PROFINET is an industrial communication protocol used extensively by Siemens control systems. It is specified by PROFIBUS and PROFINET International (PI), and is member of IEC 61158 and IEC 61784 standards. The physical interface used for PROFINET is a standart RJ45 ethernet jack. PROFINET cables are easily distinguishable by their green color. However, in some cases, a standart ethernet cable can be used to communicate PROFINET devices. Though, as an advantage of official PROFINET cables over standard ethernet cables, they have greater shields and isolation, which provides more durability under industrial conditions and more precise and noise-free communication. PROFINET operates at 100 megabits per second, and cables may be up to 100 meters length according to applications. Due to its response time which is less than 1 millisecond, PROFINET is ideal for high-speed applications. Another great advantage of PROFINET is that it uses the same physical connection standards as Ethernet. By this way, standard ethernet switches can be used to expand the network. As shown at Figure 4.3, PROFINET may be used to connect a variety of devices including PLCs, Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs), servo controllers, distributed I/O racks, temperature or pressure sensors and more all on one network.

Furthermore, there are some specified PROFINET profiles for particular areas. For instance, PROFIdrive is for characterizing essential properties for drives and encoders. Additionally, PROFIsafe is the profile for safety communication and enhancing performance in Functional Safety applications. Lastly, PROFIenergy is intended for energy management applications in production systems.

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