Transparent infrastructure planned for CC-Link IE and Profinet

CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) and Profibus International (PI) announced that both organisations are developing a specification that will allow Industrial Ethernets CC-Link IE and PROFINET networks to operate seamlessly together.

The work is being driven by market demand from end-users and machine builders in Asia and Europe to be ready for Industry 4.0/ Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) based manufacturing systems. They wish to use machines that include one network type in factories that use the other, and the easy integration of various networks, such as CC-Link IE and PROFINET is essential for this.

Building blocks to increasing productivity

Digital communication using a fieldbus or Industrial Ethernet is already widely used in modern production plants and is an important building block for increasing productivity. However, the range of Industrial Ethernet standards that has existed for years poses the problem that devices and machines of different communication systems are in themselves unable to exchange data.

Machine builders are therefore forced to equip their machines with different networks otherwise plant owners are limited in their selection of suitable machines. To overcome this there has been a growing need for manufacturer-specific transfer specifications and complicated bespoke converters.

Standardised interfaces

With their cooperation, CLPA and PI aim to enable transparent and easy bi-directional communication between CC-Link IE and PROFINET devices through standardised interfaces. To this end a joint working group is being established to develop the necessary technical specifications to achieve this goal. When work on the specifications is complete, it will be available to members of both organizations for implementation.

With interoperability between CC-Link IE and PROFINET planned for end of 2016, a white paper has already been produced that explains the key points of the cooperation.  It offers two solutions: a Coupler solution designed for machine level integration, and a Link solution for the integration of devices.

Link to white paper

Transparent network infrastructure between CC-Link IE and Profinet

Go here for CC-Link and Profinet devices