By network-enabling industrial automation equipment, important tasks such as uploading/downloading programs, communicating between controllers, and generating e-mail alerts become possible. Unfortunately, the resources needed to design a solution that can seamlessly tie together a wide diversity of network environments that are widely dispersed, plus rapildly deploy that solution, can present a costly challenge to many equipment manufacturers. Virtually all of Rockwell Automation’s customers have widely dispersed and disparate network environments with a mix of 10Mb and 100Mb Ethernet devices. Having connectivity that would seamlessly accommodate either Ethernet standard became a necessity. Therefore, the company determined that a 10/100Mb Ethernet auto switching capability was required for the ENI interface. Two significant challenges faced the Rockwell design team. First, the small “footprint” of the ENI packaging made the task of finding a networking solution that would fit into the product design very daunting. In addition, time-to-market was a driving factor. In a highly competitive market, Rockwell Automation needed to deliver their network enabled controller products as quickly as possible, and could not afford long development cycles to integrate networking capabilities.

Whether sensors are stand-alone, connected to PLCs, interfaced to PCs or tied directly to networks, these devices can be found in a multitude of electronics that affect daily life – from washing machines to windshield wiper blades. Although there are a number of ways to add sensor data to a system, designers and users want to keep the sensor-to-system interface process as easy as possible, and, in many cases, users want this information to be accessible via the Internet.In recent years, the IEEE’s (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering) approval of multiple standards, coupled with the increase of factory automation suppliers differentiating themselves by developing different communications protocols, has resulted in over 50 different hardware and software interface protocols. What initially was an opportunity for factory automation suppliers to provide enhanced new features to their customers has become a challenge for sensor manufacturers. It is increasingly difficult to develop sensor solutions that will interface with all applicable protocols. To help alleviate this problem, smart sensor technology pioneer, Sensor Synergy, developed a near-universal sensor-to-Internet solution utilizing Lantronix Device Networking technologies.