Take you to a comprehensive understanding of industrial switches

At the beginning of the formulation of the general Ethernet interface, the application requirements of the industrial network were not fully considered. Therefore, when the computer equipment is deployed on the industrial site, the reliability of the general commercial service switch should be dealt with in an extreme office environment, serious interference signals, etc. will face enormous challenges. For this matter, highly reliable, stable and reliable industrial switches emerge from time to time, becoming a transmission artifact that can be integrated into the natural environment of complex industries and is conducive to the deployment of industrial automation technology on the Internet.

1. What is an industrial switch?

Industrial switches are also called industrial Ethernet switches. Because of the selected Internet specifications, they are open, widely used, high-quality and low-cost, and apply the fully transparent and unified TCP/IP protocol. The Ethernet interface has already become an industrial A key wireless communication module for manipulation.

There is no substantial difference between itself and the commercial service Internet in the data link layer, transport layer, protocol layer, etc., but for the practicality of industrial operation and other requirements, the industrial Ethernet interface

2. The difference between industrial switches and general switches

Industrial switches are different from civilian and commercial switches. They are not substantially different from other switches in the fields of transmission layer, data link layer, protocol, etc., but because of their unique office environment and work regulations, industrial automation switches have Many civilian and commercial switches do not have the characteristics, it solves technical problems such as communication practicability, Internet security factor, security system and safety explosion-proof technology, and selects some countermeasures suitable for the industrial natural environment, such as moisture-proof, shock-proof verb: move.

Comparing industrial switches with general switches, there are two key differences in function and performance:

In effect, the industrial Ethernet switch is closer to the industrial network communication in function, such as the interconnection with various computer interfaces, the redundancy of machinery and equipment, and the real-time of machinery and equipment;

The key performance is the difference into the external environment monitoring system. In addition to many harsh environments such as coal mining and ships, there are also natural environments with special requirements in the fields of EMI (electromagnetic compatibility), temperature, environmental humidity and antifouling. Among them, the influence of temperature on industrial computer equipment is the most common.

3. Characteristics of industrial switches

Because of the differences and requirements in work and performance, industrial switches compared with general switches have the following main features:

Electronic devices Industrial Ethernet switches have high requirements on the selection of electronic devices. To be able to integrate into the requirements of industrial production and manufacturing sites as soon as possible, electronic devices must have anti-static, lightning protection, high and ultra-low temperature resistance and other regulations.

Mechanical equipment natural environment Industrial Ethernet switches can be better integrated into the extreme mechanical equipment natural environment, including vibration resistance, shock resistance, corrosion resistance, pollution resistance, moisture resistance, etc.

Climate and natural environment Industrial Ethernet switches can be better integrated into the weaker weather and natural environment, including temperature, ambient humidity, etc., and can be used normally in the working temperature of -45℃~75℃, and the air humidity is 5%~95% No condensation.

The electromagnetic induction natural environment industrial Ethernet switch has strong anti-electromagnetic interference ability, and the interference signal waterproof level reaches level 4.

Working standard voltage Industrial Ethernet switches have a wide range of working standard voltages, suitable for DC12/24V, AC/DC85~265V wide voltage options, general switches have higher current requirements, and more common fixed working voltage distribution.

In the power circuit, the general switches are basically all single-switch power supplies, while the industrial Ethernet switches are all dual power switches to back up data between each other, and also improve the power loss alarm function.

Installation method Industrial Ethernet switches can choose installation methods such as DIN rails, sound card racks, etc. The general switch is the general sound card rack, the method on the desktop.

Heat exhaust method Industrial Ethernet switches use fanless chassis to exhaust heat to reduce dust interference and avoid facility problems caused by fan problems, while general switches are cooling fans.

4. When to use industrial switches

Appropriate industrial Ethernet switches should be used on the industrial site instead of cost-effective commercial switches. The importance of using industrial switches on the industrial site can be clarified from the following aspects.

Predictability Because the MAC layer agreement of the Ethernet interface is CSMA/CD, the contract promotes contradictions on the Internet, and the measures are ineffective. When the Internet load is too large, it is more significant. For an industrial Internet, if there are many contradictions, the data information must be retransmitted many times, which greatly increases the variability of inter-network communication. Such variability from one place to another in the Internet of Industrial Manipulation must result in a reduction in control system performance.

Practicality In industrial automatic control systems, instant can be defined as the scalability of the response speed to something in the system. In other words, after an event occurs, the system software must perform it within a precisely predictable time period. As everyone knows, the practical regulations for information transmission in the industry are very strict, and the improvement of data information is usually carried out within tens of ms. And because of the CSMA/CD mechanism of the Ethernet interface, when a dispute occurs, it has to send data information again, and you can try more than 16. Clearly this type of system for dealing with contradictions comes at a cost of time. And once the disconnection occurs, even if it is only for a few seconds, it will likely lead to the termination of all production and even machinery and equipment, life safety and safety accidents.

Stability is because the Ethernet interface was not considered from the application of industrial network at the beginning of its formulation. When it is used on the industrial site, it will deal with extreme loads, serious influences between wires, etc., which will inevitably lead to a reduction in its stability. In the working environment, the Industrial Internet must have good stability, recoverability, and scalability. That is to ensure that when all parts of an application system have problems, it is not easy to cause the application software, computer operating system, and even the application system to crash and hemiplegia.

5. Main use

Industrial switches are generally used in industrial production and manufacturing sites, usually in various forms and installations. According to the difference in the use site, there are regulations for moisture-proof, anti-fouling, earthquake resistance, and anti-interference signals. The natural stability regulations are also very high, and 24 switches are required. Hours of uninterrupted long-term operation. There are some automatic control system applications, which stipulate that the sharing delay is poor, and some require redundant power supplies, such as DC24V switching power supplies. The complex conditions of the industrial site are considered when the industrial switch is formulated, so that it can be more integrated into the industrial environment and give full play to the effect of the switch.

The industrial switch sales market is mainly used in electric power, factory automation, coal mining automation technology, urban rail, wind and wind power generation and other industries, followed by metallurgical industry, crude oil petrochemical industry, highway traffic manipulation automation technology, housing automatic control system, Oil and gas field operation automation technology, hydropower plant operation automation technology, computer room monitoring system software, water conservancy project supervision, environmental protection supervision and other industrial automation automatic sites.

Industrial switches are used in some industrial sites with strict natural environment standards due to their high waterproof level (generally IP40), strong electromagnetic compatibility test (EMS level 4), and good working performance, bringing full benefits to industrial communications. of assurance.