Industrial Ethernet has rapidly become a reliable technology for communication within production plants and utility substations. Some of the reason for this rapid change is based on flexibility, open standard protocols and ease of troubleshooting and maintenance.
When most plants started with Ethernet, planning for future expansion was not always a priority. This made the subsequent integration of devices like IP Cameras, VoIP, fire detectors etc. problematic, because of the impact on the original IP structures and layout.
Ruggedcom says the solution is the use of intelligent switches and high-performance routers. These provide users with the versatility to cope with on-the-fly expansions, topology changes and IP layout upgrades.
Packet loss
Ruggedcom’s switch portfolio offers Zero Packet Loss Technology. When data cables are running in a high EMI (electro magnetic interference) environment incorporating devices such as VSDs (variable speed drives) and high-voltage and current in electrical cables, interference will likely deteriorate critical communication data streams. Zero Packet Loss Technology removes the concern in harsh industrial environments at temperatures up to 85°C.
Application note
H3iSquared was recently requested to assist a gold mine to replace all underground communication devices with more resilient hardware for higher temperatures, and vibration immunity. The upgrade had to integrate with the existing IT infrastructure and manage any change to the IP addresses of the underground PLCs with the minimum amount of downtime.
The company completed concept development in conjunction with the Ruggedcom head office in Toronto. The solution was implemented using the Ruggedcom Industrial Grade Router (RX1000) ROX, ROS (rugged operating system), routing, NAT (network address translation) and masquerading.
Expectations were surpassed when the recovery after the changes and implementation to the network allowed the PLC to regain communication well within the allocated time of only seconds.
Further investigation by the gold mine indicated the requirement for a network for each communication infrastructure, ie, PLC, Seismic, VoIP, IT etc. This led to the implementation of multiple VLANs (virtual local area networks).
VLANs
The purpose of a VLAN is to logically separate data into different sub-networks. Any network with a given IP range and netmask will have broadcast, unicast and multicast traffic. Unicast traffic is typically a one to one conversation, while multicast is used to communication from one to many devices. A broadcast is used to identify certain devices on a network and has the potential to disrupt all communication on that network if not configured correctly.
By creating an individual VLAN per communication infrastructure it was possible to minimise the amount of total broadcast traffic and enable a more resilient network allowing for better throughput and performance.
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