Amazon.com description: Product Description: “Industrial Network Basics” is a resource that serves as a practical guide in understanding traditional network technology and protocols before moving into the essentials of the network technologies used in manufacturing, automation, machine and process control systems. Whether you work as a technician or as a design engineer, “Industrial Network Basics” speaks to the world of possibilities available for machine and process control in a clear and understandable language. Special emphasis is given to the unique characteristics of popular fieldbus protocols and the integration of complementary high speed “backbone” applications such as FF-HSE, Ethernet/IP and ProfiNet. The foremost industrial Ethernet and fieldbus applications are covered with one objective, to give the reader a solid foundation in network communications with equipment such as “smart” I/O blocks, programmable automation controllers, SCADA systems and a wide array of other “intelligent” field devices that are used in modern DCS environments. Included in the many topics covered: • Physical wiring media such as UTP, STP, Coax and Fiber-optic cable and connectors • Understanding how physical wiring is rated • Typical network topologies • Understanding Bandwidth • Broadband & Baseband • Decimal, Binary and Hexadecimal conversion • Understanding the OSI layers • TCP/IP and other protocols used in both traditional networks and “industrial networks” • Fieldbus Technologies such as FF-H1, Profibus, DeviceNet and RS-485 networks • High speed “backbone” applications such as ProfiNet, FF-HSE, EtherNet/IP and Sercos III • Allen Bradley networks, connectivity, drivers and cable interfaces