The Future of Industrial Communication Automation Networks in the Era of the Internet of Things and Industry 4.0 Welcome to Industry 4.0 MARTIN WOLLSCHLAEGER, THILO SAUTER, AND JÃœRGEN JASPERNEITE W ith the introduc- tion of the Internet of Things (IOT) and cyberphysical system (CPS) concepts in indus- trial application scenar- ios, industrial automation is undergo- ing a tremendous change. This is made possible in part by recent advances Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MIE.2017.2649104 Date of publication: 21 March 2017 in technology that allow interconnec- tion on a wider and more fine-grained scale. The purpose of this article is to review technological trends and the impact they may have on industrial communication. We will review the im- pact of IoT and CPSs on industrial au- tomation from an industry 4.0 perspec- tive, give a survey of the current state of work on Ethernet time-sensitive net- working (TSN), and shed light on the role of fifth-generation (5G) telecom networks in automation. Moreover, we will point out the need for harmoniza- tion beyond networking. Recent Trends in Automation Technology The core of distributed automation sys- tems is essentially the reliable exchange of information. Any attempt to steer pro- cesses independently of continuous hu- man interaction requires, in a very wide sense, the flow of information between 1932-4529/17@2017IEEE @ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/BESJUNIOR MARCH 2017 IEEE INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS MAGAZINE 17
To facilitate information exchange, a multitude of industrial communication networks evolved over the years. some kind of sensors, controllers, and actuators [1]. After the introduction of steam power to relieve workers from hard manual labor and the invention of mass production based on division of labor, the introduction of automation technology was what is today often called the third industrial revolution [2]. To facilitate information exchange, a multitude of industrial communica- tion networks evolved over the years, starting from the 1980s. It is noteworthy that these developments, in many cas- es, picked up and accommodated new technologies emerging in other fields, primarily in the information and com- munication technology (ICT) world. Ethernet, wireless networks, or web technologies are examples of this cross- fertilization. These new technologies created new opportunities for making information exchange more compre- hensive. Consequently, automation sys- tems could grow more complex, too. The latest trends influencing auto- mation technology are the IoT, CPS, and the emerging tactile Internet. For the latter, [3] mentions industrial au- tomation as a key, steadily growing application field. These concepts are not entirely new and emerged in a con- text of ICT several years ago. Recently, however, they are penetrating industri- al automation and changing the angles from which people look at automation systems [4]-[6]. Moreover, they sup- port recent trends, such as achieving a higher degree of interconnection, cog- nitive automation, and shifting infor- mation collection and processing into cloud-based applications [7]-[9]. Applying the ideas of CPSs and IoT to the industrial automation domain led to the definition of the Industry 4.0 concept, where 4.0 alludes to a fourth industrial revolution enabled by In- ternet technologies to create smart products,