In a move that is being welcomed by the oil and gas industry, a new extension to the existing CIP protocol will allow both standard and safety devices to operate on the same network for the first time. It will also allow safety devices to seamlessly communicate across other CIP-based standard networks, such as DeviceNet, ControlNet and EtherNet/IP, to other safety devices with no additional programming.

In a move that should help improve safety and efficiency within the oil and gas industry, three leading global automation and machine safety companies - Rockwell Automation, Omron Corporation and Sick - are collaborating on the development of an open protocol for safety communications.
Based on the existing control and information protocol (CIP) found in DeviceNet, ControlNet and EtherNet/IP, the newly defined safety protocol extension for CIP Safety has received concept approval by T†V Rheinland. This represents a major milestone in meeting the requirements of safety technology in an open, interoperable network environment.
Based on customer requirements, the three companies, all members of the Open DeviceNet Vendor Association (ODVA), recognised the need for an open, interoperable safety protocol that was compatible with existing networks in the industry. Consequently, they began collaborating on a safety protocol, based on an extension to CIP, to meet the emerging customer requirements. ODVA has embraced having these companies continue this collaboration to implement CIP Safety.
"CIP Safety is another example of how ODVA brings together competitive vendors from across the globe working together to address the needs of industry," said Katherine Voss, ODVA executive director. "CIP Safety will allow us to build on the success of DeviceNet and EtherNet/IP and the investments that customers have made."
Consisting of an extension to the existing CIP protocol, CIP Safety will allow both standard and safety devices to operate on the same network. It will also allow safety devices to seamlessly communicate across other CIP-based standard networks - such as DeviceNet, ControlNet and EtherNet/IP - to other safety devices with no additional programming.
This novel routing feature, which is not available today for safety communications, will be realised without the need for expensive safety specific hardware, such as specialised gateways and bridges. Additional benefits of this new approach include network design flexibility, easier training and maintenance, and a common view of both standard and safety networked devices.
CIP Safety's first implementation will be over DeviceNet, and will provide fail-safe communication between nodes such as safety input/output blocks, safety interlock switches, safety light curtains and safety PLCs.
As an open standard, CIP Safety is designed for use in safety applications up to Safety Integrity Level (SIL) 3 according to IEC 61508 standards. Use of CIP Safety will provide customers with a breadth of products from multiple vendors that work together. In addition, customers will have tremendous flexibility in network architecture design and installation cost savings.

The protocol's CIP foundation is the key to advanced communication and integration between networks. CIP builds in a standard set of services for control, configuration and data collection, and provides benefits such as: media independence; fully defined device profiles; control services; multiple data exchange options; seamless, multi-hop routing; and producer/consumer services. As a media independent protocol, vendors will be able to apply it to other CIP-based networks such as EtherNet/IP.
Concept approval from TUV is the first milestone in the development of CIP Safety. When completed and certified by TUV, this open specification for CIP Safety will be owned and managed by ODVA. The companies' next step will be submission for approval of a system requirements specification, for implementing CIP Safety on DeviceNet. The companies expect to introduce the first DeviceNet Safety solutions in 2004.