Competency in Industrial Data Communications, Certificate

Overview

Modern industrial control and information systems employ a proliferation of technologies, including various hardware standards and protocols. For many of the personnel working with these systems the technologies are 'plug and play' and are just there to be used. The problems arise when decisions have to be made regarding the most suitable technologies for a given application, or when things go wrong and troubleshooting has to be performed. Without a thorough grasp of the working of the technologies involved, and without the availability of (and the ability to use) suitable diagnostic tools, this becomes a formidable challenge.

The programme

The world of industrial communications abounds with three-letter acronyms, protocols, layered communication systems, fieldbuses and device networks. There are numerous networking and industrial bus standards, synchronous and asynchronous protocols, baseband and broadband systems, bus and star topologies, connection-oriented and connectionless protocols. In addition, there is a pronounced migration towards the use of Ethernet and TCP/IP. No wonder some of us are feeling a little confused.

To complicate matters, many technicians and electricians who were initially trained in process instrumentation or electrical maintenance are now expected to perform network maintenance - truly a major challenge. 

This Competency in Industrial Data Communications program at Engineering Institute of Technology  demystifies the jargon and places the most popular systems, technologies, hardware standards and protocols in an OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) perspective. It explains how these technologies operate and equips participants with the tools and skills to do basic hardware and protocol-related troubleshooting on both serial (RS-485) and Ethernet type networks.