Brand Background
Hirschmann has been a mainstay in the field of industrial networking since its founding in 1924 with a factory in Esslingen, Germany. 1984 saw the establishment of the world’s first fibre-optic Ethernet at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, which revolutionised industrial network communications, and 1990 saw the world’s first HIPER-Ring (Redundant Ethernet), a solid foundation for stable operation of critical systems in complex environments.

In 1990, the company was the first in the world to introduce HIPER-Ring (Redundant Ethernet), which laid a solid foundation for the stable operation of critical systems in complex environments. In 2007, Hirschmann became a part of Baxter, Inc. to further expand its business with new resources. Hirschmann entered the industrial network market earlier, with its deep technical accumulation and keen insight into the market, the product application areas are extremely wide, covering office communications, production automation, process control, traffic control, and independent machine control systems and other industries, of which the advantages in the power and traffic industry is particularly significant.

Second, the performance characteristics
High Reliability: To cope with the complexity of industrial environments, the MM20 – M4M4M4SYHH switch adopts a redundant design. In terms of power supply, it is equipped with redundant power supply modules or supports dual power inputs. When the main power supply fails suddenly, the backup power supply can be seamlessly switched in a very short time to ensure the continuous and stable operation of the switch, effectively avoiding network paralysis due to power supply interruption, which is of great significance for the critical industrial production links that cannot be easily shut down. In terms of link redundancy, it supports link aggregation technology, which bundles multiple physical links into one logical link, not only increasing the link bandwidth, but also providing link redundancy, so that when one of the physical links fails, the data can be automatically switched to other normal links for transmission, ensuring the continuity of network communication.

Meanwhile, the switch has a powerful self-diagnostic function, through the internal integrated intelligent monitoring chip and software algorithms, it can monitor its own hardware status in real time, such as whether the ports are damaged, whether the temperature of the chip is too high, whether the memory reads and writes normally, etc. Once the failure is detected, it will immediately notify the operation and maintenance personnel through the indicator light, alarm message and other ways, which provides a strong support for the rapid troubleshooting and repair of the problem.

Powerful network management capability: supports multiple management methods, which greatly facilitates the operation needs of different users. Users can manage the switch through the web interface. Simply enter the IP address of the switch into the browser and enter the intuitive management interface, where you can easily set various parameters of the switch, such as port configuration, VLAN delineation, QoS policy, etc. For professional network engineers who are familiar with command operation, it is very convenient for them to manage the switch in a convenient way. For professional network engineers who are familiar with command operation, the switch also supports command line interface (CLI) management, which provides a more accurate and efficient way of configuration and is suitable for in-depth configuration and troubleshooting in complex network environments.

In addition, the switch may also support centralised management through dedicated network management software, which allows administrators to carry out unified monitoring and management of multiple switches distributed in different areas in large industrial networks, greatly improving management efficiency. In the details of network management functions, the fine VLAN delineation function can divide a physical network into multiple logically independent virtual LANs. In industrial environments, different production segments, departments, or devices may need to be isolated from each other in order to improve the security and management efficiency of the network, for example, by dividing the network where the production equipment is located and the network in the office area into different VLANs, it can prevent viruses or unauthorised access to the office network from causing damage to the office network.

For example, dividing the network where the production equipment is located and the office area network into different VLANs can prevent viruses or illegal access in the office network from affecting the normal operation of the production network, and at the same time, the VLAN division can optimise the network traffic, reduce the interference of broadcast storms, and improve the overall performance of the network; QoS (Quality of Service) settings are supported, and the requirements for network bandwidth and transmission latency are different for different types of data traffic in an industrial network. With QoS function, administrators can set different priorities for different traffic according to the type and importance of data to ensure priority transmission of business-critical data and stable operation of industrial production processes.

Excellent adaptability to industrial environments: The temperature environment of industrial sites is complex and variable, from high-temperature metallurgical workshops to cold storage environments. MM20-M4M4M4SYHH managed Ethernet switches have a wide operating temperature range, generally adapting to temperatures ranging from -40°C to +70°C or even worse, enabling stable operation in various extreme temperature environments and guaranteeing reliable communication of industrial networks. It can operate stably in various extreme temperature environments to ensure reliable communication in industrial networks.

There are a large number of electromagnetic interference sources in the industrial environment, such as motors, frequency converters and other equipment, in order to cope with this challenge, the switch adopts special shielding and filtering technology in the hardware design, which is able to effectively resist electromagnetic interference and ensure the accuracy and stability of data transmission, even in the environment of strong electromagnetic interference, such as near the electric power substation or large-scale machining workshop, the switch can work normally, avoiding data loss or stability caused by electromagnetic interference. Even in strong electromagnetic interference environments, such as near power substations or large-scale machining workshops, the switch can work normally, avoiding data loss or incorrect transmission caused by electromagnetic interference. Considering the diversity of industrial application scenarios, the switch supports DIN-rail, wall-mounted, rack-mounted and other installation methods, which is convenient for deployment in various system environments.

