A closer look at today’s diagnostics concepts for serial field busses (eg, Profibus), Ethernet-based field busses (eg, Profinet) and industrial Ethernet networks reveals principal differences between the systems as well as advantages and disadvantages of existing diagnostics products. A parallel analysis of customer requirements for efficient network diagnostics shows that a lot is left to be desired. This is why Trebing + Himstedt have developed a trendsetting, unified diagnostics concept that features a combination of remote monitoring and central analysis.
Diagnostics of serial field busses
Field bus systems such as Profibus, Interbus or CAN using RS485 bus physics have been analysed for more than 20 years. The basic principle is identical for all protocols: a passive station monitors all telegram exchange and evaluates the recorded telegrams based on the respective protocol stack. This information forms the basis for a status display of the entire network and all connected stations. Most tools focus on complex telegram analysis with extensive trigger and filter functions which are highly useful for experts and service providers when troubleshooting, but are far too complex for the user. Bus physics may be tested with easy-to-use wire testers; however, this has the drawbacks of plant downtime and the fact that many failures are missed because they occur only temporarily, maybe even for only a few milliseconds. Taking account of the limits of these tools, Trebing + Himstedt already focused on ease of use with their first diagnostics tool, the Profibus Scope. With the xEPI 2 diagnostics unit, a solution for permanent, stationary monitoring of entire networks was launched for the first time. All key diagnosis information is available via a web browser at any time; an alert function notifies of problems even before they actually occur.
The formula for success for efficient network diagnostics
1. Permanent network monitoring instead of reactive troubleshooting.
2. Automatic alert in case of failures – ‘The network notifies the user in case of problems’.
3. Use of intelligent devices (managed components such as switches).
4. Traffic light principle for diagnostics.
5. Permanent documentation and inventory taking of network and devices.
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