Many different digital network standards exist for PLCs to communicate with, from PLC to PLC and between PLCs and field devices. One of the earliest digital protocols developed for PLC communication was Modbus, originally for the Modicon brand of PLC. Modbus was adopted by other PLC and industrial device manufacturers as a de facto standard5 , and remains perhaps the most universal digital protocol available for industrial digital devices today.
Another digital network standard developed by a particular manufacturer and later adopted as a de facto standard is Profibus, originally developed by Siemens.