 standard, a reference description of control systems based on the IE 61158 standard, and a reference description of control systems based on the Ethernet standard. The first part proposes the Application Integration Framework (AIF) for open systems. It defines elements and rules to form an integration model representing application requirements and develops a dedicated Application Interoperability Specification (AIP). This AIP is a representation of the interface specification and requires the use of UML, XML, etc., for description and expression during AIP development. These developments have been a milestone in the development of system integration technology. Among the application requirements faced by system integration, the integration of electrical control, instrumentation control, and management and control are the primary issues. Different user enterprises have both common and unique needs regarding these two themes. The issue of electrical control and instrumentation control integration has been somewhat understood in the previous sections. The three-layer structure of management and control integration is common, with the MES layer being a hot topic. MESA (Manufacturing Enterprise Solution Association) defines MES as follows: MES can optimize and manage the entire production process from order placement to product completion through information transmission. Previously, more attention was paid to MES itself; now, it is increasingly understood that attention should be paid to the depth of system integration. Because many domestic projects have high satisfaction rates with integrated management and control systems, a protracted situation has arisen. Frontline application practice and the refinement of computer professional expertise should be given equal importance. System integration, electrical and instrumentation integration, and management and control integration are not only technical issues but also human-computer interaction (HCI) arts. Efforts must be made simultaneously in both practicality and a broad sense of user-friendliness and human-computer interaction to successfully complete the crucial task of integrated management and control. 8. Conclusion China has a large population and has experienced rapid development in recent years. For example, steel production reached 270 million tons in 2004 and is expected to reach 320 million tons this year; oil refining capacity has reached 140 million tons/year and is expected to increase to 220 million tons/year by 2010; ethylene production will increase from 5 million tons/year in 2003 to 9 million tons/year; and power generation capacity reached 440 million kW by the end of 2004 and is expected to reach 500 million kW by the end of 2005. This is accompanied by the rapid development of industries related to clothing, food, housing, and transportation, such as automobile manufacturing, shipbuilding, aircraft manufacturing, construction, and pharmaceutical, food, and clothing manufacturing. This will create a spectacular stage for automation in China, attracting electrical companies from all over the world to compete for dominance. Of course, the biggest beneficiaries will be the end users. Cherish this great opportunity!