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52014 • Q2 • IndustrIal networkIng

C O N T E N T S

successful ConnectionsControl and Data Systems Get More Powerful and Flexible Every Day. Don’t Let Bad Signal Hardware Degrade Performance

I/o Choices enhance FlexibilityThe Ability to Support Different Automation Platforms Answers Customer Needs

By sophIe hennIon, CoFely servICes

7 FIrst BIt Inner Wireless Needs TLC

8 paCkets ISASecure Cybersecurity

Certification Program Expands

11 Bus stop Fiber-Optics

Checklist

23 parIty CheCk Signal Conversion

24 BandwIdth Wireless Builds Ties That Bind

25 produCts

26 terMInator Efficiency–Is There an App for That?

Features

ColuMns & departMents

Cover story

17

INDUSTRIAL NETWORKING is published four times annually to select subscribers of CONTROL and CONTROL DESIGN magazines by PUTMAN MEDIA INC. (also publishers of CHEMICAL PROCESSING, FOOD PROCESSING, PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURING and PLANT SERVICES), 1501 E. Woodfield Road, Suite 400N, Schaumburg, IL. (Phone: 630/467-1300; Fax: 630/467-1124.) Address all correspondence to Editorial and Executive Offices, same address. ©Putman Media 2014. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or part without consent of the copyright owner. INDUSTRIAL NETWORKING assumes no responsibility for validity of claims in items reported. Single copies $15.

Bring your own device to workMany Employees Practice BYOD on the Job With Their Smartphones and

Tablets. Have Companies Found a Way to Let Them Do It Safely and Securely?

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t e r m i n a t o r


JIM MONTAGUeEXECUTIVE EDITOR

[email protected]

WIRElEss Can bE as

gOOD OR bETTER Than

haRD WIRIng, bUT Only

WITh a ThOROUgh

sITE assEssmEnT,

COmpREhEnsIVE

DEsIgn, CaREfUl

ImplEmEnTaTIOn,

COmplETE TEsTIng

anD OngOIng

maInTEnanCE.

F i r s t b i t

Once end users and integratOrs becOme convinced that wireless can substantially benefit their equipment and applications, they can get giddy. The savings in cabling, hardware, labor, maintenance and all the new signals and data can be downright intoxicating. recent converts to romance, religion or other ways of thinking are often similarly infatuated, but their euphoria can cause them to miss some crucial details and risk losing the blessings that love or wireless can give them. Or, as marvel comics’ sightless superhero, daredevil, once said when some villain knocked him for a loop, “From despair to overconfidence in one easy lesson.”

Well, i was reminded while researching this issue’s bandwidth column, “Wireless builds ties That bind,” that the most important detail about wireless is that it can be accomplished by multiple avenues and devices. However, because they’re invisible, wireless methods can appear to be a single concept, and this can obscure the importance of doing a site assessment for each facility and determining the appropriate wireless components for each application.

“Wireless is not one monolithic thing, so all the different types of wireless should not be lumped together and treated as one,” says carl Henning, deputy director of Pi north america (www.us.profinet.com), which supports the Profibus and Profinet communication protocols. “i see four main types of wireless used in industrial automation, each with its own capabilities, benefits and requirements.”

First, traditional long-distance radios bring data in from faraway sources, such as remote terminal units (rtus) at wellheads and deliver it to a central control facility. These radios tend to be proprietary, so users generally must employ the same brand at both ends.

second, process instrument networks implement wireless via WirelessHart and isa 100.a standards, and related suppliers specify their respective protocols and radios. Henning adds that the Hart communication Foundation (www.hartcomm.org) has been working with Pi and the Fieldbus Foundation (www.fieldbus.org) on their Wireless cooperation team for several years to ensure better interoperation.

Third, discrete sensors and actuators don’t

use much wireless yet. Henning reports that, while process instruments have slow cycle times (seconds or fractions thereof), discrete devices operate much faster (milliseconds). “Pi has worked with leading discrete vendors to develop a wireless standard for discrete sensors and actuators,” Henning adds. “The specification is complete, and the working group is developing a software base that will expedite adoption. coexistence with the other wireless technologies is assured.”

Fourth, wireless backbone is how Henning characterizes Wi-Fi and bluetooth when they’re implemented in conjunction with industrial ethernet. “any plain old ethernet should run just as well on wireless standards like 802.11a-n,” Henning says. “Of course, Profinet does this well.”

Likewise, bill conley, machine-to-machine applications manager at b&b electronics (www.bb-elec.com), agrees that users never will have just one wireless protocol because their applications will rely on different combinations of WirelessHart, Zigbee, isa 100, Wi-Fi proprietary radios, cellular and other communication methods. “The real pain point today is getting away from the mindset that wireless must emulate a former piece of wire,” conley says. “it can’t do it because wireless still has some latencies compared to hard wiring, even though those latencies are decreasing. so in applications that need fast data turnaround, those latencies still must be taken into account. similarly, Wi-Fi isn’t a full duplex radio that’s able to receive and transmit at the same time, so that limit has to be addressed. each application’s required data volume, speed, latency, security and other issues must be considered. For instance, is your it department going to let you bump into its wireless network, and if not, what cellular carrier are you going to use?”

so as the Lord High executioner sings in gilbert and sullivan’s Mikado, “Let the punishment fit the crime.” Or, in this case, let the wireless fit the application. i believe that wireless can be as good or better than hard wiring, but only with a thorough site assessment, comprehensive layout design, careful implementation, complete testing and ongoing maintenance. Of course, you were already doing all those things for your hard-wired systems, so doing it for wireless shouldn’t be an added strain, right?

Inner Wireless needs TlC

IN14Q2_07_FIRSTBIT.indd 7 4/23/14 12:06 PM

ISCI Expands Coverage of ISASecure Cybersecurity Certification Program

The hART CommuniCATion FoundATion (hCF, www.hARTComm.oRg) inTRoduCed hART-iP, which enables the hART protocol to run over any iP-based connection and deliver hART data at the speed of ethernet. it supports intelligent device management for smart process instrumentation. it simplifies system integration by eliminating manual data mapping. And it enables large-scale, plant-wide, wireless sensor applications, and allows tight integration of field instruments to enterprise asset management systems.

hART-iP connects to the plant networking infrastructure, enables enterprise-wide access to information, and provides fast access to measurement and device diagnostics. using their existing network infrastructure, industrial users now can integrate intelligent device measurement and diagnostic information with their productivity, planning, historian or other applications anywhere in the world.

According to the foundation, hART-iP simplifies the system connection configuration, provides all available device data, and eliminates mapping of registers. it also reduces the system integration burden by providing remote and plantwide internet access to device analytics and process measurements using the plant network infrastructure. Finally, it ties together intelligent hART devices, multiplexers and WirelesshART gateways into one plant-wide, intelligent device management solution that works with any size plant and all hART-enabled devices.

“An imS Research study from February 2013 reports use of industrial ethernet will almost double from 2011 to 2016,” says Ted masters, hFC president and Ceo. “hART-iP addresses this growing industry demand for accessing data over the ethernet.”

he added, “hART-iP offers the most straightforward way to access all the hART information available in a hART device. it allows the information from hART devices to be brought up to the enterprise level easily, without the need to go through any translation processes and with no loss of information.”

Siemens Industry Sector (www.siemens.com) and McAfee, a division of Intel Security (www.intelsecurity.com), are extending their partnership to enhance the security offerings for industrial customers to protect against rapidly evolving global cyber threats.

Real-Time Innovations (RTI, www.rti.com), a real-time Internet of Things communications platform company, became an initial member of the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC, (www.iiconsortium.org).

CC-Link Partner Assn, (CLPA) has put together the comprehensive Gateway to Asia (G2A) program of engineering and marketing services to help American device makers develop CC-Link-compatible products that will help increase sales in the fast growing Asian market. Information is at www.G2A.CCLinkAmerica.org.

Datalogging and networking hardware maker Moxa (www.moxa.com) was recognized with the Open Standards Champion award from the SunSpec Alliance, a trade consortium of distributed energy industry participants working together to pursue information standards to enable plug-and-play system interoperability.

PA C K E T S

Bits & Bytes

8 IndustrIal networkIng • Q2 • 2014

The iSA SeCuRiTy ComPliAnCe inSTiTuTe (iSCi) AnnounCed AvAilAbiliTy oF A SySTem-level cybersecurity certification for industrial automation and control systems (iACS) products. iSCi also announced Q2 2014 availability of an organizational certification that ensures that suppliers are following cybersecurity development and support lifecycle processes for iACS products.

