Metrobility introduces industrial Ethernet products

To provide Ethernet-based connectivity from the factory floor to the control room, Metrobility Optical Systems recently introduced a modular, dual dc-powered, DIN-rail mounted, two slot chassis to support industrial applications migrating from legacy fieldbus interfaces to optical Ethernet.

By Control Engineering Staff October 2, 2003

To provide Ethernet-based connectivity from the factory floor to the control room, Metrobility Optical Systems recently introduced a modular, dual dc-powered, DIN-rail mounted, two slot chassis to support industrial applications migrating from legacy fieldbus interfaces to optical Ethernet. Using the higher speeds, extended distances, and electrical interference immunity of optical Ethernet enables plant information systems to be integrated into a high-availability, real-time database to improve the manufacturing process. Metrobility says its RD20-24 is the first extensively managed, modular media converter chassis for the industrial market.

”We’ve used RD20-24 in automation applications with great success, and we’re now seeing increased demand for industrial Ethernet devices,” says Jan Grove-Knutsen, Ethernet automation product manager at Norway-based Last Mile Communication. ”Metrobility’s modular DIN-rail chassis allows us to offer a ready-to-install solution that can easily be customized with any of the company’s media conversion line cards.”

RD20-24 chassis supports two modules that offer copper-to-fiber connectivity between the copper-based devices on the factory floor and the control room. Running fiber to the control room has many advantages because it’s immune to noise and supports extended distances often found in large plants. Also, the device can be managed from a central SNMP management station with an intuitive graphical user interface when configured with Metrobility’s Access Line Cards.

”Metrobility’s ability to deliver enhanced diagnostics was crucial to integrating its chassis-based devices into a process control system that uses Obermeier Software’s SNMP OPC Server, which enabled a full view of the entire enterprise, including the infrastructure of a major power utility,” adds Steven Jones, managing partner of The S4 Group. ”The ability to actually see the infrastructure supporting the automation system makes monitoring the customer’s facilities much more effective.”

—Jim Montague, news editor, Control Engineering, jmontague@reedbusiness.com