The Profibus Group is offering a free booklet that takes a fresh look at Industrial Ethernet and addresses some of the myths and facts about Profinet. The booklet, 'Profinet or The Story of Pretty Polly, Sweet Sue and the White Knight', is available on request in hardcopy or for download in PDF format by visiting the Profibus UK download page at www.uk.profibus.com where the link will be found towards the end of the page.
The tale is told in storybook form with three main characters that give a whimsical overview of the key differences and advantages of Profinet over other fieldbus protocols. The main characters are Pretty Polly the myth-spreading parrot, Sweet Sue (Standard Unmodified Ethernet) and Profinet, the White Knight of fieldbus networks that is optimised for industrial automation.
The booklet offers more than 40 pages of useful information written in simple straightforward language with humorous, colourful illustrations and keywords coded in blue that correspond with a glossary of commonly used terms.
The booklet explains why Profinet is 'the all-encompassing automation solution and the leading Industrial Ethernet standard'. It is claimed to be the only single-network system for factory and process automation, discrete and motion control, vertical and horizontal integration and safety. It includes plant-wide fieldbus communication, plant-to-office communication and equipment-to-equipment integration. Profinet can simultaneously handle standard TCP/IP transmissions and real-time and isochronous real-time transmissions at sub-millisecond speeds. Profinet embraces industry standards like Ethernet, TCP/IP, XML and OPC, and is supported by more than 1400 PI member companies worldwide.