The new product certification is the System Security Assurance (iSASecure SSA), which assesses the cybersecurity of off-the-shelf industrial control systems and certifies conformance to ieC 62443-3-3. According to the iSCi, the objective of this certification is to ensure cybersecurity robustness for off-the-shelf control systems and to certify that the systems are free from known vulnerabilities. The SSA program description and certification specifications are available for download in PdF format from the iSCi website at www.isasecure.org.

The new organizational certification is the Security development lifecycle Assurance (SdlA) certification, which ensures that a supplier’s product development organization has institutionalized cybersecurity into its product development and support lifecycle processes and follows them consistently on an ongoing basis. The objective of this certification is to ensure that cybersecurity is designed into iACS products from the beginning and is followed throughout all product development and support lifecycle phases.

iSASecure certifications are based upon international cybersecurity standards, including the ieC 62443 series, iSo 27001 and other relevant industry consensus standards.

more information about the certifications is available at www.isasecure.org.

HART Foundation Introduces HART-IP

IN14Q2_08_10_PACKETS.indd 8 4/23/14 12:53 PM

AT&T, CisCo, GE, iBM And inTEl AnnounCEd ThE forMATion of the industrial internet Consortium (iiC, www.iiconsortium.org), an open-membership group focused on breaking down the barriers of technology silos to support better access to big data with improved integration of the physical and digital worlds. The companies say the consortium will enable organizations to more easily connect and optimize assets, operations and data to drive agility and unlock business value across all industrial sectors.

The iiC is a newly formed, not-for-profit group with an open membership that will take the lead in establishing interoperability across various industrial environments. The iiC’s charter will be to encourage innovation by:

• Using existing—and creating new—industry use cases and test beds for real-world applications;

• Delivering best practices, reference architectures, case studies and standards requirements to ease deployment of connected technologies;

• Influencing the global standards development process for Internet and industrial systems;

• Facilitating open forums to share and exchange real-world ideas, practices, lessons and insights;

• Building confidence around new and innovative approaches to security.

As founding members, AT&T, Cisco, GE, iBM and intel each will hold permanent seats on an elected iiC steering committee along with four other elected members.

“ninety-nine percent of everything is still unconnected,” said Guido Jouret, vice president of internet of Things Business Group for Cisco (www.cisco.com). “As the world looks to connect more things over the Internet, it’s creating the next industrial revolution. Cisco is collaborating with industry-leading companies to break through the barriers of connecting things in industrial environments safely and securely, and paving the way for the internet of Things.”

The iiC is open to any business, organization or entity with an interest in accelerating the industrial internet. in addition to gaining an immediate, visible platform for their opinions, consortium members will join in developing critical relationships with leaders in technology, manufacturing, academia and the government on working committees. The iiC will be managed by object Management Group (www.omg.org), a nonprofit trade association in Boston.

Tech Leaders Form Industrial Internet Consortium


The Fieldbus FoundaTion (FF, www.Fieldbus.org) announced that Fdi Cooperation llC’s (www.fdi-cooperation.com ) field device integration (Fdi) specification and Fdi developer toolkits are available to beta test participants, enabling additional automation suppliers to prepare for developing products and host systems compatible with Fdi. in november 2013, the specification and developer toolkits were released to selected companies, but now all Fieldbus Foundation member companies licensed to use Foundation developer toolkits are eligible to participate. Final Fdi developer tools are scheduled to be released in Q3 2014.

Coinciding with the naMur annual meeting in november 2013, the Fdi specification and the latest electronic device description language (eddl) specifications were handed over to the international electrotechnical Commission (ieC) for the next important phase—the committee draft for vote—in the international standardization process. Fdi will be included in the emerging standard ieC 62769.

at the core of the specification is the Fdi device package that includes everything a host system needs to integrate an intelligent device. a single Fdi device package that can scale according to the complexities and

requirements of each device represents individual instruments.each Fdi device package contains a mandatory electronic

device description (edd), providing parameter definitions, structure for the parameters for context-specific views and automated work processes for device procedures such as calibration. Fdi device packages may also incorporate user interface plug-ins, software components that support advanced device setup and diagnostic functions. also, product manuals, documentation, images, electronic certifications and other attachments may be delivered in the Fdi device package.

The Fdi specification will be available for download at www.fdi-cooperation.com.

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What data rate and medium do you primarily use?

10 Mbps with Cat5 Copper 7%

100 Mbps with Cat6 Copper 60%

Gigabit with Cat5/6 Copper 12%

10 Mbps with Fiber Optics 1%

100 Mbps with Fiber Optics 12%

Gigabit with Fiber Optics 5%

In a July 2013 survey, Control Design readers identified the bandwidth and physical media they use for Industrial Ethernet.



t e r m i n a t o r

John [email protected]

Where I lIve there’s no cable, as In coaxial cable for cable television or broadband Internet access. so the local phone company blasts Internet connectivity to my home using some pretty dicey, direct-burial, copper UtP (unshielded twisted pair) phone cables. You’ve heard of Dsl, or digital subscriber line, through which the phone company can deliver bandwidth well into the 10 megabaud range over a few miles of ordinary UtP analog phone lines. newer technologies are being deployed to use similarly questionable copper conductors—your home power wiring, for example—to carry high-bandwidth, digital signals such as ethernet.

For any network, the designer needs to ponder a few fundamental questions: how far? how fast? how many concurrent users/messages/signals? how critical are the communications?

consider the latter. how critical is it that messages get delivered in a timely manner? In industrial networks, many architectures lack distributed control and rely on a centralized controller or logic solver to ensure the factory remains productive or that the wind farm stays in sync. ordinary feedback control relies on sampling rates that are six to 10 times faster than the dominant (analog) time constant, but also are deterministic; that is, the sampled data needs to be transmitted at a constant frequency (sampling interval) with minimal latency. While even 10-Mb ethernet is likely to be many times faster than needed for most feedback control (PID, for example), we need to consider the worst case when perhaps an alarm flood, network malfunction or maintenance activity inadvertently might consume much of the bandwidth.

The other shoe of criticality is the reliability of the physical layer. redundant networks have become commonplace, and some manner of geographic diversity (redundant media following separate paths) is a good idea. but many—perhaps the majority—of devices have copper/cat 5 network interface cards. Therefore, we need fiber-to-copper media converters, and these also need to be redundant. We might be compelled to use UPs power for the same.

even though it’s slightly more complicated, fiber easily wins the bandwidth battle, and that bandwidth itself could be considered more-

reliable. copper media is arguably more vulnerable to stretching and kinking. terminations such as rJ45 jacks can be a challenge to install reliably. Fiber is totally non-incendive and is unaffected by radio or electromagnetic interference and crosstalk. If copper switches degrade to 10 Mb due to cable issues, we might not detect it. and it’s also well-known that copper cat5 UtP isn’t rated to operate at distances of more than 100 meters, even with a clean installation.

how far you can go with fiber is tied to “how fast.” our brethren in the telecommunications industry run almost exclusively single-mode fiber—a more expensive, finer and more precisely manufactured media that can go 200 km and maintain data rates of many gigabits per second without repeaters or amplification. For most of the distances we encounter in industrial networks, multimode fiber is more than adequate.

how far and fast you can go with multimode depends on your media converters (whether external or part of a switch). some media converters use leDs to transmit the signal, but converters that use semiconductor lasers not only can transmit farther, but also have higher bandwidth capability. since these optical transmitters need to traverse the same distance each way, you need the same species for both ends. I’ve mixed and matched some different vendors’ modems for experiments and low priority/low bandwidth networks, but it’s also advisable to use uniform network hardware (same species/same vendor) for the most critical parts of the network.

You can find cat 5 cable and connectors at the local hardware or builder’s supply, but you won’t find fiber-optic cable or termination kits there. There’s a reason for that: reliable and optimum bandwidth fiber terminations require some specialized skills and an investment in tools and testers. There are some new products that have some promise to make fiber terminations more accessible to novices, but we’ve used these with mixed success. For the relatively low cost of bringing in someone who terminates fiber for a living—the phone man, for example—it’s a good investment.

For comprehensive guidance and checklists for fiber usage and installations, users can consult the Fiber optics association online at foa.org.

Fiber-Optics ChecklistB U S S t o P

FOr any netwOrk,

the designer needs

tO pOnder a Few

Fundamental

questiOns: hOw Far?

hOw Fast? hOw many

COnCurrent users/

messages/signals?

hOw CritiCal are the

COmmuniCatiOns?

IN14Q2_11_BUSSTOP.indd 11 4/23/14 11:01 AM

Bring it

Many Employees Practice BYOD on the

Job With Their Smartphones and Tablets.

Have Companies Found a Way to Let Them

Do It Safely and Securely?

