Industrial communications have come a long way in recent years. No longer are the days of Fieldbus cards & serial connectors. Today’s industrial networks are intelligent and robust. They can transmit data across high-speed wireless bridges, high-performance industrialized gigabit switches, and backhaul 10-gigabit fiber links.  

But this hasn’t always been the case. Up until recently, industrial networks were mainly closed-looped networks, consisting of simple communications between integrated digital circuits, microprocessors, and logic controllers. These simplified forms of communication were the industrial industry standards for many years.  

However, as advancements in technology and communications were taking place, digital circuits were becoming cumbersome, limiting, and expensive to maintain. The various industrial industries needed faster more robust ways of communicating that would allow for expansion and growth. This eventually led to the introduction of Ethernet technologies...