Industrial Ethernet grows in global acceptance

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IBG - SA Instrumentation & Control Buyers' Guide

October 2004 News

Industrial Ethernet is fast becoming a worldwide standard - and South Africa has its Industrial Ethernet Forum with Malcolm Findlay (of Penmac), the newly appointed Chairman of IAONA South Africa.

IAONA is an international organisation that stands for:

* The independent platform organisation for industrial Ethernet.

* Standardisation and harmonisation of innovative technologies.

* The competence centre for information, publication and training.

IAONA was founded in 1999 at the SPS/IPC/Drives in Nuremberg as an alliance of (now more than) 130 leading international manufacturers and users of automation systems. It pursues the aim of establishing open communication standards in every industrial environment at an international level. Its purpose is to realise a general, interfaceless communication through all levels of an enterprise. This refers to all fields of plant automation, process automation, and building automation.

The task of IAONA is to commonly work out specifications and guidelines to be used in order to force the spread of Ethernet in the fields described above. Also the development of new, market-appropriate applications based on Ethernet shall be fostered through a regular and mutual exchange of information. IAONA expects the use of Ethernet to expand to all levels and fields of enterprises. Nevertheless in a first step, transitions from classical fieldbus technologies are to be created.

IAONA takes the view that a realisation of these aims can only succeed by applying the principle of the 'open source' model. That means a consequent spread out of all specifications over a broad public.

IAONA as a platform organisation

To guarantee the compatibility of different solutions as far as possible, IAONA in its new role as a neutral platform organisation for industrial Ethernet has the goal to extend existing commonalties in the different protocols and approaches for industrial Ethernet and to prevent further incompatibilities of the existing solutions. For this reason Open Device Vendor Association (ODVA), Modbus-IDA, EtherCAT Technology Group, Ethernet Powerlink Specification Group and Interests Group SERCOS Interface collaborate with IAONA. The six organisations have defined a common strategy for the further development of Ethernet based products for industrial automation. As a medium-term goal, for example, the topics of security aspects, cabling and wiring, use of IEEE 1588 and system aspects shall be worked on together.

For more information contact Malcolm Findlay, 011 476 2066, www.iaona.org

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