Taking Ethernet To The I/O

This issue of Automation World’s Industrial Ethernet Review takes us on a deep dive into the input/output (I/O) structure of the control system. It is here that various flavors of industrial Ethernet are finding a place where just a few years ago, only the brave few entered. Many of the Ethernet I/O solutions leverage commercial chips using new standards and technologies. A few networks add a networking chip to make extra sure that certain critical loops—motion control, for example—receive the packets of data over the network exactly when they need them. Just as in many new technologies, there were many people who just couldn’t see a cheap, commercial network as robust enough for real manufacturing work. But they have been proven wrong by engineers looking for a better way.