PROFINET

About: PROFINET is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 434 publications have been published within this topic receiving 3094 citations.

A performance analysis of EtherCAT and PROFINET IRT

Abstract: Ethernet is emerging as the preferred industrial communication platform upon which a multitude of protocols and solutions specially targeted at industrial communication requirements have been developed. This paper concentrates on a set of protocols popularly referred to as the Real-time Ethernet protocols and analyses two key technologies, namely PROFINET IRT and EtherCAT. The real-time performance characteristics of PROFINET IRT and EtherCAT is compared by looking into what factors affect their performance in a set of realistic scenarios. The goal is to provide a scientifically solid study on this subject where many presentations are seriously flawed by basic mistakes, misunderstandings or biased views. The detailed analysis presented here shows that EtherCAT has a performance advantage over PROFINET IRT and the reasons for this are discussed.

A water pumping control system with a programmable logic controller (PLC) and industrial wireless modules for industrial plants--an experimental setup.

Abstract: This paper describes a water pumping control system that is designed for production plants and implemented in an experimental setup in a laboratory. These plants contain harsh environments in which chemicals, vibrations or moving parts exist that could potentially damage the cabling or wires that are part of the control system. Furthermore, the data has to be transferred over paths that are accessible to the public. The control systems that it uses are a programmable logic controller (PLC) and industrial wireless local area network (IWLAN) technologies. It is implemented by a PLC, an communication processor (CP), two IWLAN modules, and a distributed input/output (I/O) module, as well as the water pump and sensors. Our system communication is based on an Industrial Ethernet and uses the standard Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol for parameterisation, configuration and diagnostics. The main function of the PLC is to send a digital signal to the water pump to turn it on or off, based on the tank level, using a pressure transmitter and inputs from limit switches that indicate the level of the water in the tank. This paper aims to provide a convenient solution in process plants where cabling is not possible. It also has lower installation and maintenance cost, provides reliable operation, and robust and flexible construction, suitable for industrial applications.

PROFINET - scalable factory communication for all applications

Abstract: PROFINET is the industrial Ethernet standard devised by PROFIBUS International (PI) for either modular machine and plant engineering or distributed IO. Using a plant-wide multi-vendor engineering for modular machines, commissioning time as well as costs are reduced. With distributed IO IO-controllers (e.g., PLCs) with their associated IO-devices may also be integrated into PROFINET solutions. Communication is a major part of PROFINET. Real-time communication for standard factory automation applications as well as extensions which enables motion control applications is covered in a common real-time protocol. The advantages of modular and multi-vendor engineering and distributed IO can be used even in applications with time-critical data transfer requirements.

Integration of a Wireless I/O Interface for PROFIBUS and PROFINET for Factory Automation

Abstract: Cost related to the wiring of sensors and actuators in the manufacturing industry is rapidly increasing with the number of field devices. Complex engineering as well as cable wear and tear are important factors. For over a decade, fieldbuses have been the dominating approach to simplify installation, reduce engineering efforts, and increase reliability at the field level. The next step in this process is to introduce wireless communication in certain problematic parts of the field network. In order to do this, a reliable real-time communication system, designed to cope with the harsh environments where factory automation systems are employed, is required. The wireless interface for sensors and actuators (WISA), with its two subconcepts WISA-power and WISA-com, is such a system. This paper discusses how the WISA concept can be efficiently integrated into wired field networks for factory automation-both state-of-the-art [process fieldbus decentral peripherals (PROFIBUS DP)] and new (PROFINET IO) networks. We propose amendments to WISA, which will improve the 802.11b/g coexistence and harmonize the integration of WISA for sensor/actuator communication in, e.g., PROFINET IO systems. The suggested improvements relate to both the radio protocol in order to improve coexistence with other wireless technologies as well as concepts for the integration of WISA into the field network of PROFINET/PROFIBUS.

Profinet IO IRT Message Scheduling With Temporal Constraints

Abstract: This paper presents an algorithm that allows one to create a static schedule of the Profinet IO IRT (Isochronous Real Time) communication, which is an industrial Ethernet protocol standardized in IEC 61158. This algorithm offers an alternative to the available commercial tool, providing comparable results with respect to the resulting schedule makespan. Furthermore, the problem is extended by useful temporal constraints (i.e., release dates, deadlines and end-to-end deadlines of the messages) providing a greater flexibility with respect to the individual messages. Due to this flexibility, it is possible to place the selected messages in various parts of the communication cycle (in order to increase the computational time available for the main-controller application, or to retransmit the synchronization message without holdup in the switch, or to add new messages into the original schedule). The solution is based on a formulation of the Profinet IO IRT scheduling problem in terms of the Resource Constrained Project Scheduling with Temporal Constraints.