Specifications
Port Parameters: Equipped with 4 Ethernet electrical ports (RJ45 interface) for connecting twisted-pair devices, which is convenient and low-cost, suitable for short-distance and less EMI scenarios; at the same time, it has 4 Ethernet optical ports (may be SC, ST, etc.), and the optical fibre ports have significant advantages in long-distance transmission and EMI resistance, which can satisfy different transmission requirements. In terms of port rate, the Ethernet electrical and optical ports are likely to support common rates such as 10Mbps, 100Mbps and 1Gbps to adapt to the data transmission speed requirements of different devices. In industrial automation production lines, the data transmission rate requirements of different devices are different, and the switch’s multirate ports are able to match these requirements well and ensure efficient data transmission.

Network protocol support: It fully supports TCP/IP, UDP, ICMP and other common network protocols, which makes it easy to be integrated into various complex industrial network architectures. In some large-scale industrial enterprises, there may be a variety of devices and systems of different ages and standards, each using different network protocols for communication. With its wide range of protocol support, the MM20-M4M4M4SYHH module is able to realise a seamless connection with these devices and systems, ensuring the interoperability of the entire industrial network.

Protection level: In view of the harshness of the industrial environment, the switch may have a high protection level, such as meeting certain standards in dustproof and waterproof, to protect the internal electronic components from dust and water vapour erosion, prolonging the service life of the equipment, and ensuring stable operation in scenarios such as dusty mining environments or humid offshore operating platforms.

Supplementary Models
Hirschmann has a wide range of switch models to meet the diverse needs of different customers and applications. For example, RS20 – 0400 and RS20 – 0800 in RS series, among which RS20 – 0400 is a 100Gb end switch with a certain number of Ethernet ports, which can be used in small-scale industrial network scenarios that require relatively fewer ports and 100Gb data transmission rate, such as the connection of local production line equipments in small-scale factories, and RS30 – 0808, RS30 – 0808, RS30 – 1602 and other models with Gigabit terminals are suitable for scenarios with higher data transmission rate requirements and relatively large network scale, and can be used to connect industrial computers, high-performance servers and other equipment to ensure the rapid transmission of large amounts of data.

Modular switch series, such as MS20-08, MS20-16, etc., are highly flexible and suitable for almost all electrical and optical port combinations, while allowing users to change the port density and configuration of the switch by replacing the media module with hot-swappable one, this type of switch only supports network management type, which is suitable for industrial projects with high flexibility requirements for network configuration, users can adjust the switch anytime according to the actual progress of the project and equipment access situation. Users can adjust the port settings of the switch at any time according to the actual project progress and equipment access.

Scenario Application
Industrial automation production line: In the field of industrial automation, this switch is the core equipment for building an efficient and stable industrial control network. It connects all kinds of key equipment such as programmable logic controllers (PLC), sensors, actuators, industrial robots and so on in the production line. Sensors collect various data in the production process in real time, such as temperature, pressure, position, speed, etc., and quickly transmit them to PLC through the switch, which analyses and processes the data according to the preset program logic and sends precise control instructions to the actuators to achieve automated control of the production process.

In the automated assembly lines of automobile manufacturing factories, many robots, sensors and control systems frequently interact with each other, and MM20 – M4M4M4SYHH switches can ensure the efficient transmission of these data, avoiding production stagnation or errors due to the delay of data transmission, and greatly improving production efficiency and product quality. At the same time, the switch can also achieve remote monitoring and management of the entire production line equipment, engineers can be in the control centre in real time to understand the operating status of the equipment, timely maintenance and troubleshooting, improve the reliability and stability of production.
Intelligent transport system: In rail transport, the switch undertakes the key data transmission task. During train operation, the train control system needs to communicate with the signal system on the ground in real time to obtain important information such as line signals, speed limits, turnout status, etc. to ensure the safety and efficiency of train operation.

MM20 – M4M4M4SYHH switch can ensure the fast and stable transmission of these key data between the train and the ground, and achieve the precise control and scheduling of the train. In train compartments, real-time video data collected by the video surveillance system also needs to be transmitted to the monitoring centre through this switch, so as to detect and deal with abnormalities in the compartments in a timely manner, and to safeguard the safety and riding experience of passengers. In the intelligent car park management system, the switch can be connected to vehicle detection equipment, road gate controller and management server, etc. Vehicle detection equipment through the switch will be vehicles in and out of the information quickly transmitted to the management server, the server according to this information to control the opening and closing of the road gate, and parking billing and other operations, which greatly improves the car park’s management efficiency and the level of intellectualisation.