The role of MAP in factory integration

The interplay of technology and market factors surrounding the manufacturing automation protocol (MAP) is examined. A four-tier hierarchical industrial communications model is presented and MAP is positioned within it. Several events and decisions during the evolution of MAP are identified as having had unusually far-reaching effects in terms of the way MAP is being used. It is asserted that MAP will play a key role in factory-wide networking, but nonstandard networks are still widely used where standards fail to address special requirements of performance or function. The effect that the development of real-time versions of MAP-like networks will have on factory communications is described. The central issue in such real-time networks is to provide both the responsiveness required by the application and the services required for wide connectivity among devices. The impetus to embrace MAP is yielding network designs different from ones based solely on technical considerations. Two case studies are presented to discuss the technical, administrative, and economic factors surrounding early MAP usage.<
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