In the past decade, fieldbus has been the dominant communication solution in factory and process automation at the field level. However, as technology continues to evolve, traditional fieldbus systems are increasingly showing their limitations.
With the growing intelligence of field devices, control is becoming more decentralized, and there's a growing need for continuous data exchange between smart devices across the plant and between these devices and the control layer. The volume of device-to-device communication is rising rapidly.
Additionally, with the advancement of computer technology, enterprises are seeking to integrate production data from the shop floor into a unified enterprise-wide information management system. This requires the ability to access real-time production data through an industrial communication network, enabling remote services and maintenance.
As a result, vertical integration has become a key focus. Users now expect a unified communication solution that bridges the gap between management and the field, compatible with office automation technologies. This approach simplifies the overall control system architecture and reduces implementation and maintenance costs.
Driven by this demand, Ethernet technology has started to move beyond the information management layer and is now being widely adopted at the control level. The use of Ethernet in automation offers several key advantages: a unified architecture, integrated communication, and enhanced service and diagnostic capabilities. From today’s perspective, the shift from fieldbus to Ethernet in industrial control networks is an inevitable trend.
However, implementing Ethernet in a factory’s production control process isn’t just a straightforward migration. When introducing Ethernet into control-level communication, it must be adapted to meet the specific requirements of industrial control systems—such as environmental conditions, network topology, and reliability. This means modifying standard office Ethernet to ensure its reliability in industrial environments, which is what we refer to as Industrial Ethernet.
Today, industrial Ethernet solutions are widely recognized and accepted in control-level communication networks. Enterprises and factories have already benefited from high-performance communication networks. Despite this, Industrial Ethernet still faces challenges in reaching the lowest levels of field control due to the need for real-time and deterministic communication.
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