Fieldbus and Networking in Process Automation

4 Networks in Process Automation

4.1 Introduction

Over the last two decades, the processing speed of computers has increased many folds and, along with it, the associated networking technology has improved beyond comprehension. Initially, it was local networking with only educational institutions and large business conglomerates sharing information among themselves. The Internet came in handy to share data/ information globally in a reliable, secure, and fast manner. Industrial communication is all about transporting field information to the control room and controlling a process reliably and effectively. There are several network protocols that include both hardware and software to ensure robust, reliable, and sometimes real-time operations ...