Unit 3:

Introduction to
Industrial
Networks
At one time, it was thought that industrial automation net-
works were different from the kinds of networks used for IT. In
fact, the earliest automation networks were not even consid-
ered as networks at all but as serial buses. The term fieldbus
stems from these thoughts. Naturally, each network was
designed to solve one problem, then extended to solve other,
perhaps related, problems. Since each supplier’s business
model was directed toward a slightly different business niche,
the resulting bus turned out to be different from any other.

As long as industrial automation networks were slow and

uncomplicated, no special components were required. For
example, EIA-232,1 EIA-422/423, and EIA-485 were often used
for the physical layers, supported by commodity semiconduc-
tors. Early protocols were simple enough to execute on 8-bit

1. Some people remember this as RS-232, but the standards organiza-

tions, Electronic Industries Association (EIA) and the Telecommuni-
cations Industry Association (TIA), prefer to designate it as EIA or
TIA-232.

9
10 Automation Network Selection: A Reference Manual, Third Edition

microprocessors such as the 8051, Z80, or 6809. When speeds

became higher and protocols became richer in functionality,
custom silicon became necessary to implement these networks.
Custom silicon is expensive to design (nonrecurring engineer-
ing, or NRE) and, because the volumes are small compared
with volumes in the IT market, expensive to manufacture.

The first approach to fix this problem was to standardize

industrial automation networks through standards committees
or the establishment of de facto standards by opening the spec-
ifications to multivendor committees. The theory was that if
many system suppliers used the same chip set, there would be
an economy of scale and a lower manufacturing cost. It just
didn’t work! There were too many chip sources and indepen-
dent chip designs. The not invented here (NIH) syndrome
prevailed.

The trend is clearly to shelve the idea that industrial automa-

tion networks are somehow different from IT networks. The
clear trend is to use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) compo-
nents and adapt them through software to industrial automa-
tion applications. Since Ethernet was the clear winner in the IT
market, it is no surprise that Ethernet is the basis for the newest
evolution of industrial automation networks—at least at the
high-performance end—which leaves the lowest-level net-
works used for connecting sensors and actuators with a differ-
ent solution. These networks are also migrating and
converging in both directions with commodity silicon as the
basis. Some low-level networks will most likely use scaled-
down versions of the higher-performance industrial automa-
tion networks, whereas others will use low-cost silicon devel-
oped for other markets.

Finally, it should be obvious by now that any discussion of

industrial automation networks must consider the software
 Unit 3: Introduction to Industrial Networks 11

used for the upper layer visible to the end user. All network
architectures are described by the International Standards
Organization (ISO) standard and Open Systems Interconnec-
tion (OSI) basic reference model: standard ISO/IEC 7498-
1:1994. This model is illustrated in Figure 3-1 and is divided
into seven parts. When we say network protocol, we are talking
about stuff in these layers. The end user only cares about the
connection to the physical layer (wires coming out the bottom,
or radio signals) and the features and functions made available
at the top. Yes, the protocol is important, but a lot less impor-
tant than the claims made by the network designers. However,
if the middle layers of two networks are different, they cannot
interoperate without a gateway device between them.

CLIENT USER SERVER USER

LAYER LAYER

OPC OPC
CLIENT SERVER

ISO/OSI 7
LAYERS
APPLICATION APPLICATION

PRESENTATION PRESENTATION
SESSION SESSION
TRANSPORT TRANSPORT
NETWORK NETWORK
DATA LINK DATA LINK
PHYSICAL PHYSICAL

DATA FLOW

Figure 3-1. Network Layers

12 Automation Network Selection: A Reference Manual, Third Edition

Notice that there are two layers above the ISO/OSI seven lay-
ers. The object linking and embedding for process control
(OPC) layer has the benefit of adapting the network layers to
the host system. Thus the client user layer only needs to be cre-
ated knowing that it will be used with a server running com-
patible OPC software. With OPC, the details of the network
layers are effectively hidden from view. It should also be noted
that there are other methods of isolating the network applica-
tion layer from the user layer software by using other network
technologies, incorporated in the user layer, that do not use
OPC. This is illustrated by the direct coupling of the user layer
to the top of the communications protocol stack. Usually this is
done to take advantage of the efficiency of the user layer con-
nections and to make data transfers more deterministic than
allowed by OPC.

Finally, in Figure 3-1, the network wiring is drawn with a little

box between the client and server. This box represents the
physical network as more than just wire and cable. Very often,
there are active switches and converters in these networks for a
variety of reasons that we will discuss later when each network
is described. The word cable is often used since it includes
metallic wiring and fiber optics. It also should include wireless
connections, but that would require the use of the oxymoron
wireless cable, an expression actually in use in the telecommuni-
cations market but not yet in industrial automation.

Next, we will introduce the generic types of networks used in

industrial automation.

3.1 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 system value chain and are designed
 Unit 3: Introduction to Industrial Networks 13

to be inexpensive since many sensors (and actuators as well)

are required for typical applications. Sensors provide basic
data to the control system, such as the presence of an object or a
physical property such as temperature. Their mechanisms vary
according to the desired accuracy and reliability.

