The development of communication technologies and related connecting devices is mainly driven by Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 trends such as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), cyber-physical systems (CPS) and cognitive cyber-physical systems (C-CCP).

Ethernet remains the dominant wired networking technology today, continuing to evolve and adapt to the ever-increasing demands for speed, reliability, and new applications. While Wi-Fi has become ubiquitous for convenience, Ethernet holds its ground as the preferred choice for critical connections and high-performance scenarios.

For the coming decades, Ethernet will be the dominant standard for data transmission networks for the corporate and operational level. Today, there is an evolution of Ethernet application from the operational level to the field level. The development of simple, reliable and efficient industrial communication of the future is impossible without the consistent integration of all participants into one integrated digital network from cloud technologies to terminal sensors and mechanisms through IP-based Ethernet services. In this case, Ethernet has a decisive advantage over bus systems or current interfaces. Now there are new requirements for communication technologies and the Ethernet network infrastructure subordinate to them, which include high availability, short access time (even to shared data) and high data transfer speed. It is also necessary to ensure the security of the transmission of large amounts of data in various environments, including using determinism — to organize the transmission of information in real time or, in other words, guaranteed data transmission at a certain time.

The trend in the field of network technologies is the spread of the Ethernet protocol in new areas of application. These areas include automation, especially at the level of sensors and actuators.

Hazardous manufacturing facilities are currently experiencing a lack of data communication technologies and an inability to use more real-time data at Ethernet speeds. This will be a key factor in the transition to Ethernet. One such important new technology is the introduction of Ethernet into promising smart field devices in hazardous areas. Intrinsically safe Industrial Ethernet in the field areas of hazardous industrial facilities is simply a means to achieve the goals set in Industry 4.0. This will be a game changer for Industrial Ethernet in explosive environments and it is essential to create error tolerant network connections for the most reliable IIoT and CPS communication system. The definition of smart devices has changed over the past decades. Modern intelligent field devices are equipped with digital network interfaces, self-diagnosis of their operation, remote configuration, primary information processing, various monitoring and control algorithms, data loggers and a wide range of other functions. Future IIoT field devices will have enhanced intelligence. It appears that devices in the future will have multiple communication channels, each with built-in security, similar to a network router controlled over an Ethernet network. These channels will be managed using IP address and server technology, turning the equipment into a true data server. The high speed communication will be used to transfer the process variable (PV) to the control processor in real time and will take precedence over the rest of the device's communication resources. Other communication channels will be used to directly connect the device to applications such as process monitoring, equipment health, environment, energy management, asset management, maintenance planning and advanced diagnostics. This direct connection will be carried out in parallel with the real-time control system, which will simplify the overall architecture of the automation and information system. Information from advanced smart devices will increasingly be sent over Ethernet, and the devices themselves, in turn, will be directly integrated into management or database servers, IT networks. The combination of all these progressive solutions will result in truly intelligent Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) components that will have better process control, higher efficiency, lower power consumption, less downtime and improved quality. Advanced intelligent field devices are transforming into intelligent remote terminals (iRTUs), which blurs the very concepts of field levels, command and control. With the advent of the era of big data, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) architecture will include cloud computing and intelligent remote endpoints (iRTUs) geographically dispersed over a wide regional area. Examples are monitoring networks, industrial application systems in the mining industry. Remote terminal devices (iRTUs) can not only replace programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and perform local tasks no less conscientiously, but also communicate with the master center via high-speed communication channels with specified behavior. Migration of devices to Industrial Ethernet will start with the devices with the highest value. Devices with high data usage, such as analyzers and scanners, will be upgraded first.

The use and widespread introduction of Ethernet in the automation of industrial processes has long been constrained by the requirements for explosion safety, in cases where the final device was installed in an explosive zone. Until now, installing Ethernet in hazardous areas has been a difficult task in terms of ensuring continuous operation under voltage and ensuring a fast, secure connection. The physical layer of Ethernet consists of a transmission medium (optical cable, twisted pair or wireless medium) and information encoding methods for each transmission rate. 

A significant portion of test methodologies and limit levels for validating high-frequency electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) was established in the late 20th century and subsequently updated; however, the underlying assumptions often failed to account for the modern density of electronic and radio devices per unit area. Facilities now host a multitude of transmitters and receivers in overlapping bands—including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RFID, industrial radio systems, and private LTE/5G networks—while power electronics generate broadband conducted and radiated emissions, effectively raising the noise floor.

The aggregate effect manifests as co-channel and adjacent-channel interference, intermodulation products, periodic packet loss, and unpredictable radio link performance. Robust operation requires increased immunity margins and rigorous electromagnetic environment management, including site surveys, frequency planning, channel coordination, the mitigation of redundant radiation sources, and continuous interference monitoring.

For mission-critical applications where communication failure is unacceptable, guided transmission media remain the most resilient approach, as the transmission path is physically confined and can be engineered with high noise immunity. In practice, this entails minimizing the number of radiating devices on-site and utilizing wireless channels primarily for monitoring and non-critical functions, while maintaining critical process variables on wired, intrinsically safe Ethernet.

Wireless communication today is about convenience, while wired connections are about reliability. It's premature to consider Wi-Fi as a full-fledged replacement for copper cable or fiber optics in critical control circuits, precisely because of the physical limitations of EMC.

In the case of "optics", for repair or maintenance, it is required to de-energize the network for a long time, which is unacceptable for most industries. "Optics" also develop "hydrogen darkening" (hydrogen darkening), which makes it unacceptable in explosive environments rich in hydrogen, making it a weak link in the safety system. The twisted pair solution of intrinsically safe industrial Ethernet is more acceptable for working with mission-critical devices. 

Explosion Proof High Speed ​​Gigabit Ethernet over 1000BASE-T 4-pair twisted pair (UTP 1000 LAN Ethernet Solution) is designed to build industrial ecosystem in hazardous area, the most cost-effective, simple standard solution to help ensure high frame rate guaranteed.

And, explosion-proof high-speed 10 Gigabit Ethernet over 4-pair twisted pair 10GBASE-T (STP 10GE LAN Ethernet solution) will allow you to create advanced industrial heavy cyber-physical systems (CPS) and cognitive cyber-physical systems (C-CCP) in explosive areas. This is the most economical and simple standard solution, guaranteeing very high frame rates.