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Product category: Engineering Education, Resources and Standards
News Release from: Sercos North America
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial Team on 28 April 2008

Safety specification is added to Sercos
III

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Users of Sercos III real-time Ethernet technology can now rely on an established network-spanning safety protocol.

The official evaluation of the CIP Safety on Sercos specification has been completed and it is being released as a function-specific profile (FSP Safety) for Industrial Ethernet-based Sercos III The extensions specified by Sercos International will be included in Edition 2.2

of the CIP Safety specification and will be published in the IEC61784-3 international safety standard.

Thus, users of the Sercos III real-time Ethernet technology can rely on an established network-spanning safety protocol, CIP Safety of the ODVA (Open DeviceNet Vendors Association).

CIP Safety on Sercos is based on the CIP Safety protocol and provides for safe data transmission over Sercos III up to SIL 3 according to IEC61508.

The safety protocol uses the Sercos Messaging Protocol (SMP), which enables the representation of the CIP data and services on configured, cyclic data containers in the Sercos telegram.

Thanks to the routing capability of the CIP Safety protocol, a safety network can stretch across several diverse communication networks (such as DeviceNet, Ethernet/IP and Sercos III).

According to the CIP Safety specification, the safe data container embedded in the Sercos frame can contain between 2 and 250byte of safe user data.

Independent of the type of data - command values, logical signals, or safe logic or process information - Sercos III provides a homogeneous, continuous solution for modern automation concepts.

According to Peter Lutz, Managing Director of Sercos International: "The combination of CIP Safety with the Ethernet-based Sercos III fulfils the desire of users and suppliers to embark on a global standard instead of supporting different safety protocols".

"CIP Safety on Sercos also opens up new perspectives".

"For example, using the direct crosscommunication supported by Sercos III, basic, safe slave devices can be linked without any additional safety control - and this with minimal reaction times".

"Thus, Sercos International has achieved an important step in establishment of the Sercos III Real-time Ethernet technology as a universal network solution for a broad range of manufacturing systems".

The official evaluation of the CIP Safety on Sercos specification was performed by TUV Rheinland and BGIA St Augustin.

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