EC: ProView EKI-5000
Network Integration - Ethernet hardware: ProView EKI-5000 Ethernet switches converge process control and IT into one networking domain. This is a Control Engineering 2016 Engineers’ Choice finalist.
Smart, strong and simple ProView industrial Ethernet switches not only offer advanced efficiency of networking status management, but also provide simplified troubleshooting for users in the field. ProView switches support Modbus/TCP and SNMP protocols, and industrial-grade reliability with a wide operating temperature range, power-saving technology and UL508/CID2 certification.
The control engineer and IT manager can use ProView switches to converge process control and IT into one networking domain and monitor the real-time networking status with both HMI/SCADA and NMS software.
The switches offer a VIP port that allows engineers to design deterministic Ethernet communications. The VIP port can prioritize the data traffic for process control by tightening delay/jitter times. For example, an administrator could set I/O scanning traffic at the VIP port as higher priority than other application traffic—HMI, computing, etc., When the switch receives traffic from the VIP port, the I/O scanning data will be sent out ahead of other traffic—even if it has been received after the other traffic—through prioritization applied by the VIP port.
Energy-efficient Ethernet (IEEE 802.3az) adjusts system power consumption automatically based on port connection status and data transmission distance. That can save up to 50%, reducing the electric bill a lot in a 24/7 operation. The fanless design, wide range of operating temperature [-40 to 75 C] and industrial certification [CID2, UL508], promise true, industrial-grade reliability for process, discrete and machine environments.
Machinery OEMs can use these cost-effective and manageable industrial switches to bring I/O and network status into an embedded PC or HMI for monitoring and remote access. Proview switches are available in more than 30 SKUs from Fast Ethernet to Gigabit Ethernet, and in a multiple range of different fiber combinations with single and multi-mode. Advantech’s ProView industrial Ethernet switches also carry a 5-year warranty.
Advantech, www.advantech.com
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