At the SPS 2024 event Nuremberg, Germany, ODVA announced two new updates for EtherNet/IP. The first announcement relates to the enhancement of CIP Safety on EtherNet/IP to allow for the use of concurrent connections for applications requiring high availability and functional safety. Concurrent connections allow for communication redundancy between multiple producing and consuming devices for the most critical automation processes. CIP Safety provides fail-safe communication between nodes such as safety I/O blocks, safety interlock switches, safety light curtains and safety controllers in both machine and process automation safety applications up to safety integrity level (SIL) 3 according to IEC 61508 standards. The use of concurrent connections with CIP Safety on EtherNet/IP allows for redundancy and functional safety to be integrated to ensure the best uptime and worker safety.
Concurrent connections are CIP connections that support fault tolerance via redundant devices and enable many CIP connection paths, which allows data to be sent multiple times over multiple paths between the producing and consuming devices, independent of how the devices are physically interconnected. Originators, routers and targets can all have multiple devices participating with the concurrent connection, allowing any of the duplicated device pairs to fulfill the role and the connection. This reduces the time needed to detect failures and eliminates time spent switching between paired devices. The redundant pair send and receive data continuously, so even if a failure is detected in one of the devices, the control process can continue uninterrupted.
“The availability of concurrent connections for CIP Safety on EtherNet/IP creates a whole new level of assurance that industrial networks will be both resilient and safe in the face of device failure or communication errors,” said Dr. Al Beydoun, president and executive director of ODVA.
The other ODVA announcement at SPS relates to new process device profiles for temperature sensors as part of the EtherNet/IP specification. Process device profiles help system integrators and end users efficiently commission new devices and more easily replace devices for optimized plant operations. Process device profiles provide standardization for process variables and diagnostics for smoother vendor interoperability and easier controller data integration from EtherNet/IP network-capable field devices.
Device profiles are available for Coriolis flow, electromagnetic flow, vortex flow, standard pressure, scaled pressure, and resistance temperature detector (RTD) and thermocouple temperature devices.
According to ODVA, the introduction of process device profiles for temperature, in addition to flow and pressure, supports more seamless integration for end users through a greater ecosystem of EtherNet/IP device interchangeability. The temperature device profile contains one instance of the process measurement value object to provide a temperature value and status. The device profile also contains several process device diagnostics instances to provide diagnostic information.
“The addition of new temperature process device profiles for EtherNet/IP provides end users with another valuable tool to enable more efficient device commissioning and replacement,” said Dr. Beydoun. “All EtherNet/IP process device profiles are aligned with the Process Automation Device Information Model (PA-DIM) and NAMUR NE 107 diagnostics. This allows for easier movement of data from the factory floor to the cloud for analysis and action and quicker identification of maintenance issues through standardization.”
