A previous edition of PROFINEWS carried a PROFINET quiz drawn from new and old questions. This month there are all new questions! Challenge your PROFINET knowledge today...

Did you know that there’s a new IO-Link Design Guideline? A new Design Guideline from the IO-Link Community offers all interested users support during the planning of automation systems with IO-Link devices. In an action-oriented approach, the tasks required during planning are described step by step.

Did you know that IO-Link can be integrated into any fieldbus system? One of the most important features of IO-Link is its fieldbus neutrality. It allows the IO-Link functionality to be connected to nearly any fieldbus. Either the standardized mappings in fieldbuses, e.g. for PROFIBUS, PROFINET, EtherCat, and Sercos, or manufacturer-specific mappings for EtherNet/IP, CANopen, Modbus, CC-Link, and AS-Interface can be used for this.

Should you use a managed switch or an unmanaged switch with PROFINET? YES! Yes, you should use either a managed or an unmanaged Ethernet switch with PROFINET.

In the early days of Ethernet, collisions on the network prevented its use in deterministic industrial applications. If two stations tried to transmit at the same time, a collision would result. The collision was detected and each station “backed off” a random time and tried again. This approach was fine for web browsing and email but prevented determinism. The advent of switched Ethernet networks did away will collisions allowing Ethernet to be applied in industrial automation where determinism was a must.

Did you know that IO-Link does away with the great variety of signals and interfaces on the sensor/actuator level once and for all? Naturally, sensors and actuators covering a wide range of complexity and characteristics were produced in the past, when there was no standard for an interface with communications capability. Today, IO-Link bundles up this variety and simplifies the last meter of the sensor-actuator level. The reason is that IO-Link needs nothing more than an M12 plug connection and a standard 3- or 5-wire sensor cable.

Did you know that IO-Link drastically reduces electrical installation costs? IO-Link results in significant cost savings even for classic binary sensors. For use as an installation system, IO-Link sensor hubs are available on the market that condense up to 16 binary sensors with one switching output or 8 sensors with two switching outputs (e.g. antivalent or Desina sensors) into a single serial IO-Link connection.