The simplest sensor is the electromechanical limit switch used

to indicate that an object is present or not. For example, limit
switches often are used to detect boxes on a conveyor belt as
they pass a reading station. They are also used on control
valves to indicate when the valves are fully open or fully
closed. Limit switches must be powered (sometimes called
biased) to detect the open/closed switch position. When used
with a PLC, each limit switch typically requires two wires to
connect to the I/O terminations on a digital input card or ter-
mination module interface that is plugged into a slot on a mul-
tiplexer (most often called a remote I/O or block I/O unit). There
are also digital termination modules for networked I/O on
which the sensor wiring is connected. These digital values are
typically reported to the controller as a bit in an input register.

Other technologies used to detect position are photocells and

proximity detectors. Both of these technologies are somewhat
more expensive than limit switches, but provide no more infor-
mation than does the ON/OFF switch position. However, they
do not have moving parts and generally have a longer service
life. Photocells require a source of light in addition to the light-
sensitive detector. Proximity detectors may be magnetic, and
require no separate power source to detect iron or steel (mag-
netic) objects. When the object is composed of nonmagnetic
materials, such as paper, plastic, or aluminum, a power source
is used to generate an inductive field that will be modified by
the mass of the object and can be detected.
14 Automation Network Selection: A Reference Manual, Third Edition

Sensor networks are designed to reduce the point-to-point wir-

ing needed to connect the limit switch, proximity sensor, sole-
noid valve, or photocell to the I/O interface. This is done in
two ways: (1) put a network driver inside the sensor or actua-
tor itself, or (2) bring the I/O interface close to the sensor or
actuator so that the connections are very short. There are prod-
ucts on the market that do it both ways. The I/O interface usu-
ally terminates 4 to 16 I/O points and is connected to the PLC
or other type of controller by the sensor network that transmits
digital data for all points.

Sensor network I/O electrically detects the states of the sensor

and converts 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 a
computer. The scanner is responsible for assembling the status
words from each sensor network I/O node into a register in the
device. 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 do nothing more than convert the sensor or actuator state
to or from the network status word. No conditioning of the sig-
nal or any other calculation is provided.

Most sensor networks are designed to transmit bias power to

the sensors so that their present status can be sensed without a
separate source of power for each device. In most cases, there is
a module at the network I/O node that allows termination of
more than one I/O point to share the cost of the node. Typi-
cally, this is convenient since sensors are frequently clustered
together around a common piece of equipment.

Some sensor networks are wired in a daisy chain or multidrop

topology to reduce the field wiring as much as possible. Other
sensor networks are wired in a star topology to reduce the
 Unit 3: Introduction to Industrial Networks 15

latency delays of data transmission. Still other sensor networks

are wired in a ring topology for network reliability. Figure 3-2
illustrates these network topologies.

DAISY CHAIN MULTIDROP

RING STAR

Figure 3-2. Network Topologies

) )
) ) )
)
) ) )
)
) )

) )

) )
) )

)
)

) )
) ) )
)
) )

)
) ) )

) )
)

) ) )
)

) )
) )

) )
) )
) )

) ) ) ) )
) ) )
) )

MESH NETWORK

Figure 3-3. Mesh Network Topology

16 Automation Network Selection: A Reference Manual, Third Edition

3.1.1 Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN)

Much of the cost of installation of wired networks is for the
wire itself. Installation of wire in a plant/factory environment
is costly. The natural conclusion is to eliminate the wires by
using WSN. The natural topology of a WSN is the mesh, as
illustrated in Figure 3-3. Notice that the sensors of a mesh also
serve as communications hubs for devices that are out of radio
range to reach the gateway or host device. Also note that there
can be alternative paths between any two devices. These are
some of the advantages of WSN.

Installation of WSN also has costs not associated with wire and
fiber optics. The ability to transmit and receive data over a
radio (wireless) link is not always going to work with the same
degree of certainty as a wired link. Atmospheric conditions
such as rain, fog, or snow can dramatically affect transmission
of wireless signals. Another problem can be traced to the “can-
yons of steel,” a term that describes many process plants and
even factories. When radio signals bounce off steel equipment,
signals reaching remote devices must journey through a longer
distance than the 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
often called fade. Installation of WSN must account for mul-
tipath and the ability of signals to be received.

3.2 Fieldbus Networks

The original fieldbus was standardized by ISA as ANSI/ISA-
50.02 beginning in 1992, with the final specification published
in 1998. The process control version of this standard was used
as the basis of the H1 specification by the Fieldbus Foundation
(now called the FieldComm Group). On submission to the IEC
for international standards, there was a great deal of contro-
versy and debate, eventually leading to the adoption of seven
 Unit 3: Introduction to Industrial Networks 17

more network architecture options in their standard IEC 61158,

first published in 2000. This IEC standard defines the term field-
bus. In this book, the scope of fieldbus includes all industrial
networks that are designed for installation in the manufactur-
ing plant or shop floor and in which there is distributed and
programmable intelligence at each node of the network. There-
fore, this classification includes all of those networks previ-
ously classified as device buses.

Often, it is necessary to measure the position of an object more

precisely than present or absent. The most simple position
measurement device is a Linear Variable Differential Trans-
former (LVDT) or where rotary motion is used, a Rotary Vari-
able Differential Transformer (RVDT). These devices are
transformers, which, when biased with an AC current, mea-
sure motion accurately as a variable reluctance proportional to
position. The reluctance is then converted to a digital value to
be used by the controller. PLCs usually report such values as
the output of the analog-to-digital (A/D) converter that occu-
pies a register location. Other devices, such as synchros and
resolvers, are also used to measure location or rotary motion in
a similar manner. Optical encoders supply rotary position as a
digital signal based on an encoding wheel that rotates with the
shaft of the instrument.

