In the past ten years, 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 have increasingly revealed their limitations.
On one hand, as field devices become more intelligent, control is becoming more decentralized, requiring continuous data exchange between smart devices distributed throughout the plant and between these devices and the higher-level control system. The amount of data exchanged between devices is growing rapidly.
On the other hand, 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 means that the enterprise's information system needs to access real-time production data through an industrial communication network, enabling remote monitoring and maintenance.
As a result, vertical integration has become a key focus. Users now want a unified communication solution that connects both the management and field levels, compatible with office automation technologies. This approach simplifies the overall control system structure and significantly reduces implementation and maintenance costs.
Driven by this demand, Ethernet technology has started to move beyond the information management layer and into the control level of industrial environments. The adoption of Ethernet in automation brings several advantages: a unified architecture, integrated communication capabilities, and strong service and diagnostic features. According to current trends in industrial automation, the shift from fieldbus to Ethernet is an inevitable development in industrial control networks.
However, implementing Ethernet in a factory’s production control system is not a straightforward process. When introducing Ethernet into the control level, it is necessary to adapt and enhance standard office Ethernet to meet the specific requirements of industrial control systems, such as environmental conditions, network topology, and reliability. This adaptation leads to what is known as Industrial Ethernet.
Today, industrial Ethernet solutions are widely recognized and adopted in control-level communication networks. Factories and enterprises have already benefited from the efficiency and performance of these advanced communication systems. Despite its widespread use, Industrial Ethernet still faces significant challenges when it comes to integrating into the lowest level of field control—specifically, ensuring real-time and deterministic communication.
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