MA Dedham消息，根據ARC咨詢集團的最新研究：“將信號通訊繼續向下延伸到企業架構中”一文表明，工業以太網轉向了設備及自動化網絡領導層次的I/O級。基于設備和I/O級的全球市場，在未來5年里，預計提高年均復合增長率（CAGR）27.5％。在控制工程關于工業以太網協議的調查中，有63％的調查者都是在I/O級應用以太網的。那么有多少個節點呢？ ARC調查顯示2007年的市場總量超過1百萬結點，其預言到2012年將會增長到3百萬個節點。目前，主要的還是用在自動化控制的高級領導層面，產品可靠性中的自動化適用標準、智能執行戰略和整體性能改善，使以太網在許多要求的過程控制應用中成為關鍵性的選擇，對成長潛力更為重要的是市場對以太網的公用性的重視大于其公開性。 ARC 副總裁，也是ARC基于設備網絡的以太網全球前景展望的作者Chantal Polsonetti說：“ IEEE802.3中以太網協議棧層1和層2標準化，使得現成的物理層產品得到廣泛應用，并成為OEMs和終端用戶熟知的產品，但卻一直被視為工業自動化部分應用中的容器。每一個主要的提供商都想支持他們自己的高級協議。對于用戶來說，此種轉移可在企業中轉化到普通物理層，但是多重競爭協議在卻在自動化層。” 能使垂直整合在相同網絡上通過企業實現的網絡技術，至少在網絡協議棧的最低層，此種技術被認為是對生產商具有同等價值的建議。具ARC調查顯示，簡易網絡整合和構造/配置，及少數昂貴的、平坦架構和企業－寬泛數據交換，都可被用于從過程優化到資產管理的多重目，并且現在都可實現，研究公司還將繼續對此的研究。基于配置、安裝、維護和故障修理的技術基礎，可減少專業人員的需要，提供寬泛的技術基礎和更易實現的培訓和支持。以太網的全球實用性和支持，通過關鍵的IT和自動化提供商就能使其比專業的工業網絡更具吸引力。 降低對開放性的重視加強工業以太網中的公用性，在嵌入式應用網絡中都是可見的，也即私有協議典型應用的地方。此外，在運動控制中，工業以太網被應用在單個提供商應用中時，不要求采用來自不同提供商的即插即用元件具有此種性能。 [FONT=times] original text [/FONT] [font=times][Color=#708090]Dedham, MA — Industrial Ethernet’s migration into the device or I/O level of the automation network hierarchy “signals its continued march downward in the enterprise architecture,” according to a new ARC Advisory Group study. The global market for Ethernet-based devices and I/O is predicted to increase at a compounded annual growth rate （CAGR） of 27.5% over the next five years. A Control Engineering survey on industrial Ethernet protocols showed 63% of respondents use Ethernet at the I/O level. How many nodes? ARC says market size in 2007 totaled more than 1 million nodes; it is forecast to increase to more than 3 million nodes by 2012. Currently a staple at the control level of automation hierarchy, automation-applicable standards, intelligent implementation strategies, and overall improvements in product reliability have made Ethernet a key option in the most demanding motion control applications, ARC says; more important to growth potential is market emphasis on Ethernet’s commonality rather than its openness. “Standardization of layers 1 and 2 of the Ethernet stack in IEEE 802.3 makes commercial off the shelf （COTS） physical layer products widely available and familiar to potential OEMs and end users, but, as always seems to be the case in the industrial automation segment, each major supplier wants to support their own higher-level protocols,” said ARC vice president Chantal Polsonetti, principal author of ARC’s Ethernet-based Device Networks Worldwide Outlook. “For the customer, this translates to common physical layer components throughout the enterprise but multiple competing protocols at the automation layer.” One network technology that enables vertical integration throughout the enterprise over the same network, at least at lower tiers of the network stack, is described as a compelling value proposition for manufacturers, ARC says. Easy network integration and configuration/reconfiguration and the potential for less expensive, flatter architectures and enterprise-wide data exchange that can be used for multiple purposes from process optimization to asset management are now possible, the research firm continues. A common skill base for configuration, installation, maintenance, and troubleshooting reduces need for specialized personnel and provides a broader skill base and more accessible training and support. Ethernet’s global availability and support by key IT and automation vendors makes it more attractive than dedicated industrial networks, ARC says. Evidence of reduced emphasis on openness versus commonality in industrial Ethernet is seen in the network in embedded applications, where proprietary protocols typically are in use, ARC says, adding that, in motion control, industrial Ethernet is being adopted in single-vendor applications that don’t require the ability to plug-and-play components from different suppliers. [/color][/font]