CLPA Global Activity Report

In order to promote the IIoT visualization of production sites, a lot of devices and equipment need to be connected to the network. In reality, however, old devices and equipment were often designed without taking networking into account, limiting networking and visualization with the IoT.
CC-Link IE Field Network Basic is provided as a new option making such devices and equipment compatible with CC-Link IE. Notably, it allows device compatibility with CC-Link IE simply through implementing software on a device. Hence device makers can add this compatibility to almost any product with an Ethernet port, making support for the network easier to implement. The approach is simple, yet continues to offer the functions of CC-Link IE such as linkage with host IT systems. CC-Link IE integrates the entire production site, including already network-enabled devices and equipment, realizing an environment ready for IIoT use.
This is a major benefit for both the users of the devices and the vendors who develop them. Hardware design is often required to support devices corresponding to protocols other than CC-Link IE, which makes product development and management more complex. However, enabling CC-Link IE simply by means of software development will allow any network-compatible hardware to be shared between different protocols, leading to cost reduction as well.
The communication speed of CC-Link IE Field Network Basic is 100Mbps. Although different to the 1Gbps speed of CC-Link IE, this is sufficient bandwidth for the functions required for visualization, such as collection of operating information.
CLPA is already providing free sample code to members developing compatible devices, expected to appear this fall at the earliest.