Industrial Networks

Introduction
The networking requirements of plant design analyses the functional aspects of the system
and specifically the hardware selection. It should incorporate an architecture design that is
sufficient to provide correct transmission medium and protocol selection that is necessary
for the plant to communicate effectively at each hierarchical level.

The hardware and network design and selection are intimately linked with one another and
the communication network will form the fundamentals of plant integration and will
directly impact the hardware connectivity for the system to operate effectively and
communicate information externally.

The case study suggests the design should consider a network system from the high factory
level of resource planning and sales, cascading down through to production data capture
and then further to the automation level at production line and finally its lower field level
which the sensors and actuator are attributed to.

Design Considerations
The automation of manufacturing plants is reliant upon communication networks that are
mostly based on serial and digital data transmission. The basic task of exchanging data
between difference devices is the fundamental principle of a communication network.

Network Classifications

There are many applications in which a communication network can be applied and with
this the communication tasks vary in the requirements of the application and therefore its
complexity. So a manufacturing or process network will be very different to that of a
building automation or office network. This is the principle reason why there is no one
network that can service all applications and the market offers different and sometimes
quite specific networks and bus systems tailored to each application.

The first and most general classification criterion is the communication distance where the
two principle types of networks are WANs (Wide Area Networks) and LANs (Local Area
Networks). WAN can operate over thousands of miles and can be associated with the
Internet and ISDN whereas LAN transmits fast and powerful data within a locally restricted
area such as field networks and building automation networks. [1] Wikipedia, 2010.
Communication networks have further varying demands depending upon the application,
these can be: -

 The data rata required

 The number of data bytes per cycle

 The data rate renewal

 The required real time capability

The different communication networks form a hierarchical pyramid with each level
associated to each classification. At the higher levels the requirements of real time and
sampling rate are lower but the complexity and length of the message are much higher. At
the lower level, the required real time capability and message renewal rate is high. [2]
Kirrmann, 2010.

The higher level management of a system is supervised by the factory level. The important
aspect of this level is associated with the safe transmission of very long messages and it is
not that interested so much in the response time. [2] Kirrmann, 2010. Typical protocols
used in this level are. [3] HMS, 2010: -

Industrial Ethernet

 TCP / IP

 Profibus-FMS
 Factorylevel Requirements

min Mbyte

Automationlevel

sec kbyte

0.1 s byte

Fieldlevel

ms bit

Sampling Data
Plant equipment time quantity

On the automation level have a medium length up to a kilobyte and response times can
generally be up to a second. The automation network fulfils these requirements and
includes the following. [3] HMS, 2010: -

 Foundation Fieldbus

 Profibus

 Modbus

 LON (Local Operating Network)

On the lowest level which is associated with the actual sensors and actuators, the field
level, the short messages must be transmitted at high speeds. There are many different
types of field networks and dependent upon the application, more than one can be used.
Such networks can be. [3] HMS, 2010: -

 Foundation Fieldbus

 ASI (Actuator Sensor Interface)

 Profibus-DP and PA

 Seriplex

 DeviceNet
Sensor Networks
At the very lowest level of network functionality are the sensor networks. Generally,
sensors themselves are at the bottom of the industrial automation hierarchy and are
designed to be inexpensive, since quite often many sensors are required. Sensors provide
the basic data to the control system, such as the position of an object or a physical
property like temperature.

Sensor networks are designed to reduce the point to point wiring needed to connect the
limit switch, proximity switch, solenoid valve or photocell to the I/O interface. This can be
done in two ways:-

 Put a network driver inside the sensor or actuator itself

 Bring the I/O interface close to the sensor or actuator so that the connections are
very short.

The I/O interface usually terminates 4 -16 points and is connected to the PLC by the sensor
network that transmits digital data for all points.

Sensor networks work by actually detecting the status of the sensor and converting it to a 1
or 0 in a status word. The status word is then transmitted across the network to a
terminating device called a scanner that is usually in a remote I/O rack, a PLC or computer.
Each sensor network has its own method for mapping the sensor status to the I/O registers.
The distinguishing factor of sensor networks is that the sensor, actuator, and network node
does nothing more than converts the sensor or actuator state to or from the network status
word. No conditioning of the signal is provided.

