In a survey of more than 450 people, 34% of the respondents said that the field bus is not only used as the only industrial network technology but also with some of the Ethernet in the high-level business and enterprise systems on the main network. But whether or not the Ethernet will replace the field bus technology, 49% say yes, and 47% said that in the foreseeable future, the two technologies will coexist.
One respondent comments that "The Fieldbus has an advantage that makes it easier to solve local failures of the computer." However, Ethernet is catching up with the information and flexibility of the field bus but does not have I / O function. It is a challenge to closely integrated the two technology, but it also enhances the advantage. "
Another one comments that: "I have been working in the Profibusnetwork field for more than a decade, and in recent years we have been using Profinet in our new project, which seems to be a natural choice for me, we can also say that it is an evolution for me".
The third respondent commented: "The Fieldbus is so picky. As long as we can get diagnostic information from field devices and there is no distance limit, I think the Ethernet plug-in and play is the future direction of development, it will lead us to use fiber-optic connection site equipment."
The survey shows that users have not given up on traditional Fieldbus technology in the short term (nearly 80% of respondents still believe that traditional Fieldbus networks are still useful), but it is clear that they are competing to install Ethernet at a faster rate.