Dan Hebert, Pe, Senior tecHnical eDitor

IN14Q2_12_16_COVERSTORY.indd 12 4/23/14 12:33 PM


What if your company told you that you no longer were allowed to make business-related calls from your smartphone, but

instead had to use a company-issued phone so that all communications could be closely monitored and controlled? How would that sit?

Consider that in the near future, employees of industrial firms might feel the same way about being denied access from their smartphones and tablets to enterprise and operating information that’s readily accessible from their work computers.

Besides meeting employee expectations, there are many other benefits to bring[ing] your own device (BYOD).

Security iSSueSBefore discussing BYOD benefits, let’s look at the security challenges to integrate BYOD into the enterprise, as they are the main impediment to widespread adoption.

BYOD is an area where IT must interface with many other departments within a company to ensure proper implementation of security policies. “Our view of BYOD is not focused on mobile device management, but rather on mobile application management (MAM),” says Paul Stamas, CIO and vice president of information technology at paper manufacturer Mohawk (www.mohawkconnects.com). “MAM describes software and services responsible for provisioning and controlling access to internally developed and commercially available applications used in business settings on both company-provided devices and BYODs.” (For more on how Mohawk uses BYOD, see the sidebar “Mohawk Buys into BYOD.”)

“BYOD and security aren’t necessarily at odds,” says Richard Clark, security engineer at Indusoft (www.indusoft.com). “Most BYOD concerns are centered on the security of the device, but the real issue is where and how such devices will be allowed.

“I bring my own OSX Apple MacBook Pro notebook to work. The issue is not so much whether to allow it on the network, but how to handle it when it is.”

Clark says the MacBook Pro is virtually transparent on the network, but has several client applications, some running Windows operating systems, that are authenticated as individual machines on the network. This, he adds, is the security model that must be used when accepting any other device within an area or location.

“Security needs to be managed in some of the same ways all other corporate network access is managed,” says Ben Orchard, Opto 22’s (www.opto22.com) applications engineer. “First decide who gets access to what. Then look at three levels of security: secure the device, secure the network and secure the application.”

Securing the device with a PIN, swipe pattern or other method is fairly simple. To secure the network, Orchard says, use IT best practices for keeping data safe and allow only authorized users. “Segment your control network and critical equipment,” he advises. “If the user is required to access the plant or process after hours, then use a VPN.”

Next, secure the device’s remote access application, which will either be a browser or an app. “The application itself should be

password protected, first to open and then for levels of access,” Orchard says. “A worker’s username should allow only him or her access to pertinent parts reflecting work requirements. Perhaps some users need to monitor equipment, but not control it; their screens would not have any buttons or input methods. The application should adjust to higher levels of username/password, and allow control only to those who require it.”

Clark notes that smartphone problems are just beginning and could become similar to current issues with company-issued laptops, which are often unknowingly infected at home, then brought back to work where they spread the virus. “Most recently this issue has spread to mobile, iPad and smartphone devicess. While these devices currently can’t carry an infection capable of spreading within a normal corporate authenticated environment, it’s clear that at some point they might be able to.”

He suggests tighter security measures. “Device authentication can provide information about what it is and where it is—and presumably where the user is,” he suggests. “Using other proximity authentication, such as Bluetooth and bar-code readers, will allow location authentication of users and devices within proximity to allowed areas or machinery. Once the person leaves the area,

SmartphoneS monitor and control

Michael Hake is facilities technician at an electronics manufacturer in Bohemia, N.Y. His company uses Opto 22’s groov and four Android and two Apple smartphones to monitor and control its facilities.

Hake says it was “very plug and play.” He then built operator interfaces in groov, created user and group accounts, and assigned access permissions and operator rights to employees based on job, department and other criteria. “I’m using Opto22 PACs with PAC Display and Opto22 EMU energy management components that interface with groov,” he says. These components connect via Ethernet and OPC, and groov connects to the smartphones via a secure wireless VPN. With this setup, Hake can access information from air conditioning systems, oil burners, air compressors, vacuum pumps, hot water heaters and manufacturing equipment. He can also monitor energy consumption, temperature and humidity in two buildings.

Using a smartphone, he can monitor and control equipment. “We control various parameters,” he says. “We can schedule overrides, turn air compressors and vacuum pumps on and off, change temperature setpoints for cooling, adjust temperatures for oil burners and override outside lights.”

The smartphones don’t replace the existing Windows PC-based operator interfaces. Explains Hake, “Groov augments those HMIs; it doesn’t replace them.” He says it makes essential information and control capabilities immediately available, while the HMIs provide information that’s valuable for analysis and diagnostics.


14 INDUSTRIAL NETWORKING • Q2 • 2014

the content for that area no longer will be available. Another advantage of knowing where devices and users are located is that intelligent alarming can occur, which will direct alarms to the nearest appropriate people.”

MONITORING VERSUS CONTROLNot many people oppose BYOD for monitoring production processes, but there are myriad concerns when it comes to using personal devices to make changes to an operating facility.

One end user, requesting anonymity, at a major Midwest refi ner says, “I don’t see our company or any other oil company off ering control from a personal device. If something bad ever happened we would get pilloried. We’re downright paranoid about external connections to the control system to the point where even serial Modbus connections get closely scrutinized. I personally consider this a good thing. Let the companies that don’t make stuff that burns and explodes fi gure it all out before we wade in.” Monitoring via a personal device is OK, he adds.

Diane Trentini, vice president at Optimation Technology (www.optimation.us), a system integrator in Rush, N.Y., hasn’t seen any demand for control using personal devices. “We’ve had small projects in which process or production information such as status updates and alarms are sent to a personal mobile device,” he says. “� ere are also Web-based displays of process data that can be accessed by a personal mobile device. But to date, we’ve not implemented mission-critical controls on personal devices.”

Lou Bertha, an engineer at RDI Controls (www.rdicontrols.com), a system integrator in Lower Burrell, Pa., believes BYOD for control is OK if used judiciously. “� ere are advantages to being able to access plant information via employees’ personal devices,” he says. “A smartphone or tablet can be great for troubleshooting, remote diagnostics or monitoring a system while away from the control room, etc. � is type of remote access could be set up on a personal device without any issues.”

But for control, care must taken. “Depending on the process, the ability to modify critical processes might or might not be

MOHAWK BUYS INTO BYODMohawk Paper (www.mohawkconnects.com) in Cohoes, N.Y., has a history of adapting to new ideas and technologies. Mohawk was the fi rst U.S. paper mill to match 100% of its electricity with renewable wind power and the fi rst U.S.

premium paper mill to shift toward carbon-neutral production. So BYOD is not an unexpected step for them.

Paul Stamas, vice president of information technology at Mohawk, says, “Mohawk hasn’t adopted a corporate BYOD solution for general mobile computing, but we’ve implemented a targeted BYOD solution to monitor and control company processes and operations remotely. Our view of BYOD seeks to ensure that a specifi c enterprise footprint is provided on a personally owned or a company-provided device, with either limited to certain applications and data. In our case, that’s manufacturing applications and data.”

Mohawk implemented a BYOD solution from Transpara (www.transpara.com) called Visual KPI. Visual KPI delivers enterprise information to users anywhere on any web-enabled mobile device to monitor KPIs such as production performance and energy consumption in real time. “The Visual KPI system was implemented four years ago and has been expanded to provide anytime, anywhere access to a range of business and production metrics,” Stamas says. “Using smartphones and tablets, our employees can monitor equipment and processes while working in another part of the factory or anywhere outside the facility.”

One technical challenge Mohawk needed to overcome was accessing data from the enterprise system with Visual KPI. “We used the PI historian from OSIsoft (www.osisoft.com), which has very tight integration with Visual KPI for real-time display and trending, to obtain non-process manufacturing data from our ERP system,” he explains. “We developed a SQL query to extract data such as customer orders, production status and inventory levels

from our ERP system. We then write this extracted data to an historian tag that’s correlated with process data collected, with the results seamlessly displayed on the mobile devices.”

By monitoring information from a wide array of processes, such as order entry, scheduling, inventory, production and industrial process control systems, Mohawk ensures the entire enterprise is constantly aligned and focused on key orders, priority requirements, last-minute changes and what’s happening on the production fl oor.

“This lets us respond rapidly to customers’ ever-changing requirements and market changes,” Stamas says. “The implementation of Visual KPI improved the quality and timeliness of our decision-making in manufacturing and maintenance processes and enhanced our responsiveness to customer requirements and manufacturing issues due to real-time access to machine, production and order status.”