Some sensor networks are wired in daisy chain or multi-drop topology to reduce the field
wiring as much as possible. Other sensor networks are wired in a star topology to reduce
the latency delays of sensing. Even still, other sensor networks are wired in a ring topology
for network reliability. [4] Topworx, 2010.

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN)

Much of the cost of installation of wired networks is for the wire itself. Installation of wire
in a plant environment is costly so the natural conclusion is to eliminate the wires by using
WSN and the natural topology is Mesh. The sensors of a mesh also serve as communication
hubs for devices that out of radio range to reach the gateway or host device. There are
also alternative paths between two devices which is some of the advantage of WSN.
Installation of WSN also has costs not associated with wire and fibre optics. The ability to
transmit and receive data over a radio link is not always going to work with the same
degree as a wired link. Factors such as atmospheric conditions can affect transmission or
wireless devices and issues with radio signals bouncing of steel equipment such that signals
reaching remote devices must journey through a longer distance than a direct path. This is
called a multipath signal and makes the signal taking the longer path arrive out of phase
with the direct signal resulting in a signal cancellation that is called “fade”. [5] Wikipedia,
2010.

Fieldbus Networks
Often it is necessary to measure the position of an object more precisely than present or
absent. PLC’s usually report such values as the output of the A / D converter that occupies
a register location.

Variables such as temperature, pressure, flow, level, current, voltage and pH are measured
by analog instruments. Analog is still used for such measurements because they represent
a scalar value, even when the underlying mechanism may be purely digital. Such
measurements result in a digital value that eventually will be converted to engineering
units. Devices that measure such variable are considerable more complex than simple
digital discrete points, and often require many parameters to perform the scaling and
filtering of the raw measurement. This leads to a requirement for the bidirectional
communications with these sensors. Fieldbus and Profibus-PA were designed for these
“smart sensors”. Additionally, many of the networks were originally designed for
communication of binary discrete sensor data can be adapted to transmit scalar sensors and
to scalar actuators.

A different network is required to transmit digital discrete sensor data from that required
to exchange parametric scalar data with smart analog sensors which is what Fieldbus
networks was created for. The term fieldbus is used when a programmed device
(microprocessor) is located at the network node, and the capacity exists to control its
execution by downloading programs and / or configuration data. Although programs can be
permanently stored in ROM, they can also be downloaded and stored for execution. The
data for signal processing and control is also downloaded from a host computer. Data sets
are then transferred to the host computer on demand, on schedule, or upon an exception
condition. Communications with a smart sensor are truly computer-to-computer data
exchange across an information network that is called a fieldbus.

While wired sensor networks deliver sensing power to the simple devices that they connect,
fieldbuses designed for connection of discrete I/O need more controlled power for the
microprocessors in the network nodes, as well as for sensing power. Many of these
locations in the process industries will also require intrinsic safety specifications, while
applications in discrete parts manufacturing, packaging, and assembly line control will
generally not require intrinsic safety designs.

Additionally, although a small number of sensors and actuators may be grouped together at
one location, most fieldbuses intended for manufacturing and assembly line control must
connect these devices along a machine or transfer line that can be quite long. The number
of I/O sensors and actuators for discrete part manufacturing, packaging and material
handling can often be very large, leading to the use of multiplexing nodes connecting many
I/O at one network location. [6] Industrial Networking and Open Control

Control Networks
Control level networks are intended to allow control systems to connect with each other, to
serve as the path for connection of fieldbuses to control systems, and for control systems to
connect to business systems. Because large amounts of data may be passed through these
networks and message lengths tend to be longer, data transmission rates tend to be faster
than with fieldbus networks. However, since they can be used to pass time-critical data
between controllers, control networks must also be deterministic and meet the time-
dependent (usually called real-time) needs of their intended applications.

If the same control network is used to exchange both real-time data between controllers
and business systems, there must be some way to prevent business information from
interfering with real-time deterministic response. Many complex protocols have been
constructed for this purpose, but most control networks rely only on the underlying nature
of the chosen network protocol. Usually determinism is achieved by preventing message
collisions, limiting the maximum message length, and using high speed. [7] Pinto, 2006.

