DeviceNet™ solutions are designed to be low cost, real-time, device level bus architecture that connects sensors and actuators. Wiring and installation of automation devices is greatly simplified while the diagnostic information about the various input/output is enhanced. DeviceNet™ defines a standard device object oriented software model that permits multi-vendor interoperability. It offers the user a variety of control architectures, giving the control designer the ability to choose either - highly distributed control, semi-distributed control or highly centralized control. DeviceNet™ is a digital, multi-drop network and a producer consumer network. The digital, multi-drop network connects and serves as a communication network between industrial controllers and input/output devices and each device and/or controller is a node on the network. As the producer consumer network, DeviceNet™ supports multiple communication hierarchies and message prioritization. These systems can be configured to operate in a master-slave or a distributed control architecture using peer-to-peer communication, offering a single point of connection for configuration and control by supporting both input/output and explicit messaging. Another unique feature is having power on the network.