SIEMENS
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Siemens PM 21 · 2017
Communication
Industrial Ethernet
4
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Overview
Ethernet is the basic Internet technology for worldwide network-
ing. The many possibilities of intranet and Internet, which have
been available for office applications for a long time, are now
utilized for production automation with Industrial Ethernet.
Apart from the use of information technology, the deployment of
distributed automation systems is also on the increase. This en-
tails breaking up complex control tasks into smaller, manage-
able and drive-based control systems. This increases the de-
mand for communication and consequently a comprehensive
and powerful communication system.
Industrial Ethernet offers a powerful area and cell network
according to the IEEE 802.3 (ETHERNET) standard for industrial
applications.
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Benefits
Ethernet enables a very fast data transfer (10/100 Mbit/s,
1/10 Gbit/s) and at the same time has full-duplex capability. It
therefore provides an ideal basis for communication tasks in the
industrial field. With a share of over 90 %, Ethernet is the number
one network worldwide and offers important features which have
essential advantages:
•
Fast commissioning thanks to the simplest connection method
•
High availability since existing networks can be extended
without any adverse effects
•
Almost unlimited communication performance because
scalable performance is available through switching
technology and high data rates when required
•
Networking of different application areas such as office and
production areas
•
Company-wide communication based on WAN (Wide Area
Network) technology or the Internet
•
Investment protection due to continuous compatibility with
further developments
•
Wireless communication using Industrial Wireless LAN
In order to make Ethernet suitable for industrial applications,
considerable expansions with respect to functionality and
design are required:
•
Network components for use in harsh industrial environments
•
Fast assembly of the RJ45 connectors
•
Failure protection through redundancy
•
Expanded diagnostics and message concept
•
Use of future-oriented network components (e.g. switches)
SIMATIC NET offers corresponding network components and
products.
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Integration
Industrial Ethernet for SIMOTION
SIMOTION can be perfectly integrated into any Industrial Ether-
net communication architecture because each SIMOTION de-
vice offers at least one Ethernet interface as standard.
Industrial Ethernet is used in SIMOTION for data communica-
tion. Cyclic process communication with SINAMICS drives and
distributed I/O is implemented over PROFINET IO or
PROFIBUS DP and PROFIdrive.
PG/PC/HMI communication
•
Engineering and diagnostics with SIMOTION SCOUT
•
Connection of SIMATIC HMI Panels with Ethernet interface
using WinCC Basic/Comfort/Advanced
•
Open communication of, for example, vendor-specific
HMI tools over OPC server from SIMATIC NET
Standard communication
This uses the basic protocols UDP and TCP/IP, which are also
used with Ethernet. SIMOTION offers the corresponding system
functions for UDP and TCP/IP communication. This permits data
to be exchanged over TCP/IP and UDP communication
between:
•
Different SIMOTION devices
•
SIMOTION and SIMATIC S7 devices
•
SIMOTION devices and any other device which uses standard
TCP/IP or UDP communication. Such devices can be any kind
of PC with any kind of operating system or other
programmable controllers
IT communication
IT communication is performed using protocols which are based
on the basic TCP/IP protocol. The most important IT protocols
are:
•
HTTP/HTTPS: Hypertext Transfer Protocol
•
FTP: File Transfer Protocol
•
SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
•
SNMP: Simple Network Management Protocol
SIMOTION supports the HTTP/HTTPS and FTP protocols. In
addition, the following communication options are available for
SIMOTION:
•
Web pages in the SIMOTION device
A standard Internet browser can be used to access pre-
defined web pages with diagnostics information on the
SIMOTION device. Furthermore, user-defined web pages can
be stored in the SIMOTION device which contain information
defined by the user.
•
OPC XML-DA
SIMOTION offers an OPC XML-DA server integrated into the
device. This server supplies process data to SIMOTION.
Communication from any external device is performed with
the SOAP protocol (in accordance with the specification of the
OPC Foundation), which is integrated into the HTTP protocol.
•
OPC UA
With the further development of the OPC XML-DA standard to
OPC UA, SIMOTION is offering a runtime-integrated OPC UA
server. This server supplies process data to SIMOTION.
OPC UA permits standardized communication between
SIMOTION and any external device. TCP/IP with binary data
protocol according to the OPC Foundation's specification is
used.
© Siemens AG 2017