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Professional Certificate of Competency in Industrial Data Communications

Course Duration
Duration
  • 3 Months
Course Study
Study Mode
  • Online
  • Online Data Coms and IT
Course Location
Location
  • Online
Course Code
Course Code
CID
Course Intakes
Intakes
  • 8 April 2025
Course Type
Course Type
  • Professional Certificate
  • Data Comms & Industrial IT
  • UK
Course Fees
Fees

Course Overview

This professional development course is designed for engineers and technicians who need to understand how to identify, prevent, and troubleshoot industrial data communications problems.

Course Benefits

  • You may be eligible to claim CPD points through your local engineering association.
  • Receive a Certificate of Completion from EIT.
  • Learn from well-known faculty and industry experts from around the globe.
  • Flexibility of attending anytime from anywhere, even when you are working full-time.
  • Interact with industry experts during the webinars and get the latest updates/announcements on the subject.
  • Experience a global learning with students from various backgrounds and experience which is a great networking opportunity.
  • Get in-depth knowledge on various technologies, hardware standards and protocol related to Industrial Data Communication.
  • Understand the operations of various technologies and the participation of equipment’s and the troubleshooting of RS-485 and Ethernet type networks.
  • Study the core aspects of Industrial Data Communication like industrial ethernet, TCP/IP internet layer protocols, fieldbuses, Modbus, OPC and network security.

Course Details

Modern industrial control and information systems employ a proliferation of technologies, including various hardware standards and protocols. For many of the personnel working with these systems, the technologies are ‘plug and play’ and are just there to be used. The problems arise when decisions have to be made regarding the most suitable technologies for a given application, or when things go wrong, and troubleshooting has to be performed. Without a thorough grasp of the working of the technologies involved, and without the availability of (and the ability to use) suitable diagnostic tools, this becomes a formidable challenge.

The world of industrial communications abounds with three-letter acronyms, protocols, layered communication systems, fieldbuses, and device networks. There are numerous networking and industrial bus standards, synchronous and asynchronous protocols, baseband and broadband systems, bus and star topologies, connection-oriented, and connectionless protocols. In addition, there is a pronounced migration towards the use of Ethernet and TCP/IP.

This program demystifies the jargon and places the most popular systems, technologies, hardware standards, and protocols in an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) perspective. It explains how these technologies operate, and equips participants with the tools and skills to do basic hardware and protocol-related troubleshooting on both serial (RS-485) and Ethernet type networks.

The course is composed of 12 modules, covering how to fix over sixty of the most common problems that occur in industrial communications systems.

Module 1: Data Communications Basics

  • Overview of data communications: OSI layers
  • Basic data communications principles
  • Error detection
  • Dealing with noise

Module 2: Serial Communications

  • RS-232 overview
  • RS-232 troubleshooting
  • RS-485 overview
  • RS-485 troubleshooting

Module 3: Introduction to Protocols

  • Protocol concepts
  • Bi-Sync
  • HDLC
  • File transfer protocols

Module 4: Networking Basics and System Components

  • OSI model
  • Topologies
  • Medium access control
  • Repeaters, hubs, bridges, switches, routers

Module 5: Industrial Ethernet

  • CSMA/CD (half-duplex) Ethernet
  • Fast Ethernet
  • Gigabit Ethernet
  • Industrial Ethernet components and Techniques

Module 6: TCP/IP Internet Layer Protocols

  • The TCP/IP protocol suite
  • IP addressing techniques and routing concepts
  • IPv4/IPv6
  • ICMP
  • ARP

Module 7: TCP/IP Host-to-Host and Application Layer Protocols

  • Host-to-Host layer protocols: TCP and UDP
  • FTP, DHCP, HTTP, and other application-layer protocols
  • PING, ARP, TRACERT, and other TCP/IP utilities

Module 8: Fieldbuses

  • Fieldbus concepts
  • HART
  • DeviceNet
  • ProfiBus
  • Foundation Fieldbus

Module 9: Modbus

  • The Modbus messaging protocol
  • Modbus Serial RTU
  • Modbus Serial ASCII
  • Modbus TCP/IP

Module 10: Wireless Communications and Networking

  • Microwave basics
  • Antennas
  • Wireless networking components
  • IEEE802.11 WLANs

Module 11: OPC

  • OPC concept
  • Overview of OPC specifications
  • DCOM
  • OPC DA3.0 data access

Module 12: Network Security

  • Access control
  • Authentication and encryption
  • Firewalls
  • Tunneling and VPNs
  • WLAN vulnerabilities and solutions

To obtain a certificate of completion for EIT’s Professional Certificate of Competency, students must achieve a 65% attendance rate at the live, online fortnightly webinars.  Detailed summaries/notes can be submitted in lieu of attendance.  In addition, students must obtain a mark of 60% in the set assignments which could take the form of written assignments and practical assignments. Students must also obtain a mark of 100% in quizzes.  If a student does not achieve the required score, they will be given an opportunity to resubmit the assignment to obtain the required score.

For full current fees in your country go to the drop down filter at the top of this page or visit the Fees page.

Payment Methods

Learn more about payment methods, including payment terms & conditions and additional non-tuition fees.

Deon Reynders is an electronics engineer with over 40 years postgraduate experience encompassing middle management, engineering consulting, management consulting, hardware and software development, systems engineering, project management, marketing, and industrial relations.

Learn about our instructors.

You are expected to spend approximately 5-8 hours per week learning the course content. This includes attending fortnightly webinars that run for about 90 minutes to facilitate class discussion and allow you to ask questions. This program has a 65% attendance requirement in the live webinars in order to graduate from the program.  If you are unable to attend the live webinars, you have the option of watching the recording of completed webinars and sending a summary of what you have learnt from the webinar to the Learning Support officer.  The summaries go towards your attendance requirement for the program.

This program is run online on an intensive part-time basis and has been designed to fit around full-time work. It will take three months to complete.

We understand that sometimes work commitments and personal circumstances can get in the way of your studies, so if at any point you feel that you are struggling with the pace of the course or finding a particular module challenging, you are encouraged to contact your designated Learning Support Officer for assistance.

Registrations are open for our upcoming intakes. Please ensure you book your place at least one week before the start date of the program.

Hear from our students

  It helped me understand communication fundamentals.  
  Good and interesting information.  

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