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Plant-Wide Communications Standard

Ethernet-APL Products “By the End of This

Year”
 25. August 2022  74 Views  3 minutes reading time

Paul Sereiko of FieldComm Group shows o�

the demonstration in Hall 11.0 at Stand E14
Source: Charles Butcher

Field devices compatible with Ethernet-APL, the latest standard for the physical layer in plant
communications, will be certi�ed and commercially available by the end of this year or early
2023, said Adrienne Meyer, who heads the marketing group at the APL Project, at a press
conference on Tuesday.

Progress has been excellent since the standard was �rst promised at ACHEMA 2018 and the
technology was launched at ACHEMA Pulse last year, Meyer said. In fact, the APL Project
formally comes to an end this month, though cooperation will continue between the four
leading standards organizations involved – FieldComm Group (FCG), ODVA, OPC Foundation,
and PROFIBUS & PROFINET International (PI) – plus the 12 major industry project partners.

Meyer is Vice President of Operations and Membership at ODVA. Joining her on the platform

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Ethernet-APL Products “By the End of This Year” https://process-technology-online.com/top-news/news/ethernet-apl-pr...

were Al Beydoun, ODVA President and Executive Director; Stefan Hoppe, OPC President and
Executive Director; Ted Masters, CEO of FCG; and PI Chairman Karsten Schneider.

Ted Masters said that FCG’s work on the logic and tools needed to test and certify Ethernet-APL
devices is nearly complete. The certi�cation process is designed so that, wherever possible,
vendors will not have to duplicate testing that has already been carried out elsewhere, he
explained.

Ethernet-APL (advanced physical layer) uses a single pair of wires – typically the well-known
Fieldbus Type A cable – to deliver data rates of 10 Mbit/s over long distances, and features
intrinsic safety for use in hazardous areas. Ethernet-APL supports EtherNet/IP, HART-IP, OPC
UA, PROFINET, and any other higher-level plant communications protocol that can run over
Ethernet.

A choice of “star” and “trunk-and-spur” topologies provides �exibility in the design of networks
and allows up to 50 APL devices, or in some cases more than 200, to exist on each segment.
The cable carries power from the control room to APL switches and �eld devices, so an
Ethernet-AP installation requires no �eld-mounted power supplies.

Ethernet-APL links �eld-generated data and enterprise systems, including the cloud, by
bridging the gap between corporate-level Ethernet networks and �eld communications based
on HART or Fieldbus. The improved connectivity is important for digitalization projects such as
digital twins or predictive maintenance models, and to make best use of the large amounts of
data that is available from modern plants, the project partners say.

HART and Fieldbus both have slow data rates and can require complicated protocol
conversions for remote access, engineering of segments, and troubleshooting. Conventional
Ethernet, on the other hand, requires four-wire cables and is limited in terms of distance and
intrinsic safety.

Ethernet-APL solutions to support functional safety are planned for the future, said Karsten
Schneider. At ACHEMA, PI (Hall 11.0, Stand C13 and G4) has a demonstration of PROFIsafe, its
proven functional safety technology, running over Ethernet-APL.

BASF and Procter & Gamble have both tested the new technology under practical conditions
and have found it easy to install and to work with, said ODVA’s Al Beydoun. but

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