CIP (Common Industrial Protocol)
ODVA's media-independent, object-oriented application protocol for industrial automation, carried by EtherNet/IP, DeviceNet, ControlNet, and CompoNet.
The network analogy
The application layer that EtherNet/IP carries. ODVA's own wireless paper places CIP at the same layer as HTTP and SMTP.
Why it matters for wireless
CIP separates time-critical implicit I/O from non-time-critical explicit request/reply messages. The implicit side, with its connection timers, is what the wireless worst case has to satisfy.
ODVA describes CIP as a media independent protocol using a producer-consumer communication model, in which each device object has attributes, services, connections, and behaviors. Its services span control, safety, energy, synchronization and motion, information, and network management.
On EtherNet/IP, explicit messages ride TCP and I/O messages ride UDP. The implicit I/O side carries the real-time I/O, safety, and motion data, and that is the traffic a wireless link cannot delay past its timeout.
About this page
Built from 4 sources: 3 protocol owners and alliances and 1 vendor document. Researched and drafted with AI assistance, then reviewed and approved by Ben Rutter on . How pages are made
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Cite this page
Plain
Ben Rutter. "CIP (Common Industrial Protocol)." OT Wireless, published October 5, 2026. https://otwireless.com/glossary/cip/
APA 7
Rutter, B. (2026, October 5). CIP (Common Industrial Protocol). OT Wireless. https://otwireless.com/glossary/cip/
BibTeX
@misc{rutter2026cip,
author = {Rutter, Ben},
title = {{CIP (Common Industrial Protocol)}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://otwireless.com/glossary/cip/}},
organization = {OT Wireless},
}