Availability calculation of meshed, Ethernet based Automation Networks

This paper presents a method and the related software for the availability calculation of Ethernet based Automation Networks. After an introduction to reliability calculation basics, the calculation method and the functionality of the software is described. The software is able to handle networks that include rings multiple rings as well as meshed networks. Based on this information a case study shows the optimization of an automation network in order to improve the availability. A twelve step approach to reliable networks concludes the paper.