Glossary · Industrial communication
PROFINET
Also known as: PROFINET IO, Process Field Net
German: PROFINET
In industrial communication, PROFINET is an Industrial Ethernet system maintained by PROFIBUS & PROFINET International (PI) for data exchange between IO controllers and IO devices. It offers real-time communication (RT), isochronous real-time (IRT) for motion control, and standard IT services on the same network.
- Industrial communication
- Standards
In one sentence
PROFINET is PI's Industrial Ethernet system for IO controllers and devices, with RT and IRT real-time classes and standard IT services.
Example
A bottling line's PLC exchanges I/O data with 40 PROFINET devices every 4 ms, while the same network carries web access to device diagnostics.
How it applies
- Engineering: Devices are described by GSDML files and identified by device names, from which the controller assigns IP addresses. Conformance classes (CC-A, CC-B, CC-C) define the features a network and its devices support.
- Commissioning: Device names must be assigned before devices can communicate. Topology information and neighbor detection allow automatic naming during device replacement.
- Safety and redundancy: PROFIsafe transmits safety-related data using the black channel principle; Media Redundancy Protocol (MRP) provides ring redundancy. PROFIsafe devices don't make the overall function safe on their own; it has to be designed and validated as a whole.
- Documentation: The documentation team provides GSDML files, documents device names and addressing, the I/O data structure, supported conformance class and the replacement procedure.
PROFINET vs. PROFIBUS
PROFIBUS is a serial fieldbus; PROFINET uses Ethernet. PI maintains both and they share profiles and concepts, but the networks are separate and are coupled with proxies.