Field level communications (FLC) activities focusing on making OPC UA suitable for the field are in full swing. A step forward will be made if devices developed for OT can communicate in one language with OPC UA, and at the same time be based on real-time capable Ethernet hardware with…

IoT applications require real-time response, but deploying the compute and storage resources for IoT in the cloud may not support IoT because of network latency. The solution to lowering latency is to move those resources closer to the IoT sensors that are providing the data, or expecting a real-time response.

Use of a gateway along with OPC UA and MQTT, can provide access to S7 controller machine tool data. This allows important spindle and axis data, such as torque and power consumption, to be read out, processed and become available for condition monitoring, predictive maintenance, and data logging or analysis…

Digitization is shifting toward the sensor in the era of Industry 4.0 process automation. Implementation of smart sensors that can be integrated anywhere in a complex network allows them to pass on the digital form of recorded physical quantities over the network, versus digitizing analog signals transmitted to a controller.

Use of digitalization offers new possibilities for optimizing manufacturing processes by leveraging data analytics through cloud-based systems. New communication methods for automation systems via standards-based open protocols such as MQTT is helping users fully integrate components regardless of manufacturer.

The Parallel Redundancy Protocol (PRP) is a standard defined in IEC 62439-3, and is adopted in the EtherNet/IP specification. PRP technology creates seamless network redundancy by allowing PRP-enabled IACS devices to send duplicate Ethernet frames over two independent Local Area Networks (LANs).

Developing efficient, reliable, and maintainable data handling as part of an IoT solution presents challenges. System integrators looking to deploy IT solutions in the Industrial IoT world are faced with requirement specifications and customizing these applications to suit specific industrial automation (IA) requirements.

Taking process data from smart HART field devices and sharing it with higher level systems, no longer has to be difficult or expensive. Industrial Ethernet backbones and wireless networks, IIoT HART devices, open industry protocols and ease of programming provides a quick and seamless way to share process data.

Most security protocols, including TLS, are point-to-point solutions that do not support multicast. However, multicast can be extremely useful, especially for I/O in an industrial environment. No single standard has emerged as the de facto method but there are several potential methods for securing multicast traffic.

EtherCAT G uses 1 Gbit/s data transmission of standard Ethernet; while the EtherCAT G10 variant, presented as a proof-of-concept technology study, achieves data rates of up to 10 Gbit/s. The considerable increase in data rates compared with standard 100 Mbit/s EtherCAT significantly increases the possible data throughput.