The consensus is that industrial Ethernet networks will eventually replace fieldbus systems. In terms of application development, the parallel between the historical evolution of the two types of network is striking. Industrial Ethernet (of which there are a good dozen variants) is currently mainly used to interconnect large equipment (PLCs, supervisors, remote I/O units, variable speed drives)... much like fieldbuses in their early days. Then fieldbuses were used to connect smaller and smaller devices, such as sensors. Industrial Ethernet is getting there, as evidenced by the announcement by Emerson Process Management an EtherNet/IP module (the industrial Ethernet offered in particular by Rockwell Automation) for its Coriolis Micro-Motion flowmeters. This module incorporates a web browser for access to configuration and diagnostic tools.
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