Industrial protocols
In an industrial scenario, we need to connect several components at different levels. Vendors have defined open and proprietary protocols to communicate efficiently. Despite the proliferation of industrial automation protocols, the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI)/International Organization for Standardization (ISO) model provides a standard framework to interact with protocols.
The OSI/ISO model
The reference model for computer networks is the OSI model, which was developed by the ISO. It is a conceptual model to which the computer networks’ makers can refer rather than a precise description of a real network. In the ISO/OSI model, every node of the network can be sketched as a hierarchical structure of seven levels, as shown in the following diagram:
Figure 3.9 – Functional layers in the ISO/OSI model
The functional layers in the OSI model are explained as follows:
- The first level, starting from...