Safety Buses
When safety interlocks, emergency stop buttons and high-level alarms were hardwired to
pumps, motors and other devices, it was thought that they would work all of the time.
However, when these switching devices are connected via a sensor network or a fieldbus,
there us no longer a guarantee that a change in switch status could activate the safety
condition if there was a network interruption or delay.

This then creates a requirement for a safety bus that must not only be deterministic, fast
and reliable, but also provide some affirmative action indicating failure of the safety bus
node to communicate. Only then can safety devices be used on devices on sensor networks
and fieldbuses.
Network topology
The network topology is logical and physical arrangement of the many participants that are
connected to one another in a network. Each one is different to one another and offers
network solution dependent upon its application. [8] About.com

Mesh topology:

Advantages Disadvantages

No traffic problem as there are dedicated The hardware is expansive as there is

links dedicated link for any two nodes

Robust as failure of one link does not affect There is mesh of wiring which can be
the entire system difficult to manage

Security as data travels along a dedicated Installation is complex as each node is

line connected to every node

Points to point links make fault

identification easy

Star Topology:

Advantages Disadvantages

Star topology is less expensive than a mesh More cabling is required in a star than in
topology other topologies (except mesh

Easy to install and make configurations Entire network collapse if central controller
 fails

Robust as failure of one link does not affect

the entire system. The remaining system
will be active

Tree Topology (extended star):

Advantages Disadvantages

Central hub (repeater) increases the More cabling is required in a tree than in
distance a signal can travel between devices other topologies (except mesh)

Entire network collapse if central Hub fails

Bus Topology:

Advantages Disadvantages

Requires less cabling compared to mesh, It's Difficult to add new devices
star and tree topologies

Easy to install Difficult reconfiguration and fault isolation

A fault in Backbone stops all transmission,

even between devices on the same side of
the problem because of noise generated by
 faulty point

Ring Topology:

Advantages Disadvantages

Relatively easy to install and reconfigure A fault in the ring can disable the entire
network. This weakness can be solved by
using a dual ring

Easy to add new node as only two

connections need changes
Design Justifications
This section of the networking section draws on the design considerations previously
discussed and justifies the plant design.

Selection criteria for communication systems

The communication of a device is an indicator for information to be exchanged between

two or more devices. Many more aspects need to be taken into consideration to describe
the performance and estimate the usability of a communication system. Availability and
exchangeability of the components are just an important factor as the technical and
functional aspects in selecting an appropriate communication system.

Physical properties such as transmission speeds will be considered as will the functional
aspects of noise immunity and exchangeability. Analysing the application range is
important where hazardous locations may dictate the type of system used. Price is of
course a key driver in the selection criteria as well as acceptance which current trends in
the market may aid choice and finally the state of standardisation is crucial for
exchangeability and extension to the proposed system in the future. The evaluation of
each selection criterion must be considered of how the single requirements may determine
the communication system to establish necessary properties: [ ]

 Uni- or bidirectional data exchange may be required

 High data rates may be required for processes with high dynamics

 Deterministic, short response times must be guaranteed in real-time process

control systems

 The network design should aim to leverage the size of data telegram length to
match the actual length of the message for optimum use

 Priority data transmission of varying importance of each message

 Error detection of the transmission medium should be reliable

 Data transmission over long distances or in hazardous environment

Plant design

Sensor and field and device bus networks

The sensor network will be employed to reduce the cost of wiring. If the I / O point were
not clustered so that the sensor wiring to the remote I / O is not short or if the speed
requirement is faster than the sensor network can support, then it would obviously make
sense not to use one.

For all of the very basic ON / OFF sensors a simple and cheap network should be used. The
data lengths are going to be very short but the response time will be very fast due to the
quick sampling.

The type of network chosen will very much depend on the makes of sensors used and what
it supports. But as the data is simple the considerations to choose from are small and
decisions made will made mainly based on cost, ease of installation and as previously
mentioned, the standardisation of what the sensor supports.

