Moxa Inc. announces its Time-sensitive Networking (TSN) solution for the factories of the future, showcasing a truly unified network infrastructure enabled by its TSN technologies at the Smart Production Solutions SPS 2019 trade show. The infrastructure of this solution integrates devices and protocols such as CC-Link IE TSN from the CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) and OPC UA over TSN launched by the OPC Foundation.In addition, Moxa has collaborated with each organization's partner organizations to complete compatibility testing and unite devices in an open, interoperable, and harmonized environment based on TSN, which facilitates OT/IT network convergence, plug-and-produce manufacturing, and edge intelligence.
“Moxa was one of the initial proponents of the OPC Foundation’s Field Level Communications (FLC) initiative and has worked closely with leading players in the automation industry, including acontis and B&R. Moxa is also a member of the CLPA and has collaborated with one of the industry giants, Mitsubishi Electric. Our goal is to drive innovative technologies like TSN to help ensure that future industrial automation applications operate on a truly unified infrastructure,” says Andy Cheng, President of Moxa Inc.’s Strategic Business Unit. “We are thrilled with our live demo showcasing devices from various machine vendors using different protocols but operating on a unified TSN infrastructure. We believe this will be the future of automation applications.”.
Our solution is based on our collaboration with other participants in the TSN ecosystem and offers a unified network infrastructure that supports both critical and non-critical transmissions in a converged network. This unified network can also support applications that require high bandwidth, real-time communications, and high levels of determinism and performance, such as motion control tasks. With our TSN solution, it is much easier to create a future-proof automation network infrastructure with greater flexibility. Furthermore, it allows owners to reduce their total cost of ownership (TCO) thanks to its simplified maintenance.
"The proposed solution enables more flexible management of industrial networks, along with TSN's standardized OPC UA for communication at all levels, including controller-to-controller and controller-to-field devices," explains Stefan Bina, Product Manager for Industrial IoT Network Solutions at B&R Industrial Automation GmbH. "Thanks to this collaboration with our partner Moxa, which brings its extensive expertise in industrial Ethernet and networking, B&R and Moxa can help ensure that configuration takes place on a truly unified platform, thus opening up exciting new possibilities for factories in the future.".
In light of the convergence of OT and IT networks, Mitsubishi Electric is implementing CC-Link IE TSN across its entire factory automation portfolio to ensure quality of service at both the OT and IT layers using a standard Ethernet infrastructure and truly facilitate convergence. “Our collaboration with Moxa on a pioneering unified TSN network infrastructure that integrates our CC-Link IE TSN devices for IIoT communication reinforces our strategy to facilitate this convergence,” says Hartmut Pütz, President of Factory Automation at Mitsubishi Electric Europe.
Furthermore, it is frequently observed across the industry that edge intelligence paired with real-time networking capabilities is a fundamental requirement when developing the factories of the future, as it simplifies edge analytics and edge controllers, and optimizes system design. Through collaboration with its partners, Moxa has integrated edge intelligence into its TSN solution.
Moxa plays a key role in connecting all devices in a TSN solution, and acontis' TSN software maintains real-time capability down to the application layer by sending and receiving data from the hardware. The end result of this collaboration is an intelligent, deterministic network at the network edge,” explains Stefan Zintgraf, Managing Director at acontis technologies GmbH.
In addition to presenting TSN solutions at its stand 231 in hall 9, Moxa is participating in joint demonstrations with the following organizations spread throughout the SPS 2019 trade fair grounds:
• acontis technologies GmbH (Hall 5, Stand 418)
• CC Link Partner Association (CLPA) (Hall 5, Stand 106)
• Ethernet POWERLINK Standardization Group (EPSG) (Hall 5, Stand 306)
• EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) (Hall 5, Stand 310)
• Grossenbacher Systeme AG (Hall 7, Stand 581)
• Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) Test Platform (Hall 6, Stand 360)
• Labs Network Industrie 4.0 Test Platform at the OPC Foundation (Hall 5, Stand 347)
• Mitsubishi Electric Europe BV German Branch (Hall 7, Stand 391)
