Evaluation of Ethernet based Control Network used in the Distributed Control System

Distributed control system(DCS) has been used widely in industrial environments. This paper proposes new network system named ERCNet(Ethernet based Real-time Control Network), which satisfies all strict requirements of industrial environment like nuclear power plant. The proposed network, ERCNet uses ring topology, Token passing mechanism and physical media of Fast Ethernet. Proposed network has newly invented device, TCS(Topology Conversion Switch) to adopt ring topology using Fast Ethernet physical media and to enhance the network performance. In this paper, numerical analysis and performance evaluations about this network will be done. Performance enhancement effects of TCS are evaluated by experiments.