Visual KPI information can be viewed via any standard web browser such as IE, Chrome, Firefox or Safari on a PC or on a smartphone or tablet. Information also can be viewed using a Visual KPI app on an iPhone or Android mobile device.

Secure real-time access to data in the ERP—and the manufacturing systems—is through the corporate fi rewall. Remote access to sensitive information is secured through authentication, fi rewall rules and data encryption.

“Honestly, this has been seamless and very easy to use,” Stamas concludes. “I can’t think of any real challenges we’ve had with the mobile application. I should state the obvious that extending enterprise information to a mobile device is straightforward, assuming your data and information are easily accessible from your enterprise systems. For Mohawk, we have knowledge and capabilities to access and manipulate data directly from our manufacturing systems, which made exposing them via mobile applications straightforward.”


Employees throughout the industrial enterprise want to remotely access all types of corporate data. This BYOD trend is here to stay, and IT departments need to provide convenient yet secure methods to access data through smartphones and tablets.

“The use of enterprise file sync-and-share applications has seen tremendous growth in the past year,” notes Jeetu Patel, general manager for EMC Syncplicity (www.syncplicity.com). Syncplicity is a software platform for secure data and file sharing from the enterprise to mobile and other devices. “A December 2013 ESG report noted that 42% of organizations have IT-sanctioned and company-funded data- and file-sharing applications, a sizable increase from 28% just one year earlier. Clearly, the promise of these platforms—secure and easy viewing, sharing and editing of enterprise content—grabs the attention of forward-looking organizations seeking to enhance workforce productivity.”

Patel has seen three distinct evolutionary stages in enterprise data and file sharing:

Stage 1: Convenience at Any CostEmployees simply use their existing Gmail, Twitter, LinkedIn and other apps to share corporate data through the public cloud. This presents a security problem as most organizations do not want their employees storing critical data in the public cloud.

Stage 2: Security Brings the Hammer DownAs the pain of Stage 1 becomes clear, IT departments quash the use of purely public platforms, and force users to adopt older, more traditional file sync and share or FTP solutions that are slow, clunky and difficult to use. Users rebel, taking matters into their own hands by downloading banned data and file-sharing solutions, essentially returning the company to the first stage.

Stage 3: Hybrid Cloud ReconciliationIn this stage, IT realizes it can securely deliver and share data with devices with a hybrid cloud, which can be an on-premises server farm, a closely controlled off-premises cloud or a combination. Applications running in the hybrid cloud offer users fast and easy-to-use data access and sharing via smartphone and tablet apps or browser-based access. IT

can enforce strict policies on who can access what data and documents when and where, ensuring that security policies are enforced.

“By integrating Syncplicity with EMC Documentum Capital Projects solution, part of the EMC Documentum Engineering, Plant and Facilities Management suite, local and remote users can share and sync project information and engineering documents,” explains Sean Baird, leader of energy and engineering industry solution marketing for EMC’s Information Intelligence Group.

“These platforms, in some cases

combined with our hybrid cloud storage, integrate with mobile devices,” he adds. “This lets engineering, procurement and construction companies, owner operators, contractors and suppliers easily access project content, streamline transmittals, participate in workflows, approve with electronic signatures and securely share content between organizations, with Syncplicity’s support for mobile devices, while on the go. “

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warranted,” he says. “Each process—power generation, water treatment, widget making, etc.—has its own conditions on what’s critical and what’s not. You might not want to give the ability to trip the entire plant via a smartphone, but would want to allow people to turn motors on and off via personal devices.”

With many systems, the capability to control with a personal device is readily available, but not everyone uses it. “We use mobile applications to monitor our processes, not to control them,” Stamas says. “The system has the capability, but we just haven’t had the need to make process changes remotely via mobile applications.”

BYOD in the Real WORlDMonitoring with an employee-owned device is catching on much faster than control. One reason might be that a smartphone supplied by the employee is much less expensive than installing HMIs throughout a plant. Those additional HMIs often come with expensive site licenses and require ongoing support, such as periodic software updates. With a personal device, access is via apps and web browsers, which are updated by the suppliers, usually at much lower costs.

John Cusimano, director of industrial cybersecurity at aeSolutions (www.aesolns.com), a system integrator in Greenville, S.C., recently worked with a client in the water/wastewater sector who replaced hard-wired operator interface panels with company-provided portable devices. The devices connected to the control system via a short-range 802.11 wireless-access point.

“The hard-wired panels were obsolete, and they had trouble maintaining them,” Cusimano says. “They had about 10 of them in specific locations throughout the plant. They could have replaced them with current models, but it was less expensive to purchase

a few general-purpose portable devices. The operators and techs needed access to the information when they were on the floor, and it made more sense for them to have access anywhere.”

BYOD monitoring is accepted by most all operations personnel, but not necessarily IT.

“I wanted to use my own iPad for monitoring a natural gas pipeline, but it took a while before I was finally allowed access to the company Wi-Fi and VPN,” says Dennis Brown, senior measurement engineer at Cherokee Basin Pipeline (www.dartoilandgas.com) in Independence, Kan. (Figure 1). “Historically, there’s been a policy of no access for personal devices, with security always cited as the primary reason.”

heRe tO StaYAlthough this article focused on the use of personal devices to monitor and control production processes, BYOD is also widely used to view and make changes to industrial operations in many other areas of the enterprise from accounting to logistics to sales and marketing. (The “Sharing and Syncing Data” sidebar discusses methods to provide access to these areas by integrating devices into the entire enterprise via hybrid clouds and other tools.)

BYOD is a growing trend, but some companies are still afraid of it. Perhaps an interim solution would be for a company to supply smartphones or tablets to employees. That way, the company’s IT department could install all the necessary procedures, access controls and other requirements needed to ensure a safe and secure working environment. Once everything works to the company’s satisfaction, it then could transition to a BYOD policy.

On the other hand, your company could get forced into BYOD, and sooner than you think. Stamas explains how Mowhawk’s system got launched: “Our BYOD solution was requested by the president of the paper division. He wanted real-time visibility into the state of plant applications for himself and his staff 24/7. He told me he wanted to be able to wake up in the middle of the night and check the status of his operations in minutes.”

So when the president of your company learns that such things are possible with a smartphone, you might get the same request.

Figure 1: Dennis Brown of Dart Oil and Gas uses his own iPad to monitor company operations via the company Wi-Fi and VPn.

BeneFitS OF BYOD• It’s less expensive than providing employees with corporate devices• It provides remote access from anywhere• It costs less than plant-floor HMIs• It costs less than buying site licenses for remote PCs• Many vendors offer free or low-cost device access• Employees don’t have to carry multiple devices• Employees are more productive using familiar devices• Companies often subsidizes part of employees’ device costs• It Improves employee morale

ChallenGeS OF inteGRatinG BYOD intO the enteRPRiSe

• Employee owns device and therefore has admin rights• Procedures required to disable device in event of theft or

employee dismissal • Different devices have different procedures for invoking security • Device usage must be restricted based on employee’s role,

location of device and other factors• Hackers may be able to monitor device traffic• Malicious software is starting to invade smartphones and tablets • The the device hardware, remote access software and the

network all must be secured

Dar

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and

Gas


The AbiliTy To SupporT DifferenT AuTomATion

plATformS AnSwerS CuSTomer neeDS

I/O Choices Enhance Flexibility

CONSIDER THE CASE OF A MACHINE OR SYSTEM BUILDER THAT has a large installed base: Some of the machines and systems are on controller platforms supplied by one automation vendor, while others are controlled via other vendors’ products. Any new projects and/or upgrades envisioned probably will have to accommodate those disparate systems and machines because of end-user insistence and the knowledge already invested in those machines.

Cofely Services’ Airport Group can identify with this situation. It operates in more than 25 airports, including Boston-Logan, Louisville, Kentucky, Montreal Pierre-Elliott Trudeau, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Athens, Brussels, London Gatwick and others.

Dual PlatFOrm SuPPOrtWhen Yan Le Meur, automation and technology watch expert with Cofely Services, began to evaluate I/O solutions for a baggage-handling system (BHS) project, he indeed defined a specification that required both an EtherNet/IP- and Profibus-compatible device that could communicate with Allen-Bradley and Siemens PLCs.

“We didn’t want to move away from the Siemens and Rockwell platforms due to end-user requirements, our own investments in supporting current solutions and employee/user comfort level,” Le Meur says.

