Ethernet tech tips CD provides a wealth of Information

Aimed at busy engineers, a CD from Contemporary Controls entitled “CTRLink” contains all the information required to get an industrial Ethernet installation done properly.

By Control Engineering Staff August 23, 2007

Downers Grove, IL —Aimed at busy engineers, a CD from Contemporary Controls entitled “CTRLink” contains all the information required to get an industrial Ethernet installation done properly. Sales Manager Joe Stasiek says the CD is “packed with valuable information and has all the right tools for troubleshooting your network.”

General information about Ethernet includes the “ABCs of Ethernet Tutorials,” application stories, technical notes and selection guides. Product details include data sheets, installation guides, manuals for managed switches (both Web browser and console port), mechanical dimensions, and regulatory and agency approvals. Support items include Visio stencils and firmware updates.

A 14-page catalog with the CD has descriptions and ordering information. Such tutorials can be useful when making networking and communications decisions in machine design and for motion control.

The company also has a blog about Ethernet. The Aug. 20 post, “ The Value of Rate Limiting ,” advises that rate limiting (or rate control), available on some managed switches, can help prevent card failure by controlling the “rate of broadcast, multicast or unicast messages — and perhaps even destination look-up failures and MAC control frames,” allowing fine-tuning of bandwidth allocation.

—Edited by C.G. Masi , senior editor, Control Engineering