As time-sensitive networking gains traction in industrial networks, the reigning fieldbus factions are positioning themselves for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently, I attended the PI North America general assembly meeting, a gathering of individuals representing the member organizations of this fieldbus community, who come together to get an update on new developments within the group, as well as how industry trends are impacting the evolution of Profibus and Profinet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of particular interest this year, is the emergence of time-sensitive networking (TSN) on the factory floor. Specifically, the industry as a whole has been investigating how this IEEE set of standards can turn Ethernet into a deterministic network, thereby enabling real-time industrial applications\u2014sans the proprietary protocols of the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The technology will enable the consolidation of multiple services\nover a single, standard physical network, which will help manufacturers\nwho are trying to figure out how to deal with the Industrial Internet of\nThings (IIoT) and the of convergence of IT and OT. However, it also has\nthe potential to eclipse the existing fieldbus landscape\u2014that lower\ncommunication layer that has historically delivered all of the\ndeterministic capabilities that TSN promises, but using different\nflavors of Ethernet. For example, while different suppliers offer\nindustrial Ethernet networks, they are still based on conflicting\nconnectivity methods that make data exchange difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently, however, OPC Foundations\u2019 OPC UA, an open communication\nprotocol for information exchange between machines as well as up into\nthe enterprise, evolved from a client\/server architecture to a\npublish\/subscribe (Pub\/Sub) set-up, which enables mapping to TSN.\nTogether, the technologies are well positioned to efficiently exchange\nIIoT data from the device to the cloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The question now is: Will OPC UA over TSN make existing versions of\nindustrial Ethernet obsolete? According to Michael Bowne, executive\ndirector of PI North America, the answer\u2014at least for Profinet\u2014is \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a recent Automation World<\/em> column, \u201cNot Your Father\u2019s Fieldbus,\u201d Bowne noted that Profinet and OPC UA Pub\/Sub are complementary technologies, not competing ones. And, during the general assembly, Bowne expanded on the idea that TSN, in theory, levels the fieldbus playing field, but there is value-add in Profinet. \u201cThe fieldbuses of today do more than just move data,\u201d Bowne said. There is diagnostics, safety, configuration, etc. \u201cNot all protocols situated for the same task are created equal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That doesn\u2019t mean, however, that PI North America is ignoring OPC UA over TSN and the building momentum behind a unified initiative from another group of over a dozen companies\u2014informally known as the \u201cshapers.\u201d\u2014including ABB, Cisco, Schneider Electric and Rockwell among others, This collaboration of companies is pushing for an open, standards-based way for real-time communication between industrial controllers and the cloud, and they are turning to OPC UA TSN as the unified standard for automation and IIoT connectivity. With testbeds underway, the group is working on future products that comply with this next-generation technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But PI North America is also working on integrating the TSN standard\ninto Profinet, with the spec scheduled for release in April 2019 and the\nfirst products hitting the market in 2020. The goal, again, is to\nmaintain the sustainability of the fieldbus by focusing on what it does\nwell, while supporting the additional capabilities of TSN. The Profinet\nTSN offering will be focused on easing the efforts of integration with a\n\u201cplug and work network.\u201d The architecture of Profinet with TSN will\ninclude services for configuration, parameterization, diagnostics, easy\nTSN network configuration, flexible topologies and scalability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clearly, there is still a lot to be done in the different\ncommunication camps, and years before the manufacturing industry will\nbegin to experience any effects of the current efforts. In all honesty, I\nwalked away from the PI general assembly meeting still slightly (or\nvery) confused as to where everyone stands and what it all means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While it all sounds promising, my hope is that we are not on the verge of yet another fieldbus war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Source : AutomationWorld<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As time-sensitive networking gains traction in industrial networks, the reigning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhile it all sounds promising, my hope is that we are not on the verge of yet another fieldbus war.<\/h4><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Read about Siemens’ TSN strategy via Profinet and OPC UA.<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n