Use of the Common

Industrial Protocol (CIP)

The adapter uses the Common Industrial Protocol (CIP), the application layer

protocol specified for EtherNet/IP, the Ethernet Industrial Protocol. It is a

message-based protocol that implements a relative path to send a message

from the producing device in a system to the consuming devices.

The producing device contains the path information that steers the message

along the proper route to reach its consumers. Since the producing device

holds this information, other devices along the path simply pass this

information; they do not store it.

This has the following significant benefits:

• You do not need to configure routing tables in the bridging modules,

which greatly simplifies maintenance and module replacement.

• You maintain full control over the route taken by each message, which

enables you to select alternative paths for the same end device.