Common industrial network protocol – PROFIBUS

PROFIBUS is an acronym for Process Fieldbus. It is a standard protocol that can be used to connect sensors/transmitters, actuators, controllers, HMIs, VFDs, and more. The PROFIBUS protocol comes in two forms:

1. PROFIBUS DP (Decentralized Peripherals)
2. PROFIBUS PA (Process Automation)

PROFIBUS DP is among the most commonly used network protocols in the industry. It is an industrial network protocol that reduces the number of wires required to connect sensors and actuators by decentralizing the input and output (I/O) modules. We can have up to 32 devices in the PROFIBUS DP network per segment. The data transfer speed varies from 9.6 Mbps to 12 Mbps. The diagram above on the right shows a decentralized control system in which a PROFIBUS cable connects remote I/Os in the field to the PLC in the control room through an IM.

PROFIBUS PA is used to monitor process measuring devices through a control system. Here, the I/O module that’s used in PROFIBUS DP is no longer required, nor is any wiring between each sensor and I/O module. The sensors are connected in a linear form to a single PROFIBUS PA bus. The network of sensors and actuators are then connected to a PLC via a coupler and a single cable (PROFIBUS cable), as shown in the following diagram. The segment coupler converts the PROFIBUS PA signals into a PROFIBUS DP signal. The segment coupler is required because the PLC does not have a PROFIBUS PA port. It only has a PROFIBUS DP port. PROFIBUS PA has a fixed data transfer speed of 32 Kbps.

Common industrial network protocol – Modbus

Modbus is an open protocol that can be used by any manufacturer or vendor without restriction. It was originally designed in the mid-1970s by Modicon as a way to connect intelligent devices with PLCs using a simple master/slave concept. Various vendors now manufacture their PLCs and other industrial devices to support the Modbus protocol. Modbus can be referred to as the most commonly used industrial protocol.
Modbus Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) is the most commonly used type of Modbus protocol. It uses binary coding and CRC error checking, as well as a master and slave concept. A master device is a device that can request information from the slave, while a slave is a device that provides information to the master. A slave will only transmit information when it receives a command from the master to transmit. There can only be one master and up to a maximum of 247 slaves, each of which has a unique address called a unit ID. The PLC is the master and will communicate with the field devices and VFD (slaves), each of which has a unit ID. We can also have a SCADA/HMI as the master while the PLCs connected to the SCADA/HMI are regarded as the slaves. The physical communication medium of Modbus RTU is RS232, RS422, and RS485.
RS232 is used for point-to-point topology. It allows communication between two devices (master and slave) at a distance of less than 15 m.
RS485 and RS422 are used to connect more than two devices on the same line at a distance greater than 15 m, while RS485 is preferred for multiple devices connected over a long distance of about 1,200 m.

Modbus Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) uses the server-client architecture. We can have more than one device acting as the server and more than one device acting as the client, as shown in the following diagram. The clients and server are connected via a regular switch; the physical medium of communication is a regular Ethernet cable. Each device in a Modbus TCP/IP network will have a unique IP address instead of a unit ID.

Common industrial network protocol – HART

The Highway Addressable Remote Transducer (HART) protocol is the world standard protocol and provides data exchange between smart/intelligent field devices and a controller (PLC, DCS, and so on) or handheld communicator. We can control and monitor HART-enabled field devices (sensors, transmitters, and actuators) with the HART protocol. In HART communication, a digital signal is superimposed on the traditional 4-20mA analog signal, allowing the 4-20mA analog signal to co-exist with the digital signal on the same two-wire loop without distortion. Hence, two signals are transmitted simultaneously – that is, the 4-20mA signal and the digital signal. The 4-20mA analog signal represents the measured variable regarding the temperature, pressure, level, or flow while the digital signals carry other device details, such as the device’s health, status, diagnostics alerts, and more.

Common industrial network protocol – PROFINET

PROFINET is an industrial Ethernet protocol designed to exchange data between devices and controllers in industrial automation. It is the most well-adopted industrial Ethernet protocol. It can operate at a higher speed than PROFIBUS because it is Ethernet-based. PROFINET is now becoming a popular protocol that’s implemented in industries due to its high speed of operation (100 Mbps) and flexibility. The PROFINET protocol can be implemented using the point-to-point, bus, or star topology.

Some of the differences between PROFINET and PROFIBUS are as follows:

• A PROFINET cable is a four-core cable, though a standard Ethernet cable can be used. A PROFIBUS cable is usually purple and has two cores.
• PROFINET uses a standard RJ45 connector while PROFIBUS uses a PROFIBUS connector, which looks like a standard DB-9 serial connector.
• PROFINET can have unlimited devices, while each device in a PROFIBUS network has a unique address ranging from 1 to 127. Hence, 127 devices can be connected in a PROFIBUS network.
• The data transfer rate in PROFINET is 100 Mbps, while the maximum data transfer rate in PROFIBUS is 12 Mbps.