Integrating fieldbuses and factory intranets

Field networks (also known as fieldbuses) are becoming the preferred means for interconnecting devices at the lowest hierarchical level in modern distributed manufacturing systems, particularly to support the real-time communication requirements between controllers, sensors and actuators. On the other hand, internet and intranet solutions are more and more used in the industrial automation scenario at the factory and cell level, and a new generation of applications for manufacturing and process control environments is appearing on the market which is based on popular internet tools and protocols. Very likely, in the near future, a pressing need for interconnecting intranets and fieldbuses in a factory environment will arise, so that the whole production process can be fully integrated. This paper deals with some technical issues that must be considered for accessing fieldbus networks by means of conventional web-based applications in order to enable the remote invocation and execution of configuration, management and control services on field devices. The cases of two international standard fieldbuses which are very popular in Europe, i.e. Process Fieldbus (Profibus) and CANopen, are analysed in detail.