Variables such as temperature, pressure, flow, level, current,

voltage, and pH are measured by analog instruments. The term
analog is still used for such measurements because they repre-
sent 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 variables are considerably more complex
than simple digital discrete points, and they often require
many parameters to perform the scaling and filtering of the
raw measurement. This leads to a requirement for bidirectional
18 Automation Network Selection: A Reference Manual, Third Edition

communications with these sensors. FOUNDATION™ Fieldbus

and PROFIBUS-PA were designed for these smart sensors.
Additionally, many of the networks originally designed for
communication of binary discrete sensor data can be adapted
to transmit scalar values from scalar sensors and to scalar
actuators.

Clearly, a different network is required to transmit digital dis-

crete sensor data from that required to exchange parametric
scalar data with smart analog sensors. It was for this task that
fieldbus networks were created. The term fieldbus is used when
a programmed device (microprocessor) is located at the net-
work 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 pro-
cessing and perhaps control (called configuration) is also down-
loaded from a host computer. Data sets are then transferred to
the host computer on demand, on schedule, or on an exception
condition. Communications with a smart sensor are truly a
computer-to-computer data exchange across an information
network that is called a fieldbus.

Smart sensor information is usually transferred in terms of a

set of data sampled at the same time, which is called an atomic
data set. Time coherency is important and cannot ever be
accomplished by successive queries. Time synchronization is
also important to dynamic control and cannot be achieved
without a synchronous network. Dynamic control such as the
PID (proportional, integral, derivative) algorithm used in pro-
cess control, positioning control, robotics, airframe positioning,
and motion control is based on atomic data sets sampled at
exact uniform time intervals.
 Unit 3: Introduction to Industrial Networks 19

Many of the sensors or transmitters used in process control

need electrical power for operation. This power previously was
delivered on 4–20 mA analog connections and now must be
delivered using the fieldbus network or another power source.
Often process control field instrumentation is installed in areas
having the potential for combustible gases or dusts. These
areas are classified as hazardous by the National Electric Code
(NEC), NFPA-70,2 Article 500. Even when field instrumenta-
tion is installed in explosion-proof or inert gas-purged enclo-
sures, electrical power carried on a fieldbus cable may present
a hazard if the cable is accidentally broken unless measures are
taken to limit the electrical power using intrinsic safety devices
called barriers. Intrinsic safety barriers installed on the fieldbus
cable limit current flow to prevent the generation of a spark
when there is sufficient energy to ignite a flammable gas,
vapor, or dust mixture. Some data transmission methods are
regarded as inherently safe, such as wireless, pneumatics, and
fiber-optic sensors when energized by LED sources, not lasers.
Because the fieldbuses intended for use in process control were
to replace the 4–20 mA that delivered the signal and power on
intrinsically safe two-wire instrument cable, they also needed
to operate with only two conductors on similar cable. Delivery
of power to field sensors with intrinsic safety is one of the most
difficult achievements of some fieldbuses.

While wired sensor networks deliver sensing power to the sim-

ple devices that they connect, fieldbuses designed for connec-
tion 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

2. National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA, USA,

http://www.nfpa.org.
20 Automation Network Selection: A Reference Manual, Third Edition

control will generally not require intrinsic safety designs.

Additionally, although a small number of sensors and actua-
tors 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 dis-
crete parts 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.

Use of wireless connections for process data acquisition and

control has already begun with some nonstandard and propri-
etary equipment. ISA100 Wireless (ANSI/ISA-100.11a-2011,
IEC 62734) is a standard designed for process control applica-
tions, and is currently installed at a number of user locations.
WirelessHART (Highway Addressable Remote Transducer,
IEC 62591) has been available since 2009 and is used in several
process monitoring applications.

Discrete parts manufacturing industry wireless sensor network

standards are of great interest and have been created, but have
only been used in proprietary networks as of 2015.

3.3 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 con-
nect 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.
 Unit 3: Introduction to Industrial Networks 21

Determinism in a network context is defined as: there is a spec-

ified worst-case delay between the sensing of a data item and its
delivery to the controlling device. Real time in this context is
defined as “sufficiently rapid to achieve the objectives of the
application,” and is measured as latency time. Determinism
and latency are separate but complementary requirements.
Both determinism and a specific latency are required to achieve
synchronization.

If the same control network is used to exchange both real-time

data between controllers and business information between
controllers and business systems, clearly 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 net-
works rely only on the underlying nature of the chosen net-
work protocol. Usually determinism is achieved by preventing
message collisions and limiting the maximum message length.
Low latency is achieved by using high-speed media and mini-
mizing the number of times a signal must be rebroadcast, such
as in a mesh network.

