Industrial Ethernet Mesh Networks
The Mesh control network consists of a number of commercial off the shelf (COTS) Ethernet switches connected in a mesh configuration, that allows high availability by providing redundant data paths that eliminate single points of failure.
The flexibility of the architecture allows you to design a network configuration that fits the needs of the control system. Configurations can be as simple as host workstation connected directly to a controller, or as complex as a multi-switch, fully meshed Ethernet network, communicating at speeds up to 1 gigabit per second. The Mesh control network architecture integrates powerful control stations and workstations stations. Workstations and networks comprise scalable systems for process monitoring, process control and integration with industrial information management. High speed, coupled with redundancy and peer-to-peer characteristics, provide high performance and superior security. Redundant station interfaces to Ethernet switches further ensure secure communications between the stations.
The I/A Series system uses the latest networking technology that incorporates COTS Ethernet switches, ports, and fiber optic media in fault-tolerant meshed configurations providing multiple communications paths between network stations. This new technology can be used to configure ultra-high-availability, high-performance (100Mbps/1Gbps), Switched Ethernet process control networks and field networks for new I/A Series systems. The technology can also be used to efficiently extend existing I/A Series systems.
With its advanced redundant/fault-tolerant configuration, the I/A Series "Nodebus" established a clear standard for process control network availability when the system was introduced more than 15 years ago. Those Nodebus-based systems could be configured so that there was no single point of functional failure. Today, with this new mesh network technology for the I/A Series system, the company once again raises the bar for process control network availability. Unlike conventional redundant networks, the new mesh networks can be configured to maintain non-stop communications even when faced with multiple points of failure, such as the simultaneous loss of a communications port and a wire break. To the best of our knowledge, this capability is unprecedented in the process control industry.
Upon rapid detection of one or more network faults, the advanced patented diagnostics automatically reconfigures the communications path to maintain system communications. In effect, the network is smart enough to heal itself. This new mesh technology can be used to configure plant-wide process control networks as well as to provide a secure, high-performance link between I/A Series control processors and their associated Fieldbus I/O Modules. Where appropriate, I/A Series workstations, control processors, device integrators, and fieldbus modules can all be placed on a common mesh network.
The I/A Series system combines superior flexibility, security, and high-performance networking, paving the way for current and new I/A Series users to leverage the advantages of the ArchestrA infrastructure, Invensys' comprehensive plant automation and information architecture.
I/A Series networking offers fully redundant control and field communications with no single point of failure. Our open systems architecture and incorporation of industry standards let users determine the best networking strategy to meet their automation and information needs. Today's control architectures require flexibility without sacrificing security. The I/A Series system addresses security at all levels of networking.