CIP Safety on SERCOS -- SERCOS Safety now compatible with CIP Safety At SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2006, SERCOS International e.V. (SI) introduced an extension of the SERCOS safety concept, which provides for safe data transmission over SERCOS interface® based on the safety protocol of CIP Safety™. SI is cooperating with the ODVA (Open DeviceNet Vendors Association), an international organization that supports CIP-based technologies, such as DeviceNet™, EtherNet/IP™ and CIP Safety. This cooperative effort aims at supporting CIP Safety as a common standard for safety-related communication, fulfilling the desire of users and suppliers for a global standard instead of different safety protocols.  Because of the routing capability of the CIP Safety protocol, a safety network can stretch across several underlying and diverse communication networks: DeviceNet, Ethernet/IP, SERCOS III, SERCOS II. According to the CIP Safety specification, the safe data container which is embedded in the SERCOS frame can contain between 2 and 250 bytes of safe user data.  According to Dr. Karl Tragl, chairman of SERCOS International: "The combination of CIP Safety with the new, Ethernet-based SERCOS III opens up new perspectives. For example, using the SERCOS III direct cross communication, basic, safe slave devices can be linked without any additional safety control -- and this with minimal reaction times. In addition, not only safe but also highly available automation solutions can be implemented in combination with the inherent hardware redundancy of SERCOS III." In the context of this cooperation, SI technical working groups will develop an adaptation of the SERCOS network to utilize CIP Safety. This will include a specification of how the services and telegrams of CIP Safety are mapped to the SERCOS transport layer. In addition, SERCOS safety will be utilized with the aim to be compliant with the CIP Safety standard. In these profiles, SERCOS- specific safety parameters (IDN=Identification Numbers) are combined.  ODVA will extend the CIP Safety specification with additional SERCOS safety profiles. In order to support the interoperability of CIP Safety devices independent of the respective underling network, SI and ODVA agreed to use -- as far as possible and reasonable -- common safety profiles and to perform common conformance testing.  The basic principles of SERCOS safety, which were previously approved by TÜV Rheinland in December 2005, will not fundamentally change. Only enhancements in the details of the specification, e.g., the size of the CRCs, are required. The resulting additions to the specification will be made by the SERCOS safety working group in cooperation with TÜV Rheinland within the next few months. The first implementations of SERCOS safety V2.0 are planned for the end of 2007.