Industrial Communication Protocols

This chapter discusses a very relevant aspect in modern automation systems: the presence of industrial communication networks and their protocols. The introduction of Fieldbus systems has been associated with a change of paradigm to deploy distributed industrial automation systems, emphasizing device autonomy and decentralized decision making and control loops. The chapter presents the main wired and wireless industrial protocols used in industrial automation, manufacturing, and process control applications. In order to help readers to better understand the differences between industrial communication protocols and protocols used in general computer networking, the chapter also discusses the specific requirements of industrial applications. As the trend of future automation systems is to incorporate complex heterogeneous networks, consisting of (partially homogeneous) local and wide area as well as wired and wireless communication systems, the concept of virtual automation networks is presented