The bag room improvement project at Halifax Airport, Nova Scotia, was designed to transport baggage from check-in to carousel (Figure 1). About 100 conveyors are used to transport the bags. Each conveyor is equipped with encoders and infrared sensors with deflectors used to track bags or to detect a bag jam; a selector to start/stop the conveyor in automatic or maintenance mode; and motors from ½ to 2 hp, depending of the size of the conveyor. All this equipment is controlled by a safety PLC, and safety logic is handled by the software. Conveyor speed range is 0.7 to 1.5 m/s. During peak periods, each line can carry about 600 bags per hour into a secure area. Lines must be ready to operate from 3 a.m. until 10 p.m., 7 days per week and 52 weeks per year. Transport time is

critical to guarantee that bags arrive in time to be loaded onto an airplane, so every component must be reliable, and every fault must be identified and fixed as soon as possible to have a very low mean time to repair (MTTR). Each line also is equipped with an automatic tag reader (ATR) that sends bag data to high-level software, Bagstage, which was developed by Cofely Services. This software is used to track bags into the system and to inform the PLC as to which line must be used to send the bag to the final destination. All alarms and status are displayed on seven redundant SCADA viewers in different rooms and areas or on mobiles, and also could be accessible remotely via a VPN connection. For maintenance, alarms are logged to a historian in order to retain operating data.

ImPrOvE thE I/O SChEmEBaggage handling systems often have long conveyors with many sensors distributed among them. In a traditional, centralized solution, the sensor cable would be tied back to a main control cabinet, resulting in substantial labor and cable cost.

By SOPhIE hEnnIOn, COFEly SErvICES

O P T I M I Z E


alWayS runnInGFigure 1: During peak periods in the bag room at halifax airport, nova Scotia, each line can carry about 600 bags/per hour into a secure area. lines must be ready to operate from 3 a.m. until 10 p.m., 7 days per week and 52 weeks per year.

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IN14Q2_17_19_FEATURE2.indd 17 4/23/14 10:56 AM


Another possible solution would be to use remote or distributed IP20-rated I/O. This type of solution can reduce cable lengths, but multiple junction boxes are required on the machine. “The cost of junction boxes can add up quickly, so it’s important to evaluate the cost of cable, junction boxes and I/O,” Le Meur explains. “Cofely Services was well aware of the additional cost associated with traditional solutions. Our knowledge and experience prompted us to specify machine-mountable I/O with IP67-rated protection.”

The length of the conveyors had a lot of influence on the selection criteria for this application, Le Meur adds, saying, “Flexible topology and the ability to carry signals long distances between I/O modules therefore became a key differentiator in supplier selection.”

Cofely Services wanted to integrate advanced diagnostics in

order to make troubleshooting the system easier for the end user. Implementing advanced diagnostics in the system would let the end user identify faults and errors much sooner and result in less downtime and more overall productivity. “LED indicators on each module indicate general and detailed errors in the SCADA system,” Le Meur explains. “And because this information is easily accessible by the web server included in each module to provide a completed detailed diagnostic and status, we don’t need to develop it on our side. On each conveyor, we can detect faults such as motor overload, encoder faults and bag jams.”

The scan time of the network was an important consideration, too. About 2-millisecond (ms) scan rates are needed in order to connect the square signal encoder on a standard I/O module, and move this signal into the PLC’s Fast Task. Cofely Services wanted to use an encoder directly on classic I/O, so there would be no need to have a high-speed card. In addition, the company wanted to have the flexibility to set up I/O on devices to connect a motor or a sensor. Conveyors are standard for I/O, but sometimes we need to locate some extra pushbuttons, lamps or stack lights close to this equipment.

Serial communication was also an important point in order to communicate with scales or automatic tag readers. Cofely Services wanted devices that could be easily integrated in both EtherNet/IP and Profibus-DP.

“A final important criterion,” Le Meur adds, “was that every sensor was to be wired for M12 connectors and terminal blocks to decrease device wiring time and wiring error.”

Decision criteria“Although we found multiple vendors that could provide us with a solution that met the specifications, we decided that B&R Industrial Automation (www.br-automation.com) could provide the best solution for the application,” Le Meur says. “We found the B&R solution was cost-effective, reduced the total number of components and would be easy to support. The I/O is easy to support, even when integrated with a third-party master. This is due to the advanced diagnostics on the hardware LEDs, as well as in the software. Cofely Services engineers could program, troubleshoot and commission the application all within the STEP7 or ControlLogix/RSLogix platforms they already are very familiar with. All of the diagnostics information such as short-circuit, overload and reverse-polarity protection is monitored in the controller tags sections of the Allen-Bradley PLC and the Siemens Step7.”

Gary Martins, vice president of B&R, reports, “B&R has a 16-channel, digital mix module, which has 16 configurable input or output channels. The added functionality provided by the built-in ‘function models’ allowed Cofely Services to configure one of the standard channels as a high-speed counter to be used for an encoder with square signals. This helped reduce the total number of components required for the application because a single module could be used for digital inputs, digital outputs and high-speed counters.”

O P T I M I Z E

sMart i/o DesiGnFigure 2: instead of hard-wired or centralized design, all conveyor devices including motors, encoders, stack lights, selector switches and disconnect switches are connected to remote iP67-rated i/o nodes.

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Baggage handling systems often have long

conveyors with many sensors distriButed

among them. in a traditional centralized

solution, the sensor caBle would Be tied

Back to a main control caBinet, resulting in

suBstantial laBor and caBle cost.



A bus controller for both Profibus-DP and EtherNet/IP was also a key differentiator. “These devices allow fieldbus communication with Siemens and A-B PLCs with the same I/O module and a very fast (1-ms) network scan time,” Le Meur explains. “This provided the benefit to keep the same module instead of different I/O devices, and for maintenance, it meant a decreased spare parts list.”

It also offers many benefits to be able to communicate with serial devices and easily could be connected with an M12 connector to serial controller. It was linked to Cofely’s ATR, and the LEDs were really helpful to diagnose Rx and Tx communication signals, adds Le Meur.

InstallatIon and CommIssIonIngThe use of machine-mount I/O reduces cost compared to a centralized, DIN-rail-mounted I/O system. A majority of the cost savings associated with machine-mount I/O are realized in the installation and commissioning phase. “If you only compare the cost of goods, IP67 I/O might appear more expensive,” Le Meur says. “But when you evaluate the cost of cabling, you will see reduced wiring time, less cable and faster start-up times.”

Some additional cost savings will come from simply moving the I/O out of the cabinet and onto the machine. “With fewer components in the cabinet, we can reduce the size of the cabinet, resulting in lower cost,” Le Meur adds. “Not only can the size of the main control cabinet be reduced, but also the use of junction boxes on the machine can be eliminated completely. Before we made the change, each conveyor had a small decentralized panel (DCP). Now with this IP67-rated and M12 connector solution, we eliminated about 70% of those panels.”

He adds, “Industry-standard M8 and M12 connections can account for huge time savings when wiring the machine. Instead of stripping and terminating wires, you simply use a torque wrench to screw on the connections from the sensors to the I/O. These standard cable connections also result in fewer wiring errors and quicker commissioning times.”

He continues, “On another similar project, we had a lot of errors due to the number of manual connections that caused short circuits, created a poor understanding of wiring diagrams and so on. Now we only have to train people to understand the M12 connectors approach, and for the first part of this project, we didn’t have any damage due to short circuits—and we reduced time and cost by probably 30%. We also observed that we decreased the time to commission I/O on both PLCs because I/O modules are similar configuration.”

Mounting the I/O on the machine directly next to the sensor or actuators reduces the total cable length required for the system. All of the benefits given by IP67-rated, machine-mountable I/O lead to reduced total cost of ownership.

Le Meur says that Cofely has received no complaints from the customer and the maintenance team onsite, and another advantage for the customer is that it can have the same module for both PLCs, reducing the cost of spare parts.

After commissioning, Cofely Services also will need to support the installation site round the clock from its call center for about one month.

traInIng Minimal training was required in order to implement the solution. The B&R I/O can be programmed within ControlLogix, Step 7 and many other third-party software platforms. This greatly reduces the cost and learning curve associated with making changes.

“B&R Industrial Automation offers a free configuration software called fieldbusDesigner, which generates a .L5K file,” Martins explains. “When this configuration file is opened in ControlLogix, a generic Ethernet module is added to the project, the I/O data populates the controller tags, and all input and output sizes are automatically defined. For Profibus you just need to import a GSD file in the hardware configuration of Step 7.”

As a result, the programmer is now working in a software platform with which he is comfortable.

the road ahead“Ethernet is now the standard for fieldbus and, combined with IP67 modules and M12 connectors, this is definitely something that we want to propose for our next project,” says Le Meur. “The other point is we easily could have the same connectivity and module on any kind of new or existing network. We will continue to promote this kind of solution to our customers because it’s an honest win-win solution for everybody.

