Ethernet

Industrial Ethernet is the successor of the conventional Ethernet, known from the office and is primarily used for data communication in industrial production. There are good reasons for this: It offers a seamless network infrastructure and that in real time. The areas of application are diverse and reach from the field and control level to the MES/ERP level, the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) for order coordination and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) for material planning. Industrial Ethernet technology includes a large address space for participants. With IPV6 addressing, networks with practically unlimited numbers of participants can be implemented. Large data volumes can be transmitted simultaneously and at high speeds of up to 40 Gbit/s via copper. This also applies to data communication over long distances: Distances of up to 80 km can be bridged using fiber optic cables. Networks can be easily expanded and segmented via switches and routers.

Ethernet originally comes from office communication and is usually connected in the office area using star topology. Industrial Ethernet was developed from this basic technology. For industrial applications, however, real-time capability and reliability are of decisive importance. For this reason, components and protocols have been developed that provide time predictable behavior and redundancy mechanisms to prevent failures. Data communication is therefore not interrupted and failures and downtimes are minimized. Industrial Ethernet - as the name says - is used in the industrial area (field level) and must therefore work reliably even under extreme conditions. Our Industrial Ethernet products therefore not only withstand extreme temperatures, dust and humidity, they are also resistant to chemical or physical stress.

Industrial Ethernet is used in industrial automation whenever the functionalities of fieldbuses are no longer sufficient. Not only real-time data transmission plays a major role here. The received real-time data enables a reliable and faultless network infrastructure across all levels and systems. Our PROFINET® products are therefore designed to transmit even the highest data volumes efficiently and quickly.  Interference-free communication is ensured here via the ring topology. This means that the network can continue to operate as usual even if a switch fails. Although the address range covers an almost unlimited number of participants, all network participants can also send and receive high data volumes simultaneously without collisions or disturbances in the communication paths. Industrial Ethernet can be used with various components, such as copper cables, fiber optics or Wifi. Transmission via copper cable also covers long distances without any loss of quality. The switches used repeatedly amplify the signals so that they are not lost.