Modelling and Evaluation of Systems for the Interconnection of Industrial Communications Networks

The aim of this paper is to tackle issues regarding interconnection of Industrial Communications Networks. For this purpose, two interconnection strategies are presented and applied to a widely used fieldbus standard: Profibus. The adaptation of Profibus to the so called Extended Fieldbus is investigated and an extended address scheme for Profibus is proposed. A brief description of the developed models, focusing in the interworking unit, is given together with the verification and evaluation methodology followed. Finally, some performance results are presented which are used to compare the two interconnection strategies.