“For future projects we’ll continue to include web server access from our SCADA, so it could provide for easy access inside or outside by a secure VPN connection. Equipment or controllers with an integrated OPC UA server seems to be an interesting option for communication.

“Wireless also is something that we could consider for other projects, not only for airport projects.”

Sophie Hennion is director of operations (airport solutions) at Cofely Services. Learn more about the company at www.cofelyservices-gdfsuez.net/EN/Pages/default.aspx.

“With feWer components in the cabinet, We

can reduce the size of the cabinet, resulting

in loWer cost. not only can the size of the

main controls cabinet be reduced, but also

the use of junction boxes on the machine

can be eliminated completely.”


R E S E A R C H

Cable TesTer IENet Pro industrial Ethernet cable tester lets users verify the integrity of two-pair and four-pair industrial Ethernet cables, and ensure proper terminations by detecting opens, shorts, miswires, reversals and split pairs. It has integrated RJ-45 (UTP/STP) and shielded M12 coax interfaces and Profinet-formatted results. A button push selects between voice, two- and four-pair data or video. It will measure cable length and indicate correct wiremap to T568A/B standards for shielded and unshielded cabling. A detachable remote enables one-person operation.Ideal Industries; 800/947-3614; www.idealindustries.com

aCross The Narrow DiviDeFlatpack-style transmitter coupling devices for WIS (short-range wireless inductive coupling system) products allow power and signal to be transferred across an air gap of up to 20 mm, and allow sensors to be connected to moveable platforms without cables. WIS transfers both power and signal without batteries by using two transmission elements that allow transfer when they come within the required proximity range. They can also interface to eight PNP sensors via one interface block. Pepperl+Fuchs; 330/486-0001; www.pepperl-fuchs.us

CompleTe CoNNeCTiviTy Overmolded M40 Powerfast connectors have power and signal capabilities in the same connector, which is capable of 35 A. The line offers male or female straight connectors, standard and custom lengths, and pigtails or extensions, and also provides mating receptacles, cordsets, splitters and a jumper plug.Turck; 800/544-7769; www.turck.us

Flex ThaT Fiber FlexiBend MPO/MTP flexible-boot, optical cable assemblies support low-profile installations. The assemblies are designed with strain-relief boots that use a flexible and durable steel internal wire that allows an installer to position the boot in place. Available in 12- and 24-fiber round cable options, FlexiBend is compatible with any MPO receptacle or active QSFP, CXP and CFP modules. Single-mode and multi-mode cables provide options for transmission link distances using OM3, OM4, OS1 and OS2 fibers. Molex; 800/225-7724; www.molex.com/link/flexibend.html

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WITh ThIS ISSUE’S PROdUCT RESEARCh BEINg FOCUSEd ON connectivity, it might be helpful to include some data about what kinds of connections are being made.

An electronic survey of Industrial Networking readers conducted in February 2014 collected some of that data.

About 42% of survey respondents indicated their I/O systems are mostly remote/distributed, but include some centralized I/O. About 31% have mostly centralized I/O, but include some remote I/O. About 16% have entirely centralized/rack-mounted, while the remaining 12% have entirely remote/distributed I/O systems.

Regardless of architecture, the clear majority (72%) of respondents’

I/O is dIN-rail-mounted in enclosures, with 7% opting for IP67 machine-mount I/O blocks.

When asked about their communication preferences, most respondents had more than one. About 70% said they still use 4-20 mA and hard wiring. Communicating via an Ethernet flavor was noted by 53%, while serial was mentioned by 40%, followed by hART at 38% and process fieldbus by 32%.

Respondents to a 2013 Control design survey indicated that their preferred physical cable connection technique was screw clamps (49%), followed by spring clamps (33%), M8/M12 terminals (13%) and insulation displacement (4%).

20 iNDusTrial NeTworkiNg • Q2 • 2014

IN14Q2_20_22_RESEARCH.indd 20 4/23/14 10:49 AM


installation. It is UL-listed, NEMA/UL Type 12 and offers IP 65 protection class with cap closed and IP 20 in inserted operation. It has 360° shielding, gold-plated contacts and an operating range of -13 to 158 °F. Lutze; 800/447-2371; www.lutze.com

take a rIght Molded M12 male and female right-angle connectors with 360° shielding permit reliable transmission of analog and digital data in environments with strong electromagnetic fields. They’re single-ended or double-ended cordsets for actuators/sensors, Profibus and Ethernet cables, and connection cables. The operating range is -25 to 85 °C, with high shock and vibration resistance, and IP67, IP68 and IP69K ratings approvals. Belden; 800/235-3361; www.belden.com

Power ClamP Power Cage Clamp 285-1185 for up to 350 kcmil offers side-entry wiring, convenient for hard-to-bend, larger conductors. The UL-pending nominal current of 310 A at up to 1,000 Vac/Vdc makes it suited for energy-intensive applications or electrical and switchgear cabinets in water/wastewater, petrochemical, photovoltaics and HVAC, such as fans, turbines and chillers.Wago; 800/din-rail; www.wago.us

double-level Push-Ins PTIO 1.5 push-in technology (PT) terminal blocks, with top-level location for the power wiring, are double-level terminals in three-wire and four-wire versions. The upper level is for signal feed-through and is available with or without an LED. Continuous bridge shafts allow a quick and simple potential distribution of power using push-in bridges. This is five times the IEC requirement for retention force.Phoenix Contact; 800/322-3225; www.phoenixcontact.com

Cut termInatIon tIme Max TurboTool for contractors and cabling professionals reduces termination time for Siemon’s category 5e and 6 UTP Max outlets. It simultaneously seats and cuts the eight cable conductors, allowing a four-pair Max UTP outlet to be terminated in a single action. This non-impact process minimizes risk of damage and injury common to traditional punch-down terminations. The tool’s retention clip secures the outlet to ensure proper alignment and seating prior to termination,

while its rear cable channel provides cable access to support the full range of category 5e and 6 UTP cable sizes.Siemon; 860/945-4380; www.siemon.com/turbotool

keeP Your PolarItY straIght Cube20S connects 12.9-mm two-, four- or eight-channel input and output modules and function modules to base modules with integrated bus nodes. Up to 64 modules can be connected to each bus node with minimal wiring. The backplane’s push-plug mechanism protects modules from reverse polarity. The bases feature a special locking system for DIN-rail mounting, which makes it possible to assemble the complete station outside the control cabinet and then mount it in as a finished block. Murrelektronik; 770/497-9292; www.murrinc.com

multIPlexed, not PerPlexed MX-Series multiplexers feature input/output module selections for 4-20 mA, 0 to10-Vdc, contact closure and RS-232/485. The MX base unit connects directly to the fiber-optic cable and provides a visual indication of the fiber link status. Each base unit has a duplex optical port configured for use with 1300-nm wavelength, single or multimode optical fiber, and is capable of supporting distances up to 80 km between points. It carries relevant certifications for use in hazardous environments. Ultra Electronics; 512/434-2800; www.ultra-nspi.com

Cordsets Tuff-Link industrial interconnects and cordsets for control components, such as sensors or actuators, include mini, micro/M12 and pico sizes with various molding/cable materials to meet environmental concerns. The product line also includes multi-port distribution boxes, bus system connectors, attachable connectors and more. Remke; 877/438-8833; www.remke.com

FIber ProteCtIon MR398-JB series fiber-optic junction boxes are designed to join two fiber-optic cables and environmentally protect the connection in harsh-environment cabling applications. The junction boxes are designed to seal the incoming cables while accommodating varying diameters of optical cable. Standard models include LC duplex to LC duplex, LC Duplex to ODVA LC and ODVA LC to ODVA LC.Micronor; 805/499-0114; www.micronor.com



R E S E A R C H

22

MedIa sends the Message Industrial-grade Ethernet physical media include M12, industry-standard Variant 1 and RJ45 connectivity products. The media combines a specially designed cable with rugged connector construction to improve reliability, flexibility and low noise levels. Rockwell Automation; 414/382-2000; www.rockwellautomation.com

MotIon wIrIng Made easy Adam-3955 50-pin SCSI, DIN-rail-mountable motion wiring board consists of universal screw-terminal modules designed for field signal wiring in industrial applications. It can be connected to the analog and digital ports of products, such as the company’s PCL series. It has DB-26 connectors and LED indicators.Advantech Industrial Automation; 800/205-7940; www.advantech.com/ea