The benefit of using a standard network protocol such as

Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) over an
Ethernet network is a lower cost. By simply selecting standard
Ethernet cabling and using full-duplex Ethernet switches
instead of passive hubs, a control network built on this com-
modity technology can guarantee that there will be no network
collisions, making such networks deterministic. Using high
speed such as 100 or 1000 Mbps and the standard Ethernet
maximum packet length of 1,500 bytes achieves low latency
and means that other applications cannot “hog the wire,” pre-
venting time-critical data transfers. However, you still must do
the math! Remember that the definition of real time and deter-
minism requires that the network must make its bandwidth
22 Automation Network Selection: A Reference Manual, Third Edition

available for time-critical data transfers in less than the maxi-

mum time period allowed for the control system. For example,
if a business application were to transfer a maximum size
Ethernet message (1,500 bytes) at 100 Mbps, the network
would be blocked for a maximum time of about 150 µs. Nor-
mally this magnitude of delay is perfectly acceptable for both
process control and factory automation needs, but it may not
be acceptable for motion control or machine control.

It would be nice if control networks and fieldbus networks

could not be used for the same applications, but they can. It
would also be nice if control networks were always confined to
a business or control room environment, but increasingly they
are being extended to the field and shop floor. In some cases,
control networks are being used in applications normally
requiring a fieldbus. In fact, all of the control networks were
developed from one or more of the fieldbus networks and use
the same application layer and user layer protocols. Since con-
trol networks are related to fieldbuses, there will continue to be
a very loose dividing line between them.

Wireless control level networks are already in common use,

when the popular IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac standard (also
known as Wi-Fi and referred to as “wireless Ethernet”) is used.
Since most of the popular control level networks are based on
Ethernet, substitution of Wi-Fi for any or all segments is easy
and does not require any change in the application and user
layers. Often substitution of Wi-Fi for any control network seg-
ment is made by the user, and will usually work well, but may
not be supported by any of the standards for control level
networks.
 Unit 3: Introduction to Industrial Networks 23

3.4 Safety Buses

When safety interlocks,
E-Stop (emergency-stop) …safety buses must not only
buttons, and high-level be deterministic, fast
alarms were hardwired enough, and reliable enough,
to machinery, pumps, but they must also provide
motors, and other some affirmative action
devices, we were sure indicating a failure of the
that they would work all safety bus node to
of the time. However, communicate.
when these switching
devices are connected via a sensor network or a fieldbus, we
are no longer guaranteed that a change in switch status could
activate the safety condition if there was a network interruption or
delay. This creates a new requirement—safety buses must not
only be deterministic, fast enough, and reliable enough, but
they must also provide some affirmative action indicating a
failure of the safety bus node to communicate. Only then can
we use safety devices on sensor networks and fieldbuses.

Any sensor network or fieldbus can be used for safety detec-

tion, interlocking, and shutdown if it has a method to quickly
detect a failure of the network or of the node to which the
safety sensor or actuator is connected. Quickly, in this context,
is defined as fast enough for the safety function. Although
hardwired safety interlocks can be thought of as instantaneous,
some reasonable time delay between activation of the inter-
locking signal and the safety actuation device can be specified
for a safety bus. Any failure of the network or the safety nodes
should then cause an immediate actuation of the safety mecha-
nism to create a fail-safe condition. The fail-safe mechanism
must be at the actuation device, not a command sent via the
network.
24 Automation Network Selection: A Reference Manual, Third Edition

The safety bus function is often confused with high-reliability

networks that are achieved with redundant wiring paths and
often redundant network nodes. The word redundant in the
context of networking means that there are two or more routes
between any message sender and the intended recipient. There
are many ways to achieve network redundancy including dual
redundancy, bidirectional ring topology, resilient ring struc-
tures, and grid or mesh network architectures. All of these are
to be found in industrial automation networks, but high reliabil-
ity alone does not make a network suitable for safety. Likewise,
safety buses do not need to be highly reliable; they need only to
cause the desired trip (fail-safe) function rapidly if they fail.
When redundant networks are used for safety, they simply
make network failure an unlikely source of a safety trip.

Review Questions, Industrial Network Basics

1. What are the layers above the ISO/OSI seven-layer

communications stack?

2. What is the primary purpose of a sensor network?

3. What are the four topologies used for networks?

4. What makes a fieldbus network different from a sensor

network?

5. What is the primary difference between a fieldbus and

a control network?

6. What is the primary action of a safety bus?

3.5 User Layer Protocols

The top of the ISO/OSI seven-layer communications stack
illustrated in Figure 3-1 is called the application layer, which
serves to make all of the network services available to the
applications programmer. Additional layers above the applica-
 Unit 3: Introduction to Industrial Networks 25

tion layer are often called user layers that add functionality by
making network services most often needed by a class of user more
easily available. All popular fieldbuses and control networks
offer user layers for their intended users, but sensor networks
are so simple that user layers are not always provided or
required. User layers are termed this because they were not
named by the ISO in its design of the seven-layer OSI stack. In
fact, the user layer may itself be composed of several layers. A
typical industrial automation network will use two different
user layers for its own applications: one for the efficient cyclic
data acquisition and control data transfers, and another for the
information data transfers needed for operator display and
interaction. There are user layers constructed for some vertical
industrial applications as well.

3.5.1 Real-Time Data Acquisition and Control

Real-time data acquisition for control purposes will use a
deterministic network architecture such as Modbus, FOUNDA-
TION Fieldbus, PROFIBUS, or CIP (common to DeviceNet, Con-
trolNet, and Ethernet Industrial Protocol, or EtherNet/IP). In
most cases, these networks use the services of a corresponding
network application layer to access data from the underlying
network. Use of these real-time layers usually requires that the
software used for the application itself is highly aware of the
user layer on which it is depending.

