PROFINET – The Ethernet standard for automation

PROFINET is the leading Industrial Ethernet standard with more than 7,6 ¹⁾ million nodes worldwide.

PROFINET makes businesses more successful by speeding up processes, boosting productivity, and increasing plant availability.

With PROFINET, Siemens is applying the Ethernet standard to automation. PROFINET enables high-speed and secure data exchange at all levels, thus making it possible to implement innovative machine and plant concepts. Thanks to its flexibility and openness, PROFINET offers users maximum freedom when engineering and structuring their plant architectures.

PROFINET's efficiency means optimal utilization of available user resources and a significant increase in plant availability. Innovative Siemens products and the performance of PROFINET provide a sustained boost to company productivity.

1) Source: PROFIBUS and PROFINET International (PI), values at end oif2013

PROFINET innovations

PROFINET has been expanded by a number of innovative features. These simplify the system configuration, in safety-critical applications for example, and support a leaner and more flexible topology in many different scenarios.

The I-Device (intelligent IO device) function enables simple and fast controller-controller communication through direct access to the IO address image with the PROFINET IO protocol. Local controllers such as the ET 200S CPU can be integrated into modular machines more easily, for example.

The Shared Device function allows two controllers to access the same PROFINET IO Device, such as a distributed ET 200 or a drive in a safety application. Because fewer devices need to be installed in the field, the engineering, cabling, energy and installation costs are reduced.

Plant availability can be increased using a ring topology and the Media Redundancy Protocol (MRP). This runs directly via the integrated RJ45 ports on PROFINET devices and can be combined in any way with the relevant Industrial Ethernet switches (e.g. SCALANCE X-200).

High network availability can be achieved without reconfiguration time using the MRPD procedure (Media Redundancy for Planned Duplication).

Advantages at a glance

More flexibility with PROFINET

Industrial Wireless LAN (IWLAN)

IWLAN reduces maintenance costs, increases reliability, and gives a convincing high communication performance. Only PROFINET allows the use of IWLAN with safety.

Safety

Safety-related communication via PROFIsafe reliably protects personnel, the environment, and plants.

Flexible topologies

PROFINET also enables the use of star, tree and ring topologies in addition to the linear topology.

Open standard

Thanks to its openness, PROFINET creates the basis for a uniform machine/plant automation network to which programmable controllers as well as standard Ethernet devices can be connected.

Web tools

PROFINET is 100 percent Ethernet and supports TCP/IP. Among other things, this enables the use of Web technologies, such as access to the integrated Web server of the field devices.

Expandability

With PROFINET, network infrastructures can be expanded as desired, even during operation.

More efficiency with PROFINET.

One cable for all purposes

PROFINET offers a host of functions on a single cable, allowing convergence of machine data and standard IT data. This creates consistency and cuts costs by reducing the overhead for cabling and training.

Device and network diagnostics

Extensive diagnostic data can be read out from the devices to locate faults quickly. HTML standard Web sites are used for servicing PROFINET devices – locally and remotely.

Increased energy efficiency

PROFIenergy switches off individual loads or entire production units during breaks – in a coordinated and centrally controlled way.

Easy cabling

Fault-free establishment of industrial networks in a short time without the need for specialist knowledge: PROFINET makes this possible with the FastConnect system.

Quick device replacement

When replacing a PROFINET device, the IO Controller detects the new device and automatically assigns its name.

Extremely robust

The use of switches even in field devices prevents faults in one section of the network from influencing the entire plant network. PROFINET enables the use of fiber-optic cables for areas that are particularly sensitive to EMI.

More performance with PROFINET

Speed

Fast motion control applications need high-speed data exchange. PROFINET's short cycle times increase the productivity of machines and plants.

Precision

Communication via PROFINET is deterministic. A jitter of < 1 µs results in maximum precision cycles and thus ensures high product quality.

Large quantity structures

With PROFINET, up to 256 devices can be managed by one SIMATIC controller. The number of nodes per network is more or less unlimited.

High transmission rate

By using Ethernet, PROFINET achieves a significantly higher transmission rate than previous fieldbuses. This enables problem-free transmission of even large volumes of data without affecting I/O data transfer.

Media redundancy

Higher plant availability can be achieved by means of a redundant installation. This can be implemented both with the help of external switches and directly via integral PROFINET interfaces.

Fast start-up

In modular plants, IO controllers must be able to detect new machines or plant sections quickly. With Fast Startup, PROFINET can detect devices and connect them to the IO controller within 500 ms.