ELON competition
Do either of these initiatives represent significant competition to ELON? Disclaimer- I am following the ELON discussion but do not have a position.
eet.com
Factory automation prepares for Ethernet era
By Charles J. Murray
EE Times
(03/16/00, 5:55 p.m. EST)
CHICAGO ? Two major automation vendors headed down separate paths to connectivity with the
ubiquitous Ethernet at the National Industrial Automation Show this week.
Backed by Rockwell Automation, the Open DeviceNet Vendors Association (ODVA) announced support
for EtherNet/IP, an open application layer that would allow devices such as motors, drives and sensors
to plug into an Ethernet network.
At the same time, engineers from Siemens Energy & Automation Inc. (Norcross, Ga.) said they plan
within the next two months to introduce a control device that would act as a link, or gateway, between
industrial buses like DeviceNet or Profibus, and Ethernet.
That measure, they said, would be temporary, lasting only a few years, until the industrial world settles
on a broadly accepted communication standard to lay atop Ethernet TCP/IP. Siemens, which developed
the Profibus network that competes directly with DeviceNet, is not expected to support EtherNet/IP.
After years of waiting for a winner to emerge in the industrial bus wars, users of factory automation
equipment now face the next vexing question: how to bring Ethernet to the factory floor. Broad
acceptance of a standard like EtherNet/IP would be a huge step forward in the battle to tie industrial
automation gear to both the front office and the Internet. |
