ABB has introduced the PNI800 Plant Network Interface, a high-performance communication interface module designed for industrial automation and control systems. The PNI800 enables real-time communication between SD series controllers and PC workstations running S+ Engineering, HMI (SPO or 800xA Operations), or general-purpose interface software such as Harmony OPC Server. It supports bidirectional and real-time data exchange, ensuring the efficiency and flexibility of the control system.

A notable feature of the PNI800 is its support for the IEC 62439 Parallel Redundancy Protocol (PRP), which provides optimal control network reliability and performance by eliminating a single point of failure and supporting zero handover time. In compliance with IEC 62439, the redundancy of the PN800 Plant Network consists of two Local Area Networks (Lans) with the same topology, namely PN800A and PN800B. The PNI800, as a Dual Attached Node implemePRP, is connected to the two Lans, thus providing line redundancy for the PN800 control network.

PNI800

In addition, the functionality of the PNI800 has been virtualized as an optional software “VPNI” for SPE engineering, SPO and 800xA Operations HMI software, as well as general-purpose interface software such as the Harmony OPC server. The performance and capacity of the virtualized version may differ from the PNI800 hardware version.

The introduction of the PNI800 further enriches ABB’s product line in industrial automation, providing customers with more powerful and reliable communication solutions for a variety of industrial environments and application scenarios.