Sensors and actuators used for discrete control terminate in a

multiplexer of a PLC or a remote I/O unit. The term multiplexer
is used generically to mean an electronic device to sense the
status or position of an input sensor or to change the state of an
actuator. The status of inputs and the state of outputs appear in
a multiplexer as a register or a word of 16 binary bits where
each bit represents an input or output (I/O) point. Process con-
trol likewise depends on data from sensors being multiplexed
26 Automation Network Selection: A Reference Manual, Third Edition

and sent by the network to process controllers and the result-

ing output values being sent to actuators. The role of the real-
time network is to transfer the status words to the PLC or sen-
sor data to the process controller rapidly enough for it to com-
plete its scan and control cycle and then to transfer the output
status words or values back to the remote I/O registers or pro-
cess actuators, all within a specified time period, typically
called the cycle time or scan time.

All of the sensor networks can meet the requirements of real-

time data acquisition and control that are consistent with the
timing of their networks and the number of I/O points that
they are expected to scan. This is typically measured in milli-
seconds. Very little can interfere with the operation of a sensor
network.

Fieldbuses can also meet the real-time requirements for data

acquisition and control as long as the definition of real time is
consistent with the timing of the control cycle and the network
timing, as well as the number of I/O points to be scanned.
However, fieldbuses must be configured so that the PLC or
process controller can regulate network access to ensure that
all scan and control cycles can be completed within the speci-
fied time period, typically measured in tens of milliseconds.
This is the requirement for deterministic data transfer that can-
not be met by uncontrolled networks such as those used for
information access.

All of the control networks can also meet the real-time require-
ments for data acquisition and control, but usually the timing
is much more relaxed than that of a fieldbus or a sensor net-
work, and is measured in seconds. The difference is usually in
the protocol of a fieldbus that has its time synchronization at
layer 2 (data link) of the network, as opposed to control net-
 Unit 3: Introduction to Industrial Networks 27

works that achieve timing at layers 3 and 4 (network and trans-

port layers) of the network.

3.5.2 OPC and Information Access

Many applications in industrial automation are highly generic
and intended to operate with a variety of automation systems.
Originally, authors of this type of application software were
required to create drivers for each of the automation systems to
which they would connect. OPC fixed that situation by estab-
lishing a common interface (OPC client) for any application
working with automation systems supplying an OPC server.
Communications would then occur only between the OPC cli-
ent supplied by the application supplier and the server sup-
plied by the automation supplier, freeing the software supplier
from the particularities of the automation system.

OPC was originally designed for operation on the Microsoft

Windows® operating system. It is founded on the Microsoft
Component Object Model (COM) and its network distributed
(Distributed Component Object Model or DCOM) equivalent.
Using COM, two applications running under Windows on the
same PC can pass data to each other as messages between
objects. The same applications may also pass messages to each
other when they are run on different PCs on the same network
using DCOM. COM is based on a common operating system
feature called remote procedure calls (RPC) that is implemented
in Microsoft Windows as its message-passing interface
between executing objects and is called object linking and embed-
ding (OLE). When the two objects are executing on different
computers, the Windows operating system uses the user-
defined network protocol to communicate. Microsoft supports
TCP/IP as the standard network protocol, but any protocol
defined in the Windows Network Connections may be used. If
the networked device is not running Windows, it must then
28 Automation Network Selection: A Reference Manual, Third Edition

support COM/DCOM or SOAP. (SOAP is originally an acro-

nym for Simple Object Access Protocol, but now it does not
mean anything. It is now an open XML-based standard sup-
ported by the World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C, a stan-
dards body responsible for Internet standards.) Microsoft and
many others support SOAP on many other operating systems,
including several used for embedded systems appropriate for
industrial automation devices. Note that using TCP/IP makes
such linkages nondeterministic if the Internet is used because
the way that TCP is defined makes message timing subject to
random delays of Internet routing. TCP/IP used only on a local
network is not subject to random delays, which makes it fully
deterministic. However, using TCP may result in an inefficient
use of network resources compared with other transport layer
protocols based on User Datagram Protocol/Internet Protocol
(UDP/IP).

The initial OPC protocol was called DA (Data Access), which

used very simple data structures. The data understood by DA
is a simple register, 16 bits long. The meaning of the bits is to be
defined by the end user during the application. Although DA
was sufficient for typical PLC applications, process control
functions required additional data structure for control loop
and instrumentation attributes or parameters. At first, OPC
created eXtensible Markup Language (XML) schemas for
defining these data structures as a layer to be implemented on
top of OPC/DA. Before OPC/XML could be widely used, it
was recognized that a stronger object attribute definition
method was needed. This was introduced as OPC/DX (Data
eXchange), again built as an additional layer operating above
OPC/XML. The purpose of OPC/DX is to allow the definition
of data independent of both the control system supplying the
server and the data management or presentation system sup-
plying the OPC/DX client.
 Unit 3: Introduction to Industrial Networks 29

OPC has now evolved to OPC/UA, or Unified Architecture.

