Profibus and Profinet International (PI) has published a new white paper, Profinet - The Solution Platform for Process Automation, detailing the existing functions and capabilities of Profinet that already meet the demands of the process automation industry, and providing guidance as to specifications that are published, or under development, and could be implemented and utilised in future products.
Process-related systems are typically complex in structure, consisting of different sub-systems with numerous devices and differing topologies, manufacturers and technologies. Plant owners and operators urgently want this complexity to be harmonised and the data and information systems to be fully integrated and easier to handle with resulting improvements in operational reliability.
Profinet fully meets these demands:
The answer therefore to the question "Why Profinet?" is as follows: as an Industrial Ethernet standard, Profinet offers plant operators and owners of process automation-related plants a large step forward in terms of standardisation, integration, ease of use, security, and cost reduction.
Profibus & Profinet International (PI) is working intensively on a comprehensive system for process automation that includes existing and new PI technologies. The goal is the development of Profinet as the platform for process automation. A special working group was formed and carried out a study to compare the range of demands of the process industry on communication technology with the performance offered by Profinet. Based on this research, a gap analysis identified the needed developments of the technologies and specifications. Special emphasis was put on the explicit specification of all functions needed to ensure interoperability between products of different manufacturers. The results are discussed in the new white paper - Profinet - The Solution Platform for Process Automation.
The new white paper can be downloaded at the following link: Profinet - The Solution Platform for Process Automation.