Industrial Communication
Communication protocols are the backbone of industrial automation networks. Whether it is communication for control between PLCs, actors and sensors, or communication for OT/IT integration between devices and software applications, there is a need to deploy specialized and complex protocols and interoperability standards to cover the specific requirements of industrial production environments. While established Industrial Ethernet- and fieldbus technologies remain relevant, innovation persists and results in the development of new and modern industrial communication protocols and standards that offer additional benefits for users.
Reduced Time-to-Market and Simplified R&D
Product manufacturers and software vendors face a challenge to efficiently integrate industrial communication protocols and data exchange standards into their products. Communication subsystems consisting of protocol stacks, hardware base and application interface are a critical layer of technology, but they hardly differentiate a product or solution they are integrated into. At the same time, these protocols and functions are hard to implement and to maintain, and they require scarce technology expertise to do so.
Hence there is a clear case for product manufacturers and software vendors not to develop industrial communication protocols in-house, but to integrate communication technology available as off-the-shelf products, such as software stacks, software development kits (SDKs) or modules. Users benefit from reduced time-to-market, simplified, more efficient development, and significant cost savings.
Softing Products and Integration Services
Softing Industrial is a leading technology specialist for industrial communication and interoperability with decades of experience and thousands of product installations in process industries as well as discrete manufacturing. Our portfolio of Technology Integration products (software stacks, SDKs and modules) helps companies to integrate industrial communication protocols and interoperability standards into their devices, host systems and software applications. All products are developed (and used) in-house by Softing, with special attention paid to ease-of-use for the engineer. The range of Softing’s Technology Integration products includes:
- OPC UA Software Development Kits (SDK):
Client- and server development, for Windows, Linux, VxWorks and more, available as binaries and source code - Communication Stacks:
For PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, EtherCAT, Modbus/TCP, Foundation Fieldbus, PROFIBUS PA - FPGA based Communication Subsystems:
Supporting Intel (Altera) as well as AMD (Xilinx) - Embedded Communication Modules (Ethernet, Ethernet-APL, MBP):
For PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, EtherCAT, Modbus/TCP, Foundation Fieldbus, PROFIBUS PA
To accelerate customers’ product development, Softing Industrial offers services complementing these Technology Integration products such as training, workshops and integration support. Softing Industrial also provides services to manufacture devices for customers.
Softing Inc.
+1.865.251-5252