For a complete description of OPC/UA, the reader is encour-
aged to read the information that can be obtained in a web
search for OPC/UA. These changes in OPC were made neces-
sary by the facts that support on platforms other than Win-
dows has become necessary, and that the original COM,
DCOM, and OLE roots have become obsolete on Windows-
based systems. OPC/UA is based on a series of open, IEC, and
Internet standards that support distributed object-oriented
data transfer such as SOAP and Electronic Device Description
Language (EDDL). While the mechanisms of OPC/UA are dif-
ferent from earlier versions, the objectives are the same: to pro-
vide a common interface between data sources and the users of
that data.

3.5.3 Microsoft .NET Architecture and Java

Microsoft has replaced its entire object modeling system and
many other aspects of its architecture with .NET (pronounced
dot-net) Framework. The intent of .NET is to establish a single
consistent program execution framework independent of pro-
gramming language. Microsoft calls this the common language
runtime (CLR) environment, which is a virtual machine.
Microsoft has standardized the .NET Framework specifications
through the European Computer Manufacturer’s Association
(ECMA), an open standards body specifically for computer
programming languages. This concept is almost the same as
Oracle’s (formerly created by Sun Microsystems) Java Virtual
Machine (JVM), but it was done 5 years later and has many
Windows advantages. Oracle’s JVM interprets original pro-
gram language statements compiled into bytecode, which are
the instructions to the JVM. The .NET platform is slightly dif-
ferent—original programming language statements must be
written to the .NET class library standards, and then are com-
piled into the target machine code, with most of the work done
30 Automation Network Selection: A Reference Manual, Third Edition

by the class library. Microsoft claims that .NET will run faster
on all targeted computers, but Oracle counters that Java runs
on any computer supporting the JVM. Microsoft has support
for the JVM machine in Windows. In fact, there will be almost
no observable differences between .NET and Java. The biggest
difference is that .NET supports a smooth migration path from
COM/DCOM to the .NET object communications. This means
that .NET supports OPC. Microsoft’s version of Java also sup-
ports OPC/UA.

The .NET object access method is called SOAP, which super-

sedes COM. The effect on OPC is to free it from the Microsoft
operating system constraint. The OPC/UA specification was
based on the use of .NET/SOAP.

3.5.4 Field Device Tool (FDT)

Most of the fieldbuses define attributes of devices used for
sensing and control. These attribute definitions are contained
in user layer specifications. Table 3-1 lists the names of the
specifications for the fieldbuses and some of their properties.

Table 3-1. Fieldbus Attribute Definitions

Attribute
Fieldbus Typical Use
Definitions
FOUNDATION Fieldbus, EDD (Electronic Process control loop and
PROFIBUS-PA, and Data Definition) instrumentation
HART attributes
DeviceNet, ControlNet, EDS (Electronic Defines the attributes of
and EtherNet/IP Data Sheet) the device

FDT was created to eliminate the need for the user to maintain
the different attribute definitions for HART, PROFIBUS-PA,
and FOUNDATION Fieldbus. FDT allows the field device sup-
plier to offer a single Device Type Manager (DTM) indepen-
 Unit 3: Introduction to Industrial Networks 31

dent of the fieldbus to be used for a project, whereas the host

device uses an FDT framework server.

Most process control suppliers seem to be supporting FDT,

especially those that also support PROFIBUS-PA. FDT does not
have this same level of support in the factory automation
world since few PLC suppliers have created FDT Framework
servers or DTMs for binary field devices. It seems that FDT and
OPC/DX are two very similar methods of solving the same
problems.

OPC states that it is a high-level protocol for standardizing

host to controller communications. FDT claims to be a high-
level protocol for standardizing field device to controller com-
munications. Both are built on Microsoft COM/DCOM and
use XML-encoded data frames (in OPC/DX, XML, and UA).
OPC states that it is intended for Ethernet-based automation
networks, whereas FDT is designed for fieldbus networks.
Clearly, as Ethernet-based control networks converge into the
domain of fieldbus, there will eventually be a conflict between
OPC and FDT/DTM.

Another potential conflict for FDT is the standardization of

EDDL by IEC 61804. The developers of FDT state that it was
specifically developed to resolve the engineering problem of
defining device attributes for smart devices. This is one of the
goals of EDDL as well as to provide real-time high-speed data
access to device data, which was not a goal for FDT.

The major advantage of FDT over both EDDL and OPC has
been to give the field device supplier the ability to construct
comprehensive visualization tools for detailed analysis of the
data contained in the field device, and especially for use in cali-
bration and diagnostics. These tools, using FDT, are indepen-
dent of the control system supplier.
32 Automation Network Selection: A Reference Manual, Third Edition

In 2007, the FDT Group joined the EDDL Cooperation Team

(ECT) with the purpose of working out the differences and
avoiding end user confusion over these two approaches. This
work has now been completed and is known as FDI (Field
Device Integration). The EDDL work has since become
ANSI/ISA-61804, while the FDT specifications have become
ANSI/ISA-62453. Many of the graphic capabilities pioneered
by FDT for display of local instrument data have now been
added to EDDL. The FDI specification is now under control by
the FieldComm Group but it has not yet been approved as a
standard.

