The trend to integrate mobile devices and driverless transport systems into the machine network makes wireless data communication essential, for example using WLAN. Therefore they can only be used in modern machine networks to a limited extent. However, these devices cannot meet the demands that arise from the growing communication needs of the constantly increasing number of network participants.įor example, unmanaged switches have no mechanisms for network diagnostics or reducing the data load. The reasons included their low price and easy startup. In the past, unmanaged switches usually served as the interface between the network participants in machine building. With the FL Switch 2000, FL WLAN 1100, FL mGuard und TC Cloud Client product families, communication specialist Phoenix Contact therefore provides the optimal solution for the special requirements of modern machine. This allows a uniform control philosophy and creates leeway for price negotiations. To answer the customers’ demand for devices that are easy to handle, it makes sense to source all the required network components from a single manufacturer. In machine building, the pressure to be competitive on the global market is high. Additionally, they allow encrypted – and thus secure – remote access to the machines.
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Security components are increasingly used to ensure safe integration of the machines into the production network. For example, to connect mobile end devices or transport systems to the automation network, wireless modules are used. To meet these demands, new device types are used in the machine networks, in addition to switches that connect the components and control the data transmission. He explained that because there’s different ways these protocols send the data out, then normal ethernet switches that don’t have the matching protocol in mind when set up, may impact the flow of the production data rather than allowing it to go through as the highest priority. So, if you just bought a switch off the shelf that did not cater for a certain protocol, then you would be blocking the efficiency of the protocol and cause the system to not operate very well,” said John Ortika, national manager, Phoenix Contact Australia. “PROFINET or Ethernet/IP protocols will have different requirements for how they might find errors and transmit information deterministically. For the machine builders, this means that they constantly have to plan and service larger networks that can be supplemented with new technologies.Īnd all of that has to stay manageable for both their and the customers’ employees. Technology trends such as cloud-based solutions, IT security, the use of smart devices or the possibility of secure remote maintenance also influence the network communication. If the user then additionally needs special protocols, such as PROFINET or EtherNet/IP, the devices used have to fulfill special requirements to safeguard reliable data exchange. Unauthorised devices that are connected or loops that are accidentally established can interfere with the production process. As a result, the risk of unwanted data traffic on the network also increases.
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In the past, the amount of Ethernet-capable components was still relatively limited, but thanks to the universal Ethernet communication, their number is continuously increasing. And that also holds true for the data exchange in machines and systems. Therefore, a uniform language and regulated communication are fundamental prerequisites for trouble-free information exchange between all participants. It is a fact that misunderstandings can easily cause errors with unforeseeable consequences. Reasons include many participants speaking at once, different languages or complex ways of expressing themselves. However, in the practice, it frequently happens that participants do not understand each other, or not correctly. Whether man or machine, one thing is certain: without communication, nothing works. As communication specialists, Phoenix Contact provides solutions that are not only comprehensive, but also easy to handle, secure and future ready. Seamless ethernet-based data exchange from field level to office applications is one of the central challenges that Industry 4.0 presents to future machine networks. Phoenix Contact’s national marketing manager, John Ortika, shares the company’s approach about their idea of future-oriented communication.