Industrial Ethernet at a glance

Level: Field, device

Speed: 10 Mbps using IEEE 802.3 standard; 100 Mbps using IEEE 802.3u standard

Network size: 2 km over fiber-optic cable at maximum two nodes per segment

Installed base: Most popular physical layer LAN technology

Organizations and websites: Industrial Ethernet Association at www.IndustrialEthernet.com ; Industrial Automation Open Networking Alliance (IAONA) at www. www.iaopennetworking.com ; and the Gigabit Ethernet Alliance at www.gigabit-ethernet.org

Outlook: Supporters expect legacy bus networks with 2 Mbps upper limit and shared 10 Mbps Ethernet to be replaced by 10 Mbps switched Ethernet increasing to 100 Mbps as need dictates. Ethernet is also expected to extend its reach closer to intelligent devices and remote I/O devices.