IdC tB DIN-rail-mounted terminal blocks use an extrusion technique to remove insulation on wires before connecting them. No extra tools are needed to connect wires to blocks, and it takes only a screwdriver to remove the wire from the block. The terminal blocks have a UL rating of 600 V, 15 A for wires 20 AWG to 16 AWG. The NCS type provides insulation displacement on both sides of the block, while the NCV version provides insulation displacement on one side and a screw clamp on the other for field terminations. ASI; 877/650-5160; www.asi-ez.com

CaBle ChoICes Available with M12 D-coded and/or RJ45 connectors, four-conductor Ethernet cables have PUR-shielded Starquad Flex 2 million. Four-pole, 22 AWG, TPE shielded Flex 5 million are suitable for Profinet. ODVA-compliant are Cat5e- and 600 V-rated, two-pair, 24 AWG, PVC shielded STP. Shielded (F/UTP) flexible patch/jumper cable is Cat5e-rated, fire and chemical resistant, and uses TPE unshielded Flex 10 million.Balluff; 800/543-8390; www.balluff.com

FroM serIal to ethernet Available with one to 16 ports, SeaLink Ethernet serial servers connect RS-232, RS-422 and RS-485 serial devices to an Ethernet network and use TCP/IP, enabling any host to access serial ports as virtual COM ports.Sealevel Systems; 864/843-4343; www.sealevel.com

MultI-wIre ConneCtIon ZIPport multi-wire connector frame sizes include 10A, 16A and 32B, and have heavy-duty metal or thermoplastic housings. Connector hoods are available with top-entry and side-entry cable passages, and feature Pg threaded cable passages. Accessories include additional IP66 and IP68 cable glands, Pg to NPT adapters and blanking plugs. Insert plates are available in blank, reducer and cutout styles.AutomationDirect; 770/889-2858; www.automationdirect.com

soMe need It hot EtherCAT I/O devices with Fast Hot Connect reduce the connection time for these changeovers to 1 s, increasing productivity as a result of changing topologies via direct plug-and-play coupling or decoupling during operation. WinCAT automation suite supports Fast Hot Connect on the master side.Beckhoff Automation; 952/890-0000; www.beckhoffautomation.com

Feed It through DIN-rail-mountable AVK feed-through, screw-connection-style terminal blocks with vibration-resistant wire clamps have a plastic housing made from polyamide 6.6 thermoplastic resin with a UL 94 V2 rating for 105 °C. Omega Engineering; 203/359-1660; www.omega.com

Fuse the CIrCuIt WTB2-FB130L IEC fuse holder terminal blocks have a current rating to 30 A, and accept ¼ x 1¼-in. fuses. They have a built-in LED circuit to indicate when the fuse blows and funneled wiring entry with finger-safe IP20 terminals. c3controls; 724/775-7926; www.c3controls.com

when you need FIBer PTC-101-M12 EN 50121-4 Ethernet-to-fiber media converters convert from 10/100BaseT(X) to 100BaseFX with SC/ST connectors in fiber and M12 connectors in Ethernet. The converters eliminate the need for additional wiring, and support IEEE 802.3 and IEEE 802.3u/x protocols with 10/100M, full/half-duplex and MDI/MDI-X auto-sensing. PTC-101-M12 is compliant with EN 50121-4.Moxa Americas; 714/528-6777; www.moxa.com


t e r m i n a t o r

One Of the many aspects Of cOntrOl systems often taken for granted is the physical layer that connects the various nodes, field instruments, junction boxes, I/O, controllers, etc., together into a system. as the signal travels between these nodes, the media on which the signal is transmitted frequently changes from wire to fiber and, as it was in the beginning, once again via air. the signal at each of these interfaces must be converted from either voltage/current (copper) to light (plastic or glass fiber) or air (frequency/amplitude for wireless or pneumatic pressure.)

my definition of “signal conversion” is the change of a signal from one physical format (voltage/current, amplitude/frequency, etc.) to another. consequently, signal conversion is for all intents within OsI layer 1 (physical layer) and possibly to some extent within layer 2 (data link layer, Dll).

In the extreme, one could make the case that an amplifier is the most basic form of signal converter because it converts a low-level signal, potentially “cleans” the signal by removing noise, then increases the signal back to its original, full-strength level.

this signal conversion definition compares with the Iec definition in electropedia (www.electropedia.org), the Iec’s online data dictionary, which states that a gateway is a “functional unit that connects two computer networks with different network architectures and protocols.” notice that the difference between a signal converter and gateway is the requirement to change protocols.

as inferred above, both signal converters and gateways play an increasingly important role because integration from end to end of any control system is becoming expected.

Opto 22’s groov is one indication of how the Internet of things (Iot) is making it possible for a “control loop” to start on someone’s cell phone (setpoint) and include the transmitter (pV) as well as the output transducer (Op or mV) in a single system. herman storey and I prefer to call Iot the Industrial Internet of things (I2ot) to point out that we have slightly different and additional requirements in industrial settings.

This migration from a scaDa-centric control system was affirmed in a recent conversation I had with mike fahrion, director of product management at B&B electronics (www.bb-elec.com). he agrees that they certainly see this happening with, not only a shift in products from rs-232 to rs-485 or UsB to serial converters, but also to more of an integrated I2ot approach with web access and a report/publish environment, rather than a traditional polling environment. This migration and change in data access is altering the signal-conversion landscape.

In a scaDa-centric environment, data is continually polled, while in the I2ot environment, data is updated only when there has been a change deemed to be worth reporting. however, regardless of the architecture, signal conversion continues to play a significant role in system communications, and one could argue a larger role in the I2ot system, since the output from the field gateway is an Xml-based protocol through to the applications, databases and dashboards.

process control basically started with air (pneumatic) connections, and today pneumatic controllers remain the workhorse of industry—certainly in the process industry. the addition of p/I and I/p converters was the beginning of an interesting journey that now includes a wide range of signal conversions, including (once again) current-air, but this time the air-based signal is a continuation of the digital world over a wireless network.

this certainly reaffirms that signal converters are not only here to stay and will remain an important, if neglected, part of a modern control system, but they’re also becoming more complex with more demands placed on them, and with more variations (wire, fiber, wireless) added to the mix.

as systems become increasingly more complex and more reliant on digital communications, signal converters will remain an important control system building block for the foreseeable future.

Ian Verhappen, p. eng., is an Isa fellow, Isa cap and an authority on industrial communications technologies.

Signal Conversion: Key Building Block


Signal ConverterS

and gatewayS play

an inCreaSingly

important role

BeCauSe integration

from end to end

of any Control

SyStem iS

BeComing expeCted.

pa r i t y c h e c k

IAN VERHAPPENiverhappen@

industrialautomationnetworks.com

IN14Q2_23_PARITYCHECK.indd 23 4/23/14 12:42 PM

Just because it’s invisible, please don’t be prejudiced against wireless. Granted, the pathways between its transmitting and receiving antennas are intangible, so they can seem unstable, unreliable and unsafe. However, wireless devices have been gaining increasingly solid communication and security protocols, and implementing continuously evaluated signaling, switching and addressing functions in recent years. Many users, integrators, developers and suppliers believe these capabilities make them even more reliable than physical cables.

“today’s wireless market is growing at about a 16% annual growth rate, and it’s maturing at the same time,” says vibhor tandon, product manager for oneWireless wireless network infrastructure products at Honeywell process solutions (www.honeywellprocess.com). “There are more choices of wireless-enabled instruments and solutions, and they’re easier to use, so more big-name users are open to adopting them. Honeywell’s devices include multinode wireless gateways and access points in one box and its field device access points (Fdaps) that consist of separate wireless gateways organized by a wireless device manager (WdM).

“Fdaps and a WdM create a high-speed ethernet backbone with less latency that can reach the field faster and allow users to think about using wireless for control and safety too. Wireless can even support network health because its devices can show signal quality on a daily basis. last year, we launched our redundancy feature, which combines two WdMs that are able to talk and work as a pair in redundant mode and connect to redundant Fdaps.”

sarah prinster, marketing vice president at apprion (www.apprion.com), reports that “cost savings from wireless can help, but so many people have wireless networks in their homes, and this mainstream acceptance is helping wireless to gain acceptance on plant floors. still, security can be a challenge, and it staff often don’t know that wireless needs to be applied in process control applications in the field. so it’s important to get them on your wireless development team early so everyone will be able to buy in and learn to use wireless effectively.”

to handle the convergence of wireless networking standards such as Wi-Fi (ieee 802.11)

and Zigbee (ieee 802.15.4), some developers are combining these capabilities into unified devices, according to doug bellin, global senior manager in the manufacturing and engineering division at cisco (www.cisco.com). “besides launching our access points, including those with 802.11a-n and isa100 standard functions built in, we offer the cisco clean air solution, which consists of a self-configured, self-healing wireless backbone that constantly compiles updated views of the local networking environment,” bellin says. “it checks for hotspots or overlaps where wireless activity is especially high, shows potentially rogue access points and identifies other issues.”

