The CC-Link Open Automation Networks Family are a group of open industrial networks that enable devices from numerous manufacturers to communicate. They are used in a wide variety of industrial
automation
Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...
applications at the machine, cell and line levels.
History
The CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) offers a family of
open-architecture
Open architecture is a type of computer architecture or software architecture intended to make adding, upgrading, and swapping components with other computers easy. For example, the IBM PC, Amiga 2000 and Apple IIe have an open architecture supp ...
networks. These originated with the CC-Link (Control & Communication)
fieldbus
A fieldbus is a member of a family of industrial digital communication networks used for real-time distributed control. Fieldbus profiles are standardized by the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) as IEC 61784/61158.
A complex autom ...
in 1996,
developed by
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
is a Japanese multinational electronics and electrical equipment manufacturing company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1921 as a spin-off from the electrical machinery manufacturing division of Mitsubishi Ship ...
. In 2000,
this was released as an “Open” network so that independent automation equipment manufacturers could incorporate CLPA network compatibility into their products.
In the same year, the CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) was formed to manage and oversee the network technology and support manufacturer members. In 2007,
the CLPA was the first organisation to introduce open gigabit Ethernet for automation with CC-Link IE (
Industrial Ethernet
Industrial Ethernet (IE) is the use of Ethernet in an industrial environment with protocols that provide determinism and real-time control. Protocols for industrial Ethernet include EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, POWERLINK, SERCOS III, CC- ...
). In 2018,
the CLPA was the first organisation to combine open gigabit Ethernet with
Time-Sensitive Networking
Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) is a set of standards under development by the Time-Sensitive Networking task group of the IEEE 802.1 working group. The TSN task group was formed in November 2012 by renaming the existing Audio Video Bridging, Au ...
(TSN) as CC-Link IE TSN. As of May 2020, over 2,100 CLPA compatible products from more than 340 automation manufacturers were available.
CLPA offers a variety of open automation network technologies. These are the CC-Link fieldbus, CC-Link Safety fieldbus, CC-Link IE and CC-Link IE TSN. Compatible products include industrial PCs, PLCs, robots, servos, drives, valve manifolds, digital & analogue I/O modules, temperature controllers, mass flow controllers and others. As of May 2020, there was approximately 30 million devices installed worldwide.
Structure
The CLPA is a global organisation with branches in 11 locations worldwide (Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, China, South Korea, India, Turkey, Germany, USA and Mexico). The headquarters are in Nagoya, Japan. Some branches offer conformance testing facilities (see below). The CLPA is controlled by a board of ten companies, who are
3M,
Analog Devices
Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI), also known simply as Analog, is an American multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor company specializing in data conversion, signal processing, and power management technology, headquartered in Wilming ...
, Balluff,
Cisco
Cisco Systems, Inc. (using the trademark Cisco) is an American multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, s ...
,
Cognex Corporation
Cognex Corporation is an American manufacturer of machine vision systems, software and sensors used in automated manufacturing to inspect and identify parts, detect defects, verify product assembly, and guide assembly robots. Cognex is headquart ...
,
IDEC Corporation
IDEC Corporation, formerly IDEC Izumi Corporation, is a manufacturer of Automation and Control products. The company was founded in Osaka, Japan in 1945. IDEC was founded by Tsuneo Funaki in 1945 and it became a company organization in 1947. ...
,
Mitsubishi Electric
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational electronics and electrical equipment manufacturing company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1921 as a spin-off from the electrical machinery manufacturing d ...
,
Molex
Molex LLC is a manufacturer of electronic, electrical, and fiber optic connectivity systems. Molex produces over 100,000 products for a variety of industries, including data communications, medical, industrial, automotive and consumer electronic ...
,
NEC
is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...
and Pro-face. The board controls the strategic direction of the organisation and oversees its operations, including the activities of the technical and marketing task forces and the global branches.
Industry cooperation
The CLPA has been involved in strategic cooperation with other open technology associations in the industrial automation space. These include PROFIBUS & PROFINET International (PI), the
OPC Foundation The OPC Foundation (Open Platform Communications, formerly Object Linking and Embedding for Process Control) is an industry consortium that creates and maintains standards for open connectivity of industrial automation devices and systems, such as ...
and
AutomationML {{short description, Neutral data format
AutomationML (Automation Markup Language) is a neutral data format based on XML for the storage and exchange of plant engineering information, which is provided as an open standard. The goal of AutomationML ...
. The cooperation with PI resulted in a standard for interoperability between CC-Link IE and
PROFINET
Profinet (usually styled as PROFINET, as a portmanteau for Process Field Network) is an industry technical standard for data communication over Industrial Ethernet, designed for collecting data from, and controlling equipment in Automation#Indus ...
. The OPC Foundation activity created an
OPC UA companion specification for the CLPA's "CSP+ (Control & Communication System Profile) For Machine" technology. Cooperation with AutomationML involved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to incorporate the "CSP+" and "CSP+ For Machine" device profile technologies into AutomationML models.
Standardization
CLPA has obtained the following certifications for its open network technologies:
*
ISO
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries.
Me ...
standards: ISO15745-5 (CC-Link, January 2007)
*
IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC; ) is an international standards organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies. IEC standards cover a vast range of ...
standards: IEC61158 (CC-Link IE, August 2014), IEC61784 (CC-Link & CC-Link IE, August 2014), IEC61784-3-8 (CC-Link Safety, August 2016)
*
SEMI
SEMI is an industry association comprising companies involved in the electronics design and manufacturing supply chain. They provide equipment, materials and services for the manufacture of semiconductors, photovoltaic panels, LED and flat pan ...
standards: SEMI E54.12 (CC-Link, December 20010, SEMI E54.23-0513 (CC-Link IE Field, May 20130
*
Chinese National Standards
The National Standards of the Republic of China (CNS; ) is the national standard of Taiwan, officially the Republic of China. These standards were established in 1946, and administered by the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection ("BSMI") ...
: GB/Z 19760-2005 (CC-Link, December 2005),
GB/T 20229.4-6 (CC-Link, December 2006), GB/Z 19760-2008 (CC-Link, June 2009), GB/Z 29496.1.2.3-2013, GB/T 33537.1~3-2017 (CC-Link IE, April 2017), GB/Z 37085-2018 (CC-Link IE Safety, December 2018)
*
Japanese Industrial Standards
are the standardization, standards used for industrial activities in Japan, coordinated by the Japanese Industrial Standards Committee (JISC) and published by the Japanese Standards Association (JSA). The JISC is composed of many nationwide co ...
: JIS TR B0031 (CC-Link Safety, certified May 2013)
* Korean National Standards: KBS ISO 15745-5 (CC-Link, March 2008)
* Taiwan Standard: CNS 15252X6068 (CC-Link, May 2009)
Conformance testing
All certification testing
for CLPA networks is carried out by the CLPA and is compulsory in order to ensure that devices manufactured by suppliers meet the strict technical performance standards. These include noise resistance and correct communication functionality.
To declare a product as CLPA certified, a vendor needs to successfully test their product at one of the CLPA test laboratories situated in the US, China, Korea, Japan or Germany.
References
External links
CLPA Global SiteCLPA Europe SiteSEMI E54.12-0701E (Reapproved 1106) - Specification for Sensor/Actuator Network Communications for CC-Link
{{List of automation protocols
Industrial automation
Industrial computing