Representative End User Clients
Representative Automation Clients
Representative Software Clients
After completion of a complete certification test for PROFINET devices, PROFIBUS & PROFINET International (PI) announced successful completion of all activities for the use of PROFINET over Ethernet-APL in hazardous 
applications in process automation. The certification was based on the specification documentation for the intrinsically safe physical layer for 2-wire Ethernet APL created as part of the cooperative effort with the FieldComm Group, ODVA, and OPC Foundation. Corresponding additions were made to the PROFINET specification by PI working groups.
Another component consisted of updating the GSDML specification. Previously, work that optimized the Profile for PA Devices for use in PROFINET devices in process automation had been carried out. To support simple, manufacturer-independent device replacement, corresponding profile GSDs were provided.
To ensure a high degree of interoperability between products from different suppliers, the Test System Development Group (TSDG) coordinated work for the provision of certification tests. Among other things, the scope includes additional APL-specific test cases for checking PROFINET communication, the establishment of an APL-specific test setup for interoperability scenarios, and the provision of a test for functions for the Profile for PA Devices. The certification tests and tools for the physical layer were provided as part of the cooperation with the organizations named above. Therefore, they are the same for all higher-level communication systems and only need to be conducted once, by agreement, for mutual recognition for the same hardware version of a product.
The certification test is available to all manufacturers of PROFINET over APL devices at accredited PI test labs. PI is already working on the next issue in coordination with end users from the process industry: functional safety with PROFIsafe.
Ethernet-APL is one of several Ethernet technologies covered in ARC's latest Industrial Ethernet Switches Market Outlook report.