Introduction to Industrial Automation

Figure 8.1  Interconnection of various PLCs and remote I/O units through the Profibus network 

(Siemens).

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Industrial Networks of PLCs 

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In the field of industrial networks, a lot of related products have been developed over the years 

by European and US companies, and organizations of automation. For only indicating the range 

and the variety of the current industrial networks, the names of the most famous industrial net-

works existing in the market today are listed below:

AS-I

Hart

Interbus

Modbus

Profibus

CC-Link

LonWorks

CANbus

Industrial Ethernet

Device Net

SERCOS

EtherCAT

DIN MESSbus

P-NET

SDS

ControlNet

Foundation Fieldbus

DH+/DH-485

Profinet

EthernetIP

Ethernet Power Link

In addition to those, the networks LIN-bus and FlexRay are used mainly in motorcars, and the 

network Instabus is used in building automation. More details on the specific functionalities and 

characteristics of these networks can be found on the Internet in the form of online manuals, as well 

as from the corresponding manufacturers, thus these networks will not be further analyzed in detail.