For all of the sensors used that are ‘smart’, a fieldbus network can be used to connect the
intelligent field devices to the controllers. The fieldbus network will reduce the cost of
wiring between the remote I / O and the controller and allow bidirectional communication.

http://www.topworx.com/networx/net_process.html
 Bus Network Overview: [9] Topworx

Ease of use Richness of Intrinsically Device cost Installed Operating

info. safe cost cost

Foundation
High High Yes High High Low
Fielbus

Profibus-PA Medium High Yes High High Low

Profibus-DP Medium Medium No Medium Medium Medium

DeviceNet Medium Medium No Medium Medium Medium

Modbus Medium Low No Medium Medium High

Wireless
Sensor
Medium Low No Medium Medium Medium
Network
(WSN)

AS-interface High Low No Low Low High

At the lowest level of the automation requirements, the sensor bus that I should choose
must be low cost for the connection to all of the simpler discrete devices. Using the Bus
Network Overview above, I have chosen to use the AS-interface method to network for the
discrete sensors.

For all of the variable speed drives and motor control centres, another level of complexity
must be considered. The most commonly used types include DeviceNet and Profibus-DP
and I have chosen to use DeviceNet in the instance as it is extensively used in factory
automation.
That leaves just all of the potential ‘smart’ sensors to have a correct bus type. The most
advanced fieldbus networks provide connectivity of the sophisticated process measuring
and control equipment. The major network buses in this field are Profibus-PA and
Foundation Fieldbus in which I shall choose the latter to be used due to is greater ease of
use.

Control network

Control level network are different from fieldbus networks and have a higher bandwidth
and do not need to deliver electrical power or be intrinsically safe. The use of a control
network is to link controllers to host systems and to each other. The current trend for
control networks is to use standard Ethernet and internet protocol and the major players
are Modpus/TCP, ControlNet, Profinet and Foundation Fieldbus HSE.

Control Networks supported by PLC suppliers:

Control Level Rockwell Siemens Schneider GE Fanuc

Network

ControlNet Y N N N

EtherNet / IP Y N Y N

Profibus-DP 3rd party Y Y Y

software

Modbus / TCP 3rd party 3rd party Y Y

software software

ControlNet and EtherNet will have the highest baud rates whilst Profibus and Modbus are
more flexible and can operate on more devices.

As the system is a new design I will hypothesise and suggest we are going to use an Allen
Bradley PLC system and therefore choose the ControlNet system.
References
[1] Wikipedia

WIKIPEDIA, 2010, Wide Area Networks [online]. Available:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_area_network [accessed 4th May 2010]

WIKIPEDIA, 2010, Wide Area Networks [online]. Available:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_area_network [accessed 4th May 2010]

[2] Kirrmann

Kirrmann. H., 2010. Industrial Automation, Automation Hierarchy, [online], 1.4, Available:
http://lamspeople.epfl.ch/kirrmann/Slides/AI_140_Hierarchy.ppt [accessed 4th May 2010]

[3] HMS

HMS Industrial Networks, 2003 – 2010, Industrial Fieldbus and Ethenet Technologies,
[Online], Available at: http://www.anybus.com/technologies/technologies.shtml [accessed
4th May 2010]

[4] Topworx

Topworx, 2010, Networx, Field Networking, [Online], Available at:

http://www.topworx.com/networx/net_process.html [accessed 4th May 2010]

[5] Wikipedia

WIKIPEDIA, 2010, Wide Area Networks [online]. Available:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_sensor_network [accessed 4th May 2010]

[6] Industrial Network and Open Control

Industrial Network and Open Control, 2010, Which fieldbus to go for?[online]. Available:
http://www.weighing-systems.com/TechnologyCentre/fieldbus1.html [accessed 4th May
2010]

[7] Pinto

Pinto. J., 2006, Industrial Ethernet for Networks, [online], Available:

http://www.automation.com/resources-tools/articles-white-papers/articles-by-jim-
pinto/industrial-ethernet-for-automation-networks [accessed 4th May 2010]
[8] About.com

Mitchell. B., unknown date, Network Topologies, [online], Available:

http://compnetworking.about.com/od/networkdesign/a/topologies.htm [accessed 4th May
2010]

[9] Topworx

Topworx, unknown date, Field Networking, [online], Available:

http://www.topworx.com/pdfs/catalog_pgs/networx/Networx_FN101.pdf [accessed 4th
May]