COMPUTER NETWORKS FOR INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION

The course aims to provide students with an understanding of communication issues in automation systems and knowledge of technologies and tools for the implementation of communication solutions in various application areas. In particular, the course will address issues related to the design and evaluation of communication systems with real-time constraints and systems based on wired and wireless networks.

1. Communication Issues and traffic characterization in the different types of automation systems.
2. Functional architectures of different communication systems in automation.
3. Characteristics of the Application Layer of communication systems for industrial automation.
4. Fieldbus networks: PROFIBUS, WorldFIP, FOUNDATION Fieldbus, INTERBUS-S. CAN.
5. Real-time networks: overview on real-time constraints and MAC level protocols.
6. Message scheduling in real-time networks.
7. Automotive networks. Design goals and functional domains. Examples: LIN, CAN/CAN FD, FlexRAY, MOST, IEEE Audio Video Bridging. Overview on Time-Sensitive Networking.

8. Industrial Ethernet. The IEC 61784 Standard. Communication Profile examples: MODBUS, POWERLINK, PROFINET, ETHERCAT.
9. Wireless systems for automation applications.
10. Clock synchronization issues.

The application part of the course will be devoted to the evaluation of protocols through the simulation environment OMNeT ++ and the creation of nodes for wireless sensor networks to be used in automation, with hardware provided by the lecturers.

A series of tutorials prepared by the lecturers can be found in www.studium.it or in the personal web sites http://netlab.diit.unict.it/, http://lobello.dieei.unict.it/reti_realtime_automazione1718).

For further reading: Industrial Communication Technology Handbook, 2^nd Edition, CRC Press LLC, USA, ISBN : 978-1-4822-0733-0, 2014.