arrangement, with individual networks reflecting to a large extent the needs of applications at different levels
— in terms of functionality and performance (data size, throughput, delay, availability, etc.). The life
cycle of a plant spans typically many decades of operation, resulting in heterogeneity of the manufacturing/process equipment installed, supporting IT infrastructure, and applications to operate and maintain
the plant. This translates into a diversity of field devices and supporting industrial networks, software
platforms supporting applications, and languages used to develop those applications. Integration of the
communication infrastructure of a plant and applications [largely implemented in software) is needed
to achieve the required seamless and timely data flow throughout the entire enterprise. This is the focus
of this chapter and a large portion of the book.