Posted to News on 8th Apr 2009, 11:58
Substantial growth in number of installed Profibus nodes
PI (Profibus and Profinet International) has released these figures for installed nodes:
- 1.6 million Profinet nodes
- 28.3 million Profibus nodes
- 880,000 Profibus PA devices
- 630,000 Profisafe nodes
The organisation claims that Profinet is experiencing a rapid increase in the number of installed nodes. With 1.6million nodes by the end of 2008, previously unseen growth of 40 per cent was recorded (there were 1.1million nodes at the end of 2007). PI therefore says that Profinet is the 'undisputed market leader in Ethernet-based industrial communication.' Furthermore, PI estimates that the number will rise to 3million by the end of 2010.
Profibus is also seeing an increase in the number of installed nodes. In 2008 the growth in the number of nodes to 5million in comparison to the previous year (4.5million nodes) meant an increase of an additional 11 per cent. Hence the total number of installed nodes rose to 28.3million. Based on the calculated development curve, PI estimates that the 50million node mark may be passed by the end of 2012.
This growth reflects the trust of users who utilise the advantages of Profibus technology over the entire life cycle of their systems. A decisive factor for the constant increase in use is thought to be full investment protection and compatibility. This is important due to the long service life of systems, especially in process automation. The fact that this industry has also become fully reliant on the advantages of fieldbus technology is evidenced by the increasing number of PA devices. By the end of 2008 some 880,000 PA devices had been installed in the field, which corresponds to 20 per cent growth. The total number of Profibus (DP and PA) nodes installed in the process industry amounts now to 4.8 million.
Broad acceptance of Profisafe for use in safety-related systems is shown by its large market share: by the end of 2008 the number of Profisafe systems reached 66,000 and the number of Profisafe devices reached 630,000. A recently published study by ARC sees the total market of bus-capable safety devices at 700,000. This implies that Profisafe has a 90 per cent market share.