3.6 Convergence and Downward Migration

The end user should not care about the underlying network
protocol for an automation network, but only about the diffi-
culty and cost of installing the automation system and the sup-
port of the network by the suppliers. Most of the work of
EDDL, FDT, and OPC has been to build a layer of abstraction
above the network protocol to make it transparent to the end
user and the system suppliers. However, the end user will still
be concerned with installation. Many of the more modern net-
work protocols are directed toward reducing the cost of instal-
lation by using commodity network components and wiring.

Eventually, proprietary networks will be fully displaced by

industrial networks conforming to international standards, or
at least industry-accepted “open” specifications. Most of the
differences between networks originally designed for factory
automation and those created for process control will begin to
disappear except for the highest levels of the user layer. For
example, there is practically no difference between the
installed cost of FOUNDATION Fieldbus HSE, EtherNet/IP, or
PROFINET, each of which uses standard, commercial, off-the-
 Unit 3: Introduction to Industrial Networks 33

shelf Ethernet wiring and components. However, their user

layers are quite different.

3.6.1 Wireless on the Shop Floor

3.6.1.1 Wi-Fi
The reduced cost of Ethernet-based networks is driving this
fast, low-level, and low-cost technology to the field or shop
floor. Another Ethernet side effect can be seen in the applica-
tion of wireless technology in the Wi-Fi group of wireless pro-
tocols. Wi-Fi is essentially wireless Ethernet. Any higher-level
application layer and user layer can communicate via Wi-Fi at
data rates up to about 1 Gbps, without knowledge of the fact
that it is on a radio link. Wi-Fi is the most common wireless
technology, however, it has significant problems for operation
in the electrically noisy environment of a process plant or the
shop floor in a manufacturing factory.

The popular Wi-Fi-a/b/g standards (IEEE 802.11a, b, and g)

can achieve a theoretical maximum of 54 Mbps using one of the
2.4 GHz channels. However, the Wi-Fi-n standard (IEEE
802.11n), which has a maximum (theoretical) rated specifica-
tion of 600 Mbps, is even more interesting. Wi-Fi-n allows the
bonding of up to four radio channels, including the channels in
the 5 GHz band to achieve its high speed. The feature of
Wi-Fi-n that is most appealing to industrial use is its adoption
of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology. MIMO
has the demonstrated potential to eliminate the adverse effects
of reflections that cause multipath distortion appearing as sig-
nal fade. MIMO achieves improved reception through detect-
ing the multipath signals and either eliminating them or phase-
shifting them to amplify the received signal. Experiments sug-
gest that using Wi-Fi-n can achieve excellent behavior in both
process plants and factories notorious for their “canyons of
steel,” the cause of poor performance of Wi-Fi-a/b/g.
34 Automation Network Selection: A Reference Manual, Third Edition

Of even greater interest is Wi-Fi-ac (IEEE 802.11ac). Both com-

mercial and industrial versions of Wi-Fi-ac devices are already
being sold widely. Like Wi-Fi-n, Wi-Fi-ac uses MIMO and
channel bonding to increase bandwidth, but exclusively in the
5 GHz band. Up to eight channels can be bonded to achieve the
theoretical speed of 1 Gbps. Up to 25 Wi-Fi channels are avail-
able in the 5 GHz band. Of course, use of wireless technology
brings problems of security and privacy to industrial networks,
which was never much of an issue with wired networks.

Wireless technology provides excellent solutions to the prob-

lem of the high cost of industrial wiring, and also provides an
ultimate barrier to electrical surges introduced to field equip-
ment through field wiring. The cost of these wireless advan-
tages is the difficulty of supplying power to field devices,
which were often powered by the same cable used to conduct
the data exchange between the field device and a host system.
As of mid-2015, several manufacturers were offering wireless
field devices conforming to standard specifications that were
designed for battery operation. Taking advantage of the low-
energy design of wireless devices, a whole new industry is
forming to scavenge power (also called energy harvesting) from
available light, vibration, and thermal differences. It is likely
that the potential cost reduction of avoiding wire/cable instal-
lation and maintenance will provide an expanding market for
wireless sensors in the future. Additionally, new applications
for industrial measurements and controls are being found for
wireless devices. These applications were often not economical
when they required wired connection.

3.6.1.2 ISA100 Wireless

ISA100 Wireless field instruments and signal converters for
HART instruments are commercially available. The ISA100
standards committee has developed a comprehensive standard
for industrial wireless communications. The first standard is
 Unit 3: Introduction to Industrial Networks 35

ANSI/ISA-100.11a-2011, Wireless Systems for Industrial Automa-

tion: Process Control and Related Applications, intended for pro-
cess data acquisition and limited control needs in the process
industries. The equivalent international standard is IEC 62734.
The standard is now supported by the Wireless Compliance
Institute (WCI), an operating affiliate of ISA, and is commer-
cially known as ISA100 Wireless.

ISA100 Wireless improves on the IEEE 802.15.4-2006 standard

by hopping among the 16 channels in the 2.4 GHz industrial,
scientific, and medical (ISM) band. ISA100 Wireless has
options to adapt its network for a wide variety of applications
including segmentation of the network and peer-to-peer mes-
saging. Each network segment may use a different hopping
pattern and its own allocated time slot duration. These choices
were made to allow large networks to be formed where seg-
ments may overlap. Field routers have also been defined to
reduce the number of hops required to reach the host device,
and to bridge geographically separated network segments.

