The second part of this SPE series in issue 5 already showed that seamless communication makes it easier or even possible to manage the tasks of various stakeholders involved in setting up or operating networks. This includes tasks from the areas of design and installation, network administration and programming, as well as the operation and optimization of applications.

Seamless communication is based on a consistent implementation of technologies across the layers of the ISO/OSI model from the physical layer to the application layer. In this respect, accompanying technologies must be considered when evaluating the benefits of SPE or Ethernet in general. The "technology stack", i.e. the combination of these technologies, unfolds great potential particularly when it is accepted by many market participants, which is usually the case as soon as the technologies it contains are standardized by consortia, user groups or associations or internationally standardized by the IEC. The following sections present technologies that are planned or expected to be used in addition to SPE. The respective benefits of the complementary technology are discussed and in turn assigned to the interest groups.

IEC/IEEE 60802, IEEE 802.1DG and IEEE 802.1DP

The transition from fieldbus systems to Ethernet technology, taking into account the IEC/IEEE 60802 profile for industrial networks, the IEEE 802.1DG profile for automotive, or the IEEE 802.1DP profile for aviation, offers significant advantages, especially for the interest group of network administrators. The exact nature of the physical transmission standard based on Ethernet technology, i.e. single-pair Ethernet, multi-pair Ethernet or fiber optic-based Ethernet, is of secondary importance, as all can be linked to the same set of IEEE 802.1 standards. Network administrators are responsible for maintaining network security, availability and transmission performance. For industrial networks, these tasks are made considerably easier by the implementation of Ethernet and compliance with the IEC/IEEE 60802 profile. This standard integrates specific mechanisms for quality assurance (QoS) and security, which are essential for the operation of modern industrial networks.

In an automated manufacturing operation that previously relied on traditional fieldbus systems, the network administrator often encounters challenges in terms of data transfer rates and the integration of new devices. By switching to SPE, the administrator can benefit from the enhanced features of the IEC/IEEE 60802 profile, including improved security protocols such as 802.1X for authentication and the ability to prioritize traffic through QoS. This ensures that critical control information is prioritized over less urgent traffic, increasing the efficiency and reliability of the installation. SPE's higher bandwidth and range compared to traditional fieldbuses also allows the administrator to efficiently manage a wider network with a greater number of end devices, increasing the scalability and flexibility of the system.

For all network-enabled devices, conformity to a profile requires the implementation of additional mechanisms and functions that were not previously defined for fieldbus environments. This can pose challenges, especially for devices with severe resource limitations. However, no conformance tests are currently available for any of the profiles. This means that the interoperability of current products is not guaranteed and, as a result, product development is effectively impossible.

OPC UA and UAFX

The combination of SPE with UAFX offers considerable advantages for all process-oriented personas. OPC UA and UAFX standardize horizontal and vertical communication and also define a uniform semantics of data, which is crucial for the tasks of application engineers in initial configuration, operators in process monitoring and data scientists in data analysis.

Figure 1: In the second part of this series, the advantages of SPE that arise for different roles based on the five characteristics from the spider web diagram were presented. Accordingly, the objectives of the standardization work can be linked to the interests of the various roles.

© Belden

In the process industry, for example, precise and timely data analysis is essential for optimizing production and detecting anomalies at an early stage. The switch to SPE enables reliable and fast transfer of large volumes of data directly from the production lines to analysis and forecasting systems. The integration of OPC UA and UAFX ensures standardized and interoperable data acquisition and transmission, enabling the data scientist to efficiently access a consistent and comprehensive database. This not only improves the quality and informative value of data analysis, but also facilitates the implementation of predictive maintenance strategies by analyzing machine data in quasi-real time to predict possible failures and initiate predictive maintenance measures. The high bandwidth and low latency of SPE, combined with the data consistency and security provided by OPC UA and UAFX, enables the data scientist to contribute more effectively to increasing plant efficiency and reducing downtime.

The current version of UAFX currently only includes controller-to-controller communication to connect controllers with each other regardless of the manufacturer. The integration of sensors and actuators into control processes via UAFX is the subject of a current standardization project, which means that implementation beyond the prototype status is not yet possible.

Open architectures

Namur, an international association of user companies representing the interests of the process industry in the field of automation technology, and the Open Process Automation Forum (OPAF), an international consortium of users and suppliers, aim to promote open, secure and interoperable systems in the process industry with their Namur Open Architecture (NOA) and O-PAS standards in order to create a more flexible and efficient production environment.

The use of the combination of SPE, known in the process industry as APL (Advanced Physical Layer), and OPC UA FX is seen as very suitable in this respect as it provides a robust, standardized communication infrastructure for automation technology. These technologies enable seamless integration of different devices and systems, improve data transparency and support advanced analytics and control functions. Namur also expects the increase in bandwidth to provide access to additional process and device status data, known as vitality data, in addition to the actual measured value. This data will then be standardized using the PA-DIM (Process Automation-Data Information Model) and made available to IT in the cloud.

With the help of artificial intelligence, processes can be optimized and the availability of the system can be increased through predictive maintenance, taking costs into account and thus increasing productivity. It is intended that a sensor will independently report deviations in its vital status - in the sense of an event-based implementation. The standardized information models enable manufacturer-independent and automated self-parameterization and configuration of the sensors, which in turn automatically provide their identification data. In order to meet the increasing challenges of data security, a secure data identity of the devices will be required in the future. Additional mechanisms for authentication and secure data transmission will also be used to meet future data security requirements.