Network models for the industrial intranet

Abstract

During the last half century, we have seen several innovations in industrial communication, from the introduction of 4–20mA signals, over digital fieldbuses to Industrial Ethernet and meshed Wireless Sensor Networks. These innovations met the demand for a higher degree of standardization, larger plants, and an increasing number of vertical applications inside the automation systems. With the Industrial Internet of Things, the number of communication nodes inside a plant will further increase, and seamless access to data will require an unprecedented degree of flexibility when it comes to configuring industrial IoT networks.