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Single pair Ethernet has the capability of implementing simple, inexpensive, and robust cabling structures with the potential for field buses to be replaced in the foreseeable future. It’s an overview of the state of the art and new areas of application.

In the 1970s, Robert Metcalfe came up with the concept of christening his proprietary network at his Xerox Labs in Pali Alto with Ethernet which is made of arm-thick cables running along with the ceiling. The LAN network used showed the intention of the name Ethernet which means “ubiquitous medium”.

The term was coined in the 17th century where the propagation of electromagnetic waves such as light as been explained. The explanation for Ethernet was discarded later and by Xerox, Intel, and DEC Ethernet was developed further into an open standard which forms the basic standard for the current IEEE 802.3.

The design was done originally for an office environment with RJ45 connectors. They were a variant of Ethernet that is mostly for industrial automation usage in time-critical applications with high-speed machines under the term “Industrial Ethernet”. It is difficult to implement sensors and actuators as office RJ45 connectors and cables are suitable only for an industrial environment to an extent that is limited and can be encapsulated that requires a lot of space.

A rather subordinate role is played by high data rates in the industry where important factors are long transmission lengths, simple handling, and IP protection classes.

The efforts are used for forcing boundary conditions so that the Industrial Ethernet can be expanded that is a standard for four twisted pairs by an additional physical layer quasi “downwards”. The automotive industry was provided with the template which is based on twisted copper wire pair i.e. a Single Pair Ethernet (SPE).

Source:- SPE