Fiber versus Copper Links: Making the Right Choice for Industrial Environments

摘要

Industrial environments are particularly challenging for data communications network designs for a variety of reasons. Typically rife with electromagnetic interference (EMI), unless every precaution is taken, these extremely noisy environments can wreak havoc on process control, automation feedback monitoring and data networks built with twistedpair copper links. These environments also introduce the potential for excessive ground-loop currents due to different ground potentials between links, placing a premium on galvanic insulation between systems, I/O cards, and components. Increasing data rates further exacerbate these problems, making effective network design challenging and media selection critical.