1-2 Industrial Communication Systems
communication.interfaces..e.model.denes.functions,.which.are.expected.by.the.components.that.
contribute.to.communication..It.explains.how.these.functions.can.be.based.on.each.other.and.how.they.
cooperate..Before.the.ISO/OSI.model.was.created,.dierent.experts.from.dierent.elds.of.communica-
tion
.(e.g.,.telecommunications,.computer.communication,.automation,.process.engineering,.or.equipment.
technology).created.completely.dierent.solutions..ey.dened.proprietary.sets.of.functions.and.oen.
forgot.other.important.functions,.they.aligned.the.dierent.functions.individually.to.meet.the.require-
ments
.at.hand,.and.they.based.the.design.on.dierent.communication.principles..e.ISO/OSI.model.
dened.a.layer.for.each.subfunction.and.specied.when.which.layer.should.be.accessed..us,.the.model.
helps.to.simplify.the.decision,.which.subfunctions.are.relevant.for.a.certain.kind.of.communication.and.
how.they.correlate..It.builds.the.base.for.new.protocol.standards.(e.g.,.the.various.eldbus.standards.in.
[Zur.05]).and.eases.linking.dierent.types.of.networks.
Some
.literature.states.that.the.ISO/OSI.model.has.nished.the.language.confusion.that.existed.in.
technical.communication..is.is.a.bit.of.exaggeration,.since.the.model.does.not.claim.to.dene.a.uni-
form
.language.for.all.communication.tasks..If.that.would.have.been.the.goal,.the.model.would.only.
contain.descriptions.for.these.tasks;.instead,.it.describes.the.principles.of.communication..Considering.
the.vastly.dierent.communication.tasks.in,.e.g.,.an.airplane.and.in.a.washing.machine,.this.appears.to.
be.the.only.feasible.approach.
Where
.shall.the.communication.system.be.located.within.a.system?.ere.is.no.common.opinion.to.
this.question,.especially.since.at.the.time.the.ISO/OSI.model.was.dened,.the.only.separation.that.was.
done.was.between.application.and.communication.system;.an.operating.system.was.not.considered.
at.all.*.Today,.the.operating.system.is.well.established.as.being.located.underneath.the.application,.
and.sometimes.the.communication.system.is.included.into.the.operating.system,.sometimes.it.is.not.
included..Automation.prefers.a.design.according.to.Figure.1.2,.where.the.communication.system.is.a.
separate.unit.underneath.the.operating.system.and.establishes.the.connection.to.dierent.networks.
Consistent
.with.the.hierarchical.model,.the.interface.of.the.communication.unit.provides.its.services.
to.the.module.above.it—the.operating.system.(given.that.it.exists.in.the.system),.which.again.provides.
its.services.to.the.applications..According.to.the.top-down.design,.the.developer.shall.specify.this.inter-
face
.only.aer.the.application.and.the.operating.system.have.been.specied..However,.reality.shows.
that.this.is.oen.not.the.case..Communication.has.to.follow.a.standard,.since.it.generally.connects.
systems.of.dierent.vendors..e.dilemma.can.be.resolved.partly.by.allowing.the.denition.of.dierent.
*
.
e.fact.that.the.operating.system.did.not.play.an.important.role.is.also.shown.in.the.name.“application.layer,”.which.
would.more.accurately.be.named.“operating.system.layer.”
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6
1
…
FIGURE 1.1 Development.of.the.model.
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