In the high-stakes arena of modern defence, where every component plays a critical role in mission success, industrial switches have emerged as unsung heroes. These seemingly unassuming devices form the backbone of countless defence applications, from controlling communication systems in military vehicles to enabling secure data transfer on naval vessels. Operating in harsh environments – extreme temperatures, vibrations, and electromagnetic interference -industrial switches must perform with unwavering reliability.
Imagine a military aircraft flying through turbulent weather, reliant on robust systems for navigation, communication, and control. Or consider a remote battlefield command centre, where seamless network connectivity can mean the difference between strategic advantage and vulnerability. In these scenarios, industrial switches are the silent guardians, ensuring operations run smoothly under the most demanding conditions.
As defence technology continues to evolve, the role of industrial switches is becoming even more crucial. They’re not just hardware components; they are the nerve centres of interconnected systems, supporting emerging technologies such as autonomous vehicles, AI-driven surveillance, and cyber-secure infrastructures. The future of defence is digital, and industrial switches are at the heart of this transformation.
What is Industrial Ethernet?
Industrial Ethernet refers to specially designed networking devices, usually switches, media converters and wireless access points, for use in harsh environments outside of usual IT conditions.
Ethernet is the standard protocol for transmitting data across networks and the Internet. It breaks the data into small chunks and uses a “best-effort” delivery method, which means sometimes, data chunks are delivered out of sequence or even lost altogether. If a loss occurs, then the protocol will resend the chunks so the entire message can be reassembled.
A harsh environment is anything outside the controlled environment typical in enterprise office networks that use dedicated rooms with controlled temperatures, humidity, and dust. Harsh environments can be found in places like factories, warehouses, onboard vehicles, and outdoor areas that are exposed to the weather.
Some critical applications require highly reliable and accurate data delivery, which led to the creation of Industrial Ethernet (IE). It uses additional protocols to guarantee that data is delivered on time, in the correct sequence, and without loss. IE networking hardware is also differently designed because it must survive excessive temperatures and harsh environments containing dust, moisture, vibration, and electrical interference.
What are the characteristics of Industrial Ethernet devices?
There are many types of IE devices, but they share some common features:
- Reliability and performance that is suitable for heavy-duty environments. Their level of hardening is compatible with harsh environmental conditions, such as electromagnetic noise, temperature, humidity and vibrations.
- Support of automation and control protocols to enable integration with existing OT-related management tools. The IE switching node looks like a device to the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), so they can retrieve diagnostic information and execute the appropriate actions.
- DC input power, since DC is the most common power source in industrial applications.
- Fanless design that minimises dust and moisture ingress problems, ensuring long-term reliability.
- Installation on DIN rails for faster and easier mounting on the body of the enclosure and helping to conserve space in electrical panels.
- There are also some features required by specific markets, such as conformal coatings for chemical or marine applications, explosion resistance for usage inside mines, and tolerance to vibration for vehicular solutions.
What is Conformal Coating?
Conformal coating is a protective chemical coating or polymer film that ‘conforms’ to the circuit board topology. Its purpose is to protect electronic circuits from harsh environments containing moisture, chemical contaminants, temperature and vibration. Typical applications for conformal coatings include high-reliability defence, aerospace and marine.
By being electrically insulating, the coating maintains long-term surface insulation resistance (SIR) levels and thus ensures the operational integrity of the assembly. It also provides a barrier to airborne contaminants from the operating environment, such as salt spray, thus preventing corrosion. This protective quality can enhance product reliability and reduce the potential cost and disruption of early field failures.
Why would I use Industrial Ethernet?
Critical applications use IE because standard Ethernet is not reliable enough to deliver data accurately, or the environmental conditions are too harsh for regular business-grade networking equipment.
Some typical applications for Industrial Ethernet include:
Outdoor applications
Physical security solutions often utilise network devices in outdoor applications, such as video cameras, security gates, ID badge readers, motion sensors, outdoor lighting, etc. Since many of these devices require power, it’s common to use the network to deliver Power over Ethernet (PoE), as this simplifies wiring and makes it easier to control the device. Since the network is deployed outdoors and may not be temperature-controlled, specialised equipment is required to operate reliably. Devices with extended temperature ratings and not forced-cooled (fanless) are ideal for outdoor applications where it may be dusty or humid.
Electricity substations
Electricity networks are often in remote areas, making them vulnerable to attack and expensive to maintain, so robust, reliable equipment and secure networking solutions are essential. Electrical substations pose specific challenges for networking devices due to the high levels of electromagnetic interference (EMI), which necessitates specially certified equipment. Additionally, fibre cables are preferred over copper as they are not susceptible to EMI, so network devices that support optical interfaces simplify installation.
Vehicles and trains
Sometimes the data you want to capture is generated within a moving vehicle, so network devices must tolerate severe vibration. International standards stipulate how much vibration a device should withstand to ensure reliable operation under extreme conditions. It is essential to select only certified products to ensure long-term reliability.
Why Allied Telesis?
Allied Telesis has a full range of Industrial Ethernet and ruggedised networking products to suit all the above applications. Now on our third generation of industrial products, you can rest assured the quality and development meet the stringent requirements of the defence market.
IE220 Series – Layer 2+ PoE++ Switches with 10G uplinks
IE340 Series – Layer 3 PoE+ Switches with 1G uplinks
IE360 Series – Layer 3 PoE++ Switches with 10G uplinks
Allied Telesis are excited to be exhibiting on stand 141 at DPRTE 2025.
Post written by: Vicky Maggiani
Vicky has worked in media for over 25 years and has a wealth of experience in editing and creating copy for a variety of sectors.
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