Rob snyder, product manager for the network infrastructure group at Rockwell automation (www.rockwellautomation.com), says he looks at wireless as a progression and extension of previous networking solutions, such as the fact that ethernet/ip is built to work with ieee 802.11. “ethernet/ip is standard, unmodified ethernet, so it can contain data from the different cip protocols, but it can still go over the regular tcp/ip transport layer, which is important because wireless manages its packets at this layer,” he says. “These connections are also secure because 802.11 had security organically built in as part of its Wi-Fi protected access 2 (Wpa2) section.”

all of today’s standard wireless communications are now encrypted, while the WirelessHaRt standard (iec 62591) is also time synchronized, so it has built-in security that’s always on, adds neil peterson, deltav product marketing director at emerson process Management (www.emersonprocess.com).“WirelessHaRt devices also go through several rounds of third-party verification and certification to make sure they can’t be broken into,” he says. “However, WirelessHaRt is a device-to-device protocol, so there are no viruses. Wi-Fi is a bit harder because people use it, so passwords and other security policies are needed to prevent attacks and make sure it will run reliably. another advantage of wireless is that a hacker has to be located close to a facility to try to access it, but generally they don’t go out to physical sites. overall, wireless was developed with better protections than wired systems, so the internet makes wired systems more vulnerable than wireless.”

Wireless Builds Ties That Bind

Wi-Fi connecTions

are secure

Because ieee 802.11

has securiTy

organically

BuilT in as parT

oF iTs Wi-Fi proTecTed

access 2 (Wpa2)

secTion.

JIM MONTAGUeeXecuTiVe ediTor

[email protected]


b a n d w i d t h

IN14Q2_24_BANDWIDTH.indd 24 4/23/14 10:42 AM


P R O D U C T S 25

ad Index

Advantech .......................................................................28

AutomationDirect .......................................................... 2

Hilscher North America ................................................ 6

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Newark ............................................................................... 3

ProSoft Technology......................................................15

Questex Media ..............................................................10

Red Lion Controls ........................................................... 9

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Publishing tEam Group Publisher/VP, Content Keith Larson Director of Circulation Jack Jones VP, Creative Services Steve Herner

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Dave Fisher • [email protected] Cannon Forge Dr., Foxboro, Massachusetts 02035

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1501 E. Woodfield Rd., Suite 400N, Schaumburg, Illinois 60173630/467-1300 • Fax: 630/467-1124

Western regional managerLaura Martinez • [email protected]

218 Virginia, Suite 4, El Segundo, California 90245310/607-0125 • Fax: 310/607-0168

inside sales manager Polly Dickson • [email protected]

630/467-1300 • Fax: 630/467-1124

rEPrintsfoster reprints

Jill Kaletha • [email protected]/879-9144 ext.168 • www.fosterprinting.com

talk Is QuIck Quick Talk RQT industrial-grade radio transmitter with sensor inputs and voice recording storage automatically alerts radio-equipped personnel when process conditions—such as pressure—change. It accepts inputs from up to four switches or sensors. The radio can operate standalone on six AA batteries, or it can be powered externally by an optional 110-Vac adapter, with a 2-W or 120-mW transmitter. Ritron; 800/872-1872; www.ritron.com

MultI-FunctIon use This Ethernet WLAN connectivity device is IEEE 802.11a/b/g-compatible in 2.4-GHz or 5.8-GHz bands, and it can be used as an access point, bridge or client. Device power can be supplied using PoE or with redundant power supply connections. It supports multi SSID, VLAN and QoS for integration into existing Ethernet networks. It has WPA/WPA2 encryption and Radius server authentication (IEEE 802.1X). Weidmüller; 800/849-9343; www.weidmuller.com

Integrated swItch CPX-FB36 node for EtherNet/IP communications includes an integrated Ethernet switch that eliminates and/or reduces the need for external switches. It supports line, tree or ring topology. It supports device-level ring functionality for robust, redundant network connections. Requested packet interval (RPI) settings now go as low as 1 ms. Galvanic-isolated power for electronics/outputs/valves allows connection to safety relays and systems. There’s an integrated web server for diagnostic and parameter monitoring.Festo; 800/993-3786; www.festo.com/us

need lInux? Linux development modules enable ControlLogix and CompactLogix processors to communicate with practically any Ethernet or serial device. It acts as a coprocessor and enables C/C++ developers to build custom applications for Logix-based systems. The modules have a backplane API to support communications to the processors. ControlLogix-compatible MVI56E-LDM module has two independent Ethernet ports and two independent serial ports, while CompactLogix-compatible MVI69E-LDM module has one Ethernet port and two independent serial ports.ProSoft Technology; 661/716-5100; www.psft.com/mvildmcd

Protocols ProvIded PACSystems RX3i modules provide communication protocols as in-rack solutions, standardized on Profinet. The modules include IEC61850, DNP3 and IEC60870-5-104 Ethernet-based communication protocols, enabling improved access to data and time-stamping of events via object-oriented programming. The new modules enable two-way communication between SCADA and intelligent electrical device (IED) levels. Support of fiber optics simplifies system design, and provides more reliable communication and greater transmission distance.GE Intelligent Platforms; 800/433-2682; www.ge-ip.com

IN14Q2_25_PRODUCTS.indd 25 4/23/14 10:33 AM


Michael [email protected]

26

t e r m i n a t o r

With today’s

technology,

companies can

observe and manage

performance factors

in real time, collect

safety records and

data immediately

after an incident

and proactively

manage maintenance

concerns With just a

tap on a screen.

The fuTure of efficiency is as close as your mobile device.

“The internet of everything is just around the corner,” technologists often say. an environment where all components communicate wirelessly and seamlessly, all controlled in a central fashion, is an exciting prospect. But we still have a way to go before that architecture is put into mainstream use.

Between now and then, there are lots of things companies can do to take advantage of the rising use of smartphones and tablets in conjunction with industrial networks. With today’s technology, companies can observe and manage performance factors in real time, collect safety records and data immediately after an incident and proactively manage maintenance concerns with just a tap on a screen.

companies understand the value of real-time data and that access to immediate performance information can be a key strategic advantage. system integrators, our company among them, work with manufacturers to extend real-time reporting farther into the production environment. By creating reporting dashboards that can be accessed on smartphones and tablets, machine operators, engineers and managers can share and collaborate virtually anywhere, whether standing on the production floor or working remotely.

instead of waiting until the end of a shift, day or week, crucial data can be made available in real time so adaptations or adjustments can be made instantly to ensure optimal performance. Managers not only can view the output of a particular line, they also can look at energy consumption, upcoming maintenance events, and the speed and efficiency of the line. Then they can pinpoint where a potential problem might come from.

Managers also can view trend reports based on historical data, all visible on their smartphone or tablet. instead of holding a meeting in a conference room to discuss performance metrics, managers can work with operators on the floor, and review various dashboards, creating more efficient means of monitoring and troubleshooting.

using tablets and smartphones offers a

distinct advantage to companies that provide maintenance and support contracts to clients once an automation project is completed.

Manufacturers invest in automation projects to improve product quality, increase productivity and reduce risk. These projects often have performance metrics associated with them, and to ensure those expectations are met, a properly outlined maintenance strategy will assist in ensuring optimal performance and minimal downtime.

in the event of a failure, it’s imperative that the cause be identified and the corrective action put into place as soon as possible. system integrators can extend support efforts by providing remote troubleshooting services, allowing the client to share real-time photos and videos with its engineers. This real-time sharing often can cut down on costs such as flying an engineer to the site, and can expedite the time it takes to resolve on-site issues.

The capability to collect information in real time during or immediately after a safety incident is imperative to quickly identify the issues and implement corrective actions. By using smartphones or tablets, the involved parties can snap photos of the event, record information and fill out a safety report before returning to their desks.

This method of data collection provides more accurate reporting, and ensures that crucial details are not left out. collecting information in real time means the data can be shared instantly to relevant team members within the organization and/or with system integrators who might be responsible for creating and revising safety standards.

no matter what industry segment they serve, manufacturers will see that industrial networking, applied with new data-gathering tools, is a proven strategy that helps them to make good business decisions that result in the most efficient production process possible and the greatest return on their investment.

Michael Lindley is vice president of sales and marketing for concept systems, headquartered in albany, ore. learn more about the company at www.conceptsystemsinc.com.

26

efficiency—is there an app for that?

26

IN14Q2_26_TERMINATOR.indd 26 4/23/14 10:30 AM

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