Standardized IO-Link technology (IEC 61131-9) makes communication with sensors and actuators simple and economical. The result of an evolutionary development, this low-cost connection technology with three or five conductors is used for point-to-point connection without complex wiring and with minimal material requirements.
IO-Link is a point-to-point communications interface which expands fieldbus and Industrial Ethernet systems. IO-Link allows you not only to transmit process data, but also to download parameter data from the control system to the sensor or actuator, and to send diagnostic data in the other direction to the control system. Whereas integrating a fieldbus interface all the way down to the lowest field level used to be very costly, digital or analog values can now be transmitted with only a simple 3- or 5-wire cable – with no special features in terms of screening, twisting, impedance or terminating resistance. The gateway between the fieldbus and one or more IO-Link devices is normally provided by a fieldbus module with multiple IO-Link master channels. In smaller machines or systems, which may not require a fieldbus because of their size, the PLC acts as the IO-Link master.