ISA100 Wireless includes a very high security method3 for new

devices to join the network that depends on an asymmetric
encryption 256-bit join key, scheduled 128-bit encryption key
rotation, and a required identity in a white list. Mesh networks
are formed under direction of a network manager and always
include duocast messaging where all messages are transmitted
to two network neighbors at the same time providing a dual-
path redundancy. These features are designed to make ISA100
Wireless as reliable as wired networks.

ISA100 Wireless mesh networking allows devices at the edge

of the network to not route messages for other devices. This
can increase security by preventing unauthorized devices from

3. Elliptic curve PKI (public key infrastructure).

36 Automation Network Selection: A Reference Manual, Third Edition

accessing plant networks from outside the plant. It can also

reduce the cost of devices by making them simpler. Addition-
ally, ISA100 Wireless uses Internet-conforming IP addressing
to make data from field devices addressable remotely. The
transport layer implements secure end-to-end message deliv-
ery and confirmation and is based on the use of Internet-con-
forming User Datagram Protocol (UDP) messages, but avoids
the trial-and-error methods used by TCP.

The application layer of ISA100 Wireless is completely object-

oriented, in which data in field devices can be addressed using
IEC 61804 standard EDDL protocol. For networks not using
this standard, all messages may be encapsulated and tunneled
to the requesting host device.

3.6.1.3 WirelessHART
WirelessHART process field transmitters are being offered
commercially. In addition, a simple device to convert wired
HART transmitters and valve positioners to the WirelessHART
protocol is available. WirelessHART is specified by the IEC
62591 standard supported by the HART Communication Foun-
dation, now a part of the FieldComm Group.

WirelessHART uses the IEEE 802.15.4-2006 standard modified

to hop among the 15 universally available frequencies (chan-
nels) specified by that standard in the 2.4 GHz ISM band. The
slot time is constant for the entire network, usually 10 ms.
Transmission is encrypted using a 128-bit key to achieve a high
degree of security. Field devices are all part of a mesh network
(see Figure 3-3) with a secure method of building and repairing
the mesh defined by its proprietary link layer protocol. The
advantages of a mesh network are redundancy, increased total
distance, and removal of the line-of-sight restriction.
 Unit 3: Introduction to Industrial Networks 37

A simple proprietary transport layer protocol is defined to

ensure end-to-end message delivery and confirmation when
required. Like wired HART, data access is polled using HART
commands, including all maintenance functions of the Wire-
lessHART network. WirelessHART devices may also be set to
transmit data using a publishing method. WirelessHART
devices are provisioned (network setup) through a wired con-
nection, and they may join an active network only if provi-
sioned for that network.

WirelessHART was developed to provide a simple wireless

network for field instrumentation and to enable a wireless
method to access diagnostic data in HART instruments
installed in the past. It has been estimated that there are more
than 25 million of these HART instruments that can only pro-
vide their digital diagnostic data to a hand-held terminal, since
the control systems to which they are connected cannot access
that data over the connecting 4–20 mA wire. WirelessHART is
seen as an answer to this problem.

The fact that WirelessHART and ISA100 Wireless are

addressed to the same market has been noted by many users
and the IEC as well. They are technically similar but very dif-
ferent in detail, causing many users to request that they be
merged. The ISA100.12 subcommittee was formed to achieve
convergence between WirelessHART and ISA100 Wireless. At
the completion of their work in 2013, this committee could not
find a path to converge the two standards without obsoleting
products already designed and in-service. They noted that
gateways can be designed to connect both networks to a com-
mon host, when necessary; that the two networks can indepen-
dently operate in the same area using the collision recovery
methods of each network; and manufacturers were free to
design devices that can operate on either network by firmware
download or run-time selection. The FieldComm Group has
38 Automation Network Selection: A Reference Manual, Third Edition

defined their ROM specification to be used by gateways to link

to both ISA100 Wireless and WirelessHART.

3.6.1.4 ZigBee
ZigBee is an organization specifying additional higher-layer
protocols using the same standard, IEEE 802.15.4, as both
ISA100 Wireless and WirelessHART. It was designed to oper-
ate on the shop floor and to avoid interference with Wi-Fi. It is
also low cost, requires little power, and can transport Ethernet
messages. Although ZigBee may operate with a star topology
like Wi-Fi, it also allows operation in a mesh network topology
as previously illustrated in Figure 3-3.

While a number of industrial products have been designed to

use ZigBee, few have addressed the process control market.
Most ZigBee applications are for remote meter reading, build-
ing automation, and some remote control operations.

As of mid-2015, most wireless applications for factory automa-

tion are being designed using Wi-Fi in locations where wired
Ethernet has previously been used. There are few applications
for wireless factory (discrete) automation sensors. Honeywell
makes a line of wireless switches using their LimitlessTM brand
name, and based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, but does not
use either ZigBee or ISA100 Wireless technology.

Review Questions, Network Architecture

1. What are the uses for a user layer protocol?

2. Explain determinism. Why is it important for data

acquisition and control?

3. What is the purpose of OPC/DX?

 Unit 3: Introduction to Industrial Networks 39

4. Why is Microsoft .NET architecture more important for

control systems than Java JVM?

5. Field Device Tools are used for information access to

what level network?

6. How are WirelessHART and ISA100 Wireless different?