Guidelines for Industrial Ethernet infrastructure implementation: A control engineer's guide

As part of a continuing effort to make their organizations more efficient and flexible, manufacturers are rapidly migrating to Industrial Ethernet technology to network their industrial automation and control systems. The use of standard Ethernet technology enables organizations to control costs by moving from costly plant-optimized networks to a proven technology that is simpler to integrate, requires widely available skills, and is more secure and reliable while still meeting real-time traffic requirements. This white paper provides an overview of Ethernet technology and implementation guidelines to implement in the both control and information networking environment. It discusses the requirements and consideration in implementing a switched Ethernet architecture in industrial networking environments. Discussion will include: (1) Real-time network performance (including low latency, low jitter, and minimal packet loss) to develop deterministic systems (2) Security -Onsite and Remote Access (3) Reliability (4) Manageability and ease of use features Industrial Ethernet applies the Ethernet and IP suite of standards developed for data communication to manufacturing control networks. By implementing an intelligent Industrial Ethernet solution, organizations can build a manufacturing infrastructure that delivers the resiliency and network security of traditional fieldbus solutions, as well as the improved bandwidth, open connectivity, and standardization that Ethernet provides. Industrial Ethernet gives organizations substantially greater control over their networked manufacturing equipment.