
Installation and User Guide
DS6x00 EtherNet/IP Scanner
Rev 1.02
II. EtherNet/IP
Overview
A LITTLE BACKGROUND
Most people who work in an office associate the term “Ethernet” with the physical cable behind
their desk. This cable connects their office PC to the printers and servers of the local network and
the infinite web sites on the Internet. This cable is only the physical part of Ethernet, the media
carrying Ethernet messages to your PC. On this wire is a whole series of communication
protocols such as IP, the Internet Protocol; TCP, the Transport Control Protocol; and various
Microsoft protocols such as NetBEUI. This suite of protocols works well for the office
environment. It allows users to share files, access printers, send email, search the Internet and
perform all the other communications used in the office environment.
The needs of the factory floor are much different with some very special requirements. Instead of
accessing files and printers, factory floor controllers must access data embedded in drive
systems, operator workstations and I/O devices. Instead of letting a user wait while a task is
being performed, factory floor data communications needs are real-time or very close to real
time. Terminating the fill operation on a bottle requires much more time-precise communications
than accessing the next page of an Internet site.
Traditionally, Ethernet had only limited acceptance in Industrial Automation. Until recently the
expense, lack of intelligent switches and routers and the domination of large vendors with
proprietary protocols prevented the wide acceptance of Ethernet on the factory floor. Now with
prices falling, PCs with inherent Ethernet capability moving in droves onto the factory floor and
intelligent switches and routers, Ethernet is gaining acceptance. Only the lack of a widely
accepted, flexible application layer targeted to Industrial Automation has prevented its complete
acceptance.
ETHERNET/IP
Ethernet/IP is the application layer protocol that can meet this challenge. Four independent
groups have joined forces to develop and promote EIP as a public domain Ethernet application
layer for Industrial Automation. These groups include the Open DeviceNet Vendor Association
(ODVA), the Industrial Open Ethernet Association (IOANA), Control Net International (CI) and
the Industrial Ethernet Association (IEA). The goals of this effort illustrate how EIP provides a
wide-ranging, comprehensive, certifiable standard suitable to a wide variety of automation
devices:
Ethernet/IP uses all the transport and control protocols used in traditional Ethernet including the
Transport Control Protocol (TCP), the Internet Protocol (IP) and the media access and signaling
technologies found in off-the-shelf Ethernet interface cards. Building on these standard PC
technologies means that EIP works transparently with all the standard off-the-shelf Ethernet
devices found in today’s marketplace. It also means that EIP can be easily supported on standard
PCs and all their derivatives. Even more importantly, basing EIP on a standard technology
platform ensures that EIP will move forward as the base technologies evolve in the future.
© 2004 Datalogic S.p.A. – All Right Reserved
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