IO-Link Insights

What is IO-Link?

IO-Link is a standardized, open, and fieldbus-independent communication technology for sensors and actuators. It's primarily used for point-to-point communication, enabling smart sensors and actuators to transmit process data, diagnostic data, and parameters to a control system, enhancing automation and diagnostics in industrial environments.

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What other technologies are related to IO-Link?

IO-Link Competitor Technologies

Profinet

Profinet is an industrial Ethernet protocol that can compete with IO-Link in some applications, particularly for higher bandwidth and more complex data exchange.

mentioned alongside IO-Link in 3% (561) of relevant job posts

Ethernet/IP

Ethernet/IP is another industrial Ethernet protocol competing with IO-Link, offering similar capabilities for industrial communication and control.

mentioned alongside IO-Link in 3% (473) of relevant job posts

EtherCAT

EtherCAT is a high-performance Ethernet protocol that competes with IO-Link, especially in applications requiring fast and deterministic communication.

mentioned alongside IO-Link in 3% (222) of relevant job posts

Modbus TCP

Modbus TCP is an older Ethernet-based protocol, still used in many industrial applications, and serves as an alternative, but generally at lower performance than IO-Link

mentioned alongside IO-Link in 3% (135) of relevant job posts

AS-I

AS-I (Actuator Sensor Interface) is a fieldbus technology that competes with IO-Link for connecting binary sensors and actuators at the field level.

mentioned alongside IO-Link in 4% (93) of relevant job posts

Profibus

Profibus is a fieldbus standard that competes with IO-Link, although it is older, it is still in use in many applications. Profibus is at a higher field level than IO-Link, however.

mentioned alongside IO-Link in 1% (293) of relevant job posts

DeviceNet

DeviceNet is a fieldbus technology that competes with IO-Link for connecting sensors and actuators, mainly utilized in older systems and less common in new installations.

mentioned alongside IO-Link in 2% (176) of relevant job posts

ASI

ASI (Actuator Sensor Interface) is a fieldbus technology that competes with IO-Link for connecting binary sensors and actuators at the field level. (duplicate of AS-I entry)

mentioned alongside IO-Link in 3% (66) of relevant job posts

IO-Link Complementary Technologies

Studio 5000

Studio 5000 is an engineering environment from Rockwell Automation for configuring and programming PLCs, and can be used to manage IO-Link devices connected to Rockwell PLCs.

mentioned alongside IO-Link in 3% (118) of relevant job posts

OPC UA

OPC UA is a communication protocol for industrial automation that can be used to exchange data between IO-Link devices and higher-level systems like SCADA or MES.

mentioned alongside IO-Link in 2% (172) of relevant job posts

Codesys

Codesys is a PLC programming system that can be used to program PLCs controlling IO-Link masters and processing data from IO-Link devices.

mentioned alongside IO-Link in 2% (101) of relevant job posts