Component selection and Implementation of Profibus

[AP000001]

I am trying to implement a profibus network and am a newbie in the automation and communication industry.
what are the components required for the setup of the whole network?
i am confused as to what can be used as a master or what is needed to connect if use a normal microcontroller to connect to the network (a port or a dedicated module or something else)?
do i only need an ASIC to connect the slaves to the network and which kind should i use and what will be the additional hardware or software i will need to implement it?
Are ASIC the remote I/O mentioned on multiple websites?
do you need license to use or develop profibus ?
which software or firmware is used to setup the whole network? Is it installed on the PLC or i need to connect a pc to configure the whole network?
It will be great if someone can suggest me some site which has description for the question but please don't directly mention profibus.com as i was only able to get preliminary information from there?

 

[mk42]

Why are you setting up a Profibus network? Is this a school project? I ask at least partly because it feels like you're coming into this with the requirements backwards. My experience is that most of the time you say "I have this factory I need to make. I have selected this controller and these devices to run my process, and I want them to communicate, how can I do that?" And the answer could be Profibus, although for the last decade or so Profibus has been much less commonly selected. Most manufacturers of Profibus components usually have a Profinet version, which is much easier to troubleshoot.

To your questions: Yes, you need some kind of interface to connect to Profibus, and there are several companies that sell ASICs that can be integrated into a product to do that. BUT if you're setting up a factory, you're buying devices that already support your network of choice and have those ASICs built in already. You need programming software for whatever controller you select, and possibly software for some of the devices, depending what they are and what they do. Simple IO, probably no, but you might need drive configuration software or vision configuration software, etc. The PLC programming software probably costs money, as would HMI software, but some of the device software may be free.