Moxa announces support for the Open Platform Communications Foundation's United Architecture Field Level Communications initiative

May 31, 2019 -- Moxa is joining forces with other major industrial communications and networking suppliers in supporting the Open Platform Communications Foundation's United Architecture Field Level Communications (OPC UA FLC) initiative, specifically as a member of the FLC Steering Committee where it will lend its expertise to the development of a unified infrastructure for Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) technologies.

With the OPC UA FLC initiative, the OPC Foundation aims to build an open, standards-based communication solution for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) by extending the OPC UA machine-to-machine communication protocol from sensors in the field to IT systems or the cloud. Adopting one unified network infrastructure will provide vendors with independent end-to-end interoperability of their field level devices, such as sensors, actuators, controllers and cloud addresses, and enabling bilateral IIoT data communications between the factory floor and the cloud. With TSN as its foundation, the OPC UA FLC initiative meets emerging IIoT requirements for deterministic networking and real time communications over high-bandwidth, low-latency networks.

Companies on the FLC Steering Committee include ABB, Beckhoff, Bosch Rexroth, B&R Industrial Automation, Cisco, Hilscher, Hirschmann, Huawei, Intel, Kalycito, KUKA, Mitsubishi Electric, Molex, Omron, Phoenix Contact, Pilz, Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, Siemens, TTTech, Wago, and Yokogawa. The FLC initiative has also gained support from the TSN testbeds of the Edge Computing Consortium (ECC), the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC), and Labs Network Industry 4.0 (LNI 4.0) with regard to the FLC activities to adopt "One TSN".

Moxa has participated in all these testbeds to showcase the interoperability of its TSN switches with the devices of other vendors in one standard Ethernet-based network infrastructure. This interoperability will be instrumental in the future of industrial automation by opening up new possibilities brought on by the IIoT and Industry 4.0.

Download the Moxa white paper "How Time-Sensitive Networking Is Revolutionizing Industrial Automation" to learn:

• How smart manufacturing and the IIoT require deterministic networking and real-time communications for industrial applications over high-bandwidth, low-latency networks.
• How traditional best-effort Ethernet networks are evolving into Time-Sensitive Networks that enable deterministic services on standard Ethernet technologies.
   
• How international standards organizations and device vendors, such as Moxa, are collaborating to make TSN the future foundation of industrial networking. 

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