Ann Arbor, Mich., April 19, 2004 - ODVA and CI today announced the formation of two joint special interest groups (jSIGs). The CIP Safety(tm) jSIG will complete safety enhancements to the Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) - the upper-layer networking protocol shared by DeviceNet(tm) and EtherNet/IP(tm). The second group, the Distributed Motion jSIG, will develop standards related to commissioning and maintenance of distributed motion applications via synchronization services over CIP.CIP Safety will allow both standard and safety devices to operate on the same open network. It will also allow safety devices from multiple vendors to seamlessly route messages across CIP-based standard networks - DeviceNet, ControlNet(tm) and EtherNet/IP - to other safety devices with no extra programming. The jSIG is designing CIP Safety for use in safety applications up to Safety Integrity Level (SIL) 3 according to IEC 61508 standards."This jSIG is the final step in preparing CIP Safety for the plant floor," said Dave Vasko, CIP Safety jSIG chairperson and manager of architecture development at Rockwell Automation. "Once the specifications are finalized and CIP Safety products are available, plant engineers will have more flexibility for safety solutions, which will accelerate system configuration, testing and commissioning. In the end, that reduces a plant's total cost of ownership." The first implementation of CIP Safety will be over DeviceNet. Named DeviceNet Safety(tm), it will provide fail-safe communication between nodes such as safety input/output blocks, safety interlock switches, safety light curtains and safety PLCs. Other CIP Safety solutions will follow, including adaptations for EtherNet/IP (i.e., EtherNet/IP Safety(tm)).The CIP Safety jSIG plans to publish the specifications as early as December 2004. ODVA expects that production quantities of DeviceNet Safety products will be available from member companies in 2005.The goal of the Distributed Motion jSIG is to specify objects for motion applications that require time synchronization, such as electronic line shafting and camming. The objects will be based on CIP Sync(tm), a standard for precision time synchronization - which leverages the IEEE-1588 standard - that ODVA adopted in 2003. Because axes can be coordinated using time as the synchronizing event instead of the arrival of data, CIP Sync enables a new paradigm for motion control."CIP Sync will provide a mechanism to synchronize the clocks across a distributed network, which will allow companies to replace proprietary solutions with a standard solution, and custom network interface components with off-the-shelf components," said Steve Zuponcic, jSIG chairperson and program manager at Rockwell Automation. "This will simplify installations, as well as increase flexibility."The Distributed Motion jSIG expects to finalize the CIP Sync specifications within the next 12 months. Initially, it will develop synchronization enhancements for EtherNet/IP, followed by other CIP networks. The jSIG also will map a CIP-to-SERCOS gateway function. "The formation of these two JSIGs represents another important milestone for users of CIP-based networks. Our members have invested considerable resources in the development of safety and time synchronization technologies," said Katherine Voss, executive director for ODVA. "The organization is committed to bringing these innovations to market as open standards."ODVA has an agreement with ControlNet International (CI) to co-manage the CIP specification. jSIGs include members from both organizations and are created to develop specification enhancements. Participants in these jSIGs assign or license these enhancements jointly to ODVA and CI. This process ensures that vendors and manufacturers can use the technology within the CIP specification without additional licensing agreements or fees for the contributed technology. About ODVAODVA is an international association comprised of members from the world's leading automation companies. Collectively, ODVA and its members support network technologies based on the Common Industrial Protocol (CIP(tm)). These currently include DeviceNet(tm), EtherNet/IP(tm), CIP Safety(tm) and CIP Sync(tm). ODVA manages the development of these open technologies and assists manufacturers and users of CIP-based networks through tools, training and marketing activities. In addition, ODVA offers conformance testing to help ensure that products built to its specifications operate in multi-vendor systems. ODVA also is active in other standards development organizations and industry consortia to drive the growth of open communication standards. For more information, visit its web site at www.odva.org.
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