Amplicon's Data Communications team regularly supply innovative networking products for Industrial Automation applications. Whether you require a wired, wireless or fibre-optic solution, Amplicon have a connectivity solution to meet your needs. The key product areas are highlighted below:
Industrial Ethernet
Amplicon have a wide range of Industrial Ethernet switches designed to connect PLCs, Panel PCs and other devices commonly found on the factory floor.
For larger systems, Amplicon can help with the design and implementation of layer 2 and layer 3 networks using redundancy mechanisms for 'fault-tolerant' operation. Managed switches from Moxa and Garrettcom provide single and dual redundancy at both the network and device layer which is often a critical requirement of process control and factory automation applications. The typical topology employed for process control and factory automation applications is the 'redundant ring' as highlighted in the diagram below. Switches are organised into a ring with a copper or fibre backbone delivering data from switch to switch. This type of network architecture uses an underlying management protocol to keep the system working even in the event of a cable being broken or a connector unplugged.
Amplicon are also familiar with the use of fibre-optics for long-range Ethernet links and noise immunity in industrial applications. We can help with the specification and installation of multimode and singlemode fibre and carry out OTDR tests to validate the quality of new and existing fibre-optic networks.
Whatever your networking requirement, Amplicon have a solution for you! To see the full Industrial Ethernet range, click here.
Serial to Ethernet & Modbus Gateways
Digi One IA
The 'Digi One IAP' is a fieldbus gateway device able to convert between a variety of serial and Ethernet based protocols providing connectivity between PLCs and instruments from different vendors. It also has the capability to capture ASCII data from bar code scanners / swipe readers and act as a proxy to serve the data in the required protocol. Examples include a Modbus PLC talking to a DF1 PLC or an Ethernet/IP HMI communicating with a dumb RS232 device.
MGate series
Amplicon's MB3000 series gateways are designed for easy integration of Modbus TCP and Modbus RTU/ASCII networks. With these models, Modbus serial slave devices can be seamlessly incorporated into an existing Modbus TCP network, and Modbus TCP slaves can be made accessible to serial masters. The MB3180, MB3280, and MB3480 offer features that make network integration easy, customizable, and compatible with almost any Modbus network.
The diagram below shows the operation of the MGate series from a protocol perspective.
There is an increasing trend towards using Ethernet on the factory floor for the interconnection of devices. To avoid having to write-off existing serial based instrumentation and PLCs, a serial to Ethernet converter can be used to effectively provide an IP address for each serial device. Amplicon have 10 years experience of applying serial to Ethernet solutions for different applications and have many products available from stock. Click here to see the full range.
Cellular - GPRS & 3G connectivity
Connect WAN 3G
Amplicon are experts in the use of cellular modems and routers for connectivity to remote sites. Valves and pumps in hard to access locations often have to be monitored for insurance purposes and GPRS can provide a very cost-effective WAN connection saving the cost of running fibre or implementing a wireless bridge to a local site with broadband connectivity.
The diagram below shows the architecture of Amplicon's solutions using 3G routers. We can provide connections to remote PLCs and other Ethernet devices as though they were all in the same room right next to you!
To see the full range of cellular modems and routers, click here.
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