Why is deterministic data transmission important in process data acquisition?

For meaningful analysis, measurement data from different sources must be precisely synchronized in time. This is essential for correlating fast or distributed processes reliably. ibaNet-E provides deterministic transmission of already acquired measurement data over Ethernet, ensuring that temporal relationships are preserved.

How can high-resolution measurement data be transmitted efficiently over Ethernet?

High-resolution measurement data is generated in the acquisition systems and then needs to be transmitted efficiently. ibaNet-E packages multiple samples into Ethernet telegrams, enabling very high data rates over standard Ethernet infrastructure without requiring dedicated fieldbus or fiber-optic solutions.

What are the advantages of using standard Ethernet for data acquisition?

Standard Ethernet reduces infrastructure complexity and allows cost-efficient integration into existing networks. At the same time, ibaNet-E ensures deterministic and high-performance data transmission, even for large data volumes with strict timing requirements.

How can distributed measurement systems be synchronized?

For complex industrial systems, data from multiple acquisition points must be perfectly time-aligned. In combination with ibaPDA, ibaNet-E enables synchronization of distributed systems down to the microsecond range, allowing a consistent isochronous view of all measurement locations.

Which applications benefit most from highly synchronized data acquisition?

Applications with fast dynamic processes and distributed measurement setups benefit most, such as drive diagnostics, vibration analysis, and power network monitoring. It is also valuable for parallel measurement architectures across production and supervisory levels where temporal consistency is critical.

ibaNet-E – The Deterministic Protocol for Isochronous Acquisition

Application

With ibaNet-E, iba has developed an Ethernet-based protocol for deterministic transmission of measured values. It is used for communication between iba devices and ibaPDA, but can also be used for acquisition of high-resolution measured values from any data sources.

Overview Functionality Functions Customers Success Stories More Applications

Deterministic Transmission

For data acquisition via Ethernet, iba has developed the proprietary transmission protocol ibaNet-E.

It allows fast, efficient and deterministic communication between the acquisition computer and other components involved. You can use your cost-effective standard Ethernet cabling and standard network infrastructure for the data communication. The new system eliminates the need for expensive special fiber optic cables.

schematic drawing of the ibaNet-E functionality

Fast Transmission

The transfer rate via Ethernet is significantly higher than using ibaNet fiber optics, which offer up to 32 Mbit/s. Depending on the exact infrastructure, up to 1 Gbit/s can be achieved via Ethernet. With ibaNet-E using standard components, synchronous sampling up to 1 ms is possible.

Integration Into ibaPDA

The system can be conveniently configured in the ibaPDA software. A device search function enables automatic detection if the device is in the same LAN as the ibaPDA computer.

Data Acquisition From Any Data Source

For example, ibaNet-E can be used to import data from controllers or drives. By buffering multiple values for a signal in a single Ethernet telegram, ibaNet-E has the major advantage that data can be acquired at a higher cycle than the Ethernet transmission cycle. For example, with ibaNet-E 100 values can be transmitted every 10 ms, if a signal is to be acquired at 100µs (10 kHz)

ibaPDA in Virtual Machine

The use of ibaNet-E eliminates the need for fiber optic cables to the PC and thus also the ibaFOB board in the PC. Therefore, since ibaPDA no longer has to access hardware modules in the PC, it is possible to operate ibaPDA in a virtual machine.

Outlook

ibaNet-E enables different applications to be achieved, such as data acquisition from multiple data sources and distribution of the data to different acquisition systems to create redundancy. Multiple connections per device with different sampling rates allow simultaneous connection of different acquisition systems, for example at production level and control level.

In addition to the standard function, the “high performance” version of the ibaNet-E protocol will allow sampling up to 1 μs to be synchronized. ibaPDA synchronizes all the devices connected to it with an accuracy of up to one microsecond, meaning that isochronous measurement of multiple decentrally distributed I/O systems via Ethernet is possible.

Used Functions

The following functions of the iba system are used in this application.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why is deterministic data transmission important in process data acquisition?: For meaningful analysis, measurement data from different sources must be precisely synchronized in time. This is essential for correlating fast or distributed processes reliably. ibaNet-E provides deterministic transmission of already acquired measurement data over Ethernet, ensuring that temporal relationships are preserved.
How can high-resolution measurement data be transmitted efficiently over Ethernet?: High-resolution measurement data is generated in the acquisition systems and then needs to be transmitted efficiently. ibaNet-E packages multiple samples into Ethernet telegrams, enabling very high data rates over standard Ethernet infrastructure without requiring dedicated fieldbus or fiber-optic solutions.
What are the advantages of using standard Ethernet for data acquisition?: Standard Ethernet reduces infrastructure complexity and allows cost-efficient integration into existing networks. At the same time, ibaNet-E ensures deterministic and high-performance data transmission, even for large data volumes with strict timing requirements.
How can distributed measurement systems be synchronized?: For complex industrial systems, data from multiple acquisition points must be perfectly time-aligned. In combination with ibaPDA, ibaNet-E enables synchronization of distributed systems down to the microsecond range, allowing a consistent isochronous view of all measurement locations.
Which applications benefit most from highly synchronized data acquisition?: Applications with fast dynamic processes and distributed measurement setups benefit most, such as drive diagnostics, vibration analysis, and power network monitoring. It is also valuable for parallel measurement architectures across production and supervisory levels where temporal consistency is critical.