The following is an overview of some industrial communication networks that play a significant role in today’s industrial control systems. With the advancements in digital technology, fieldbus technology is now ruling the automation field as it provides multidrop communication facility that results cost effective and cable saving communication. Industrial networking also led to the implementation of various communication protocols between digital controllers, field devices, various automation related software tools and also to external systems.Īs the industrial automation systems become complex and large with more number of automation devices on control floor, today, the trend is toward Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) standards that permits to interconnect and communicate any pair of automation devices reliably irrespective of the manufacturer. These networks, which can be either LAN (Local Area Network, which is used in a limited area) or WAN (Wide Area Network which is used as global system) enabled to communicate vast amounts of data using a limited number of channels. With the use of proprietary digital communication networks in industries over the past decade led to improve end-to-end digital signal accuracy and integrity. Hierarchical Levels in Industrial Communication NetworksĪn industrial communication network is a backbone for any automation system architecture as it has been providing a powerful means of data exchange, data controllability, and flexibility to connect various devices.

What is an Industrial Communication Network?.

Network communication protocol map pdf