3 EtherNet/IP
3.1 System description
XI/ON: XNE-GWBR-2ETH-IP
09/2011 MN05002007Z-EN
www.eaton.com
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3
EtherNet/IP
3.1
System description
Ethernet Industrial Protocol (EtherNet/IP) is a communication system for industrial applica-
tions.
It is used to exchange time-critical application information between industrial devices such as
simple I/O devices (sensors/actuators) or even complex control devices (robots, program-
mable logic controllers, etc.).
EtherNet/IP is an open network because it uses:
• IEEE 802.3 Physical and Data Link standard
• Ethernet TCP/IP protocol suite (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), the
Ethernet industry standard.
• Common Industrial Protocol (CIP), the protocol that provides real-time I/O messaging and
information/peer-to-peer messaging. ControlNet and DeviceNet networks also use CIP.
3.1.1
IP (Internet Protocol)
The Internet Protocol is a connection-free transport protocol. Since the protocol does not use
acknowledgement messages, telegrams can get lost. Therefore it is not suitable for safe data
transfer. The main functions of the internet protocol are the addressing of hosts and the frag-
mentation of data packages.
Note
For further infomation about CIP and EtherNet/IP, please contact also the user orga-
nization ODVA (www.odva.org).