In recent years, Ethernet has become the network technology of choice on the plant floor as manufacturers strive for more efficient and cost-effective ways to operate their plant. The technology enables manufacturers to unite their company’s administrative, control-level and device-level network into a single system, enabling real-time information flow throughout the company.
Though using the same Ethernet technology for their business applications and process control applications, manufacturing facilities protect their network from external and internal threats using a multi-layered approach1 by dividing the overall architecture into three segregated networks:
- The business information network, also referred to as the Level 4 network in the Purdue Model of Process Control, supports traditional administrative functions such as human resources, accounting and procurement.
- The control-level network, also referred to as the Level 2 and Level 3 network, connects control and monitoring devices including controllers, I/O racks, human-machine interfaces, plant historians and advanced control applications.
- The device-level network, also referred to as the Level 1 and Level 0 network, links the plant floor’s I/O devices, such as sensors (such as transducers and flowmeters) and other automation equipment.
To further read this White Paper please click 'Honeywell Wireless Process Control Network Architecture Overview'