PROFINET is great at moving information across a network – we never get tired hammering that message home. But exactly how PROFINET moves that information is still a gray area for a lot of users, and deserves a closer look here.

Depending on the end-user's requirement, PROFINET allows them to build a reliable network according to their specific goals. This new white paper explores PROFINET redundancy options. Download it here...

Most of the communication in a PROFINET network flows between Devices and Controllers. Supervisors don't get much attention because they don't get involved in production work. However, a PROFINET Supervisor can be a great tool during system commissioning, checkout, and even to troubleshoot when there's a problem.

The PROFIsafe profile details are incorporated into the PROFIsafe driver firmware in both an F-Controller and an F-device. The PROFIsafe driver ensures the integrity of the safety portion of the communication. But, what are the network challenges? And how does PROFIsafe resolve them?

The conventional safety PLC concept meant that normal PLCs and standard I/O could not be mixed with safety PLCs and safety components in the same network. But what about the combined safety principle?

Depending on your application you will have to decide which protocol to use on your HMI. Let’s take a look at the main differences between a TCP/IP-based HMI and a PROFINET-based HMI.