As we all know, since the 1960s, Western countries have relied on technological progress (i.e., new equipment, new processes and computer applications) to begin the transformation of traditional industries, so that the rapid development of industry. the biggest change in the world at the end of the 20th century is the formation of the global market. The global market has led to unprecedented competition, prompting companies to speed up the time to market (Time to Market), improve quality (Quality), reduce costs (Cost) and improve the service system (Service), which is the enterprise's T.Q.C.S.. Although the computer integrated manufacturing system (CIMS) combined with information integration and system integration, the pursuit of a more perfect T.Q.C.S., so that enterprises to achieve "at the right time, the right information in the right way to the right person, in order to make the right decision", that is, "five right ". However, this kind of automation needs to invest a lot of money, is a kind of high investment, high efficiency and at the same time high risk development mode, it is difficult for most of the small and medium-sized enterprises to adopt. In China, small and medium-sized enterprises as well as quasi-large enterprises take the road of low-cost industrial control automation. Industrial control automation mainly contains three levels, from bottom to top are basic automation, process automation and management automation, the core of which is basic automation and process automation.

Traditional automation system, the basic automation part of the basic PLC and DCS monopoly, process automation and management automation part of the process is mainly composed of a variety of imported computers or minicomputers, its hardware, system software and application software, the high price of the many enterprises to discourage.

Since the 1990s, due to the development of PC-based industrial computers (referred to as industrial PCs), industrial PCs, I/O devices, monitoring devices, control networks composed of PC-based automation system has been rapidly popularized, and become an important way to achieve low-cost industrial automation. China's Chongqing Iron and Steel Company, such as large enterprises, almost all of the large-scale heating furnace, but also removed the original DCS or single-loop digital regulator, but instead of industrial PC to form a control system, and the use of fuzzy control algorithms, to obtain good results.

Because PC-based controllers are proving to be as reliable as PLCs and are being accepted by operators and maintenance personnel, manufacturer after manufacturer is adopting PC control solutions for at least part of their production. PC-based control systems are easy to install and use, have advanced diagnostic capabilities, provide more flexibility for system integrators, and in the long run, PC control systems are low maintenance. Because programmable controllers (PLCs) are most threatened by PC control, PLC vendors are uneasy about PC adoption. In fact, they are now joining the PC control "wave".

In recent years, industrial PC has been developed exceptionally rapidly in China. From a worldwide perspective, industrial PC mainly contains two types: IPC industrial control machine and CompactPCI industrial control machine as well as their deformed machines, such as AT96 bus industrial control machine. Due to the basic automation and process automation on the industrial PC's operational stability, hot swapping and redundancy configuration requirements are very high, the existing IPC can not fully meet the requirements, will gradually withdraw from the field, and will be replaced by CompactPCI-based industrial control machine, and IPC will occupy the management automation layer. In 2001, the state set up a "industrial control computer-based open control system industrialization" of industrial automation major special projects, the goal is to develop PC-based control system with independent intellectual property rights, in 3 (5 years, to occupy 30% (50% of the domestic market, and industrialization.

A few years ago, when the "soft PLC" appeared, the industry had thought that the industrial PC will replace the PLC. However, to date, the industrial PC does not replace the PLC, there are two main reasons: one is the reason for the system integration; the other is the reason for the software operating system Windows NT. A successful PC-based control system to have two points: First, all the work to be done by a platform software; Second, to provide customers with all the things they need. It can be expected, industrial PC and PLC competition will be mainly in high-end applications, its data complexity and high degree of equipment integration. Industrial PC is unlikely to compete with low-priced micro-PLC, which is the fastest growing part of the PLC market. In terms of trends, the future of control systems is likely to exist between industrial PCs and PLCs, and signs of these convergences are already appearing.

Like PLCs, the industrial PC market has remained flat over the past two years. Compared to PLCs, industrial PC software is cheap. According to Frost & Sullivan estimates, the world's annual $ 700 million industrial PC market, about $ 85 million for the control software, $ 100 million for the operating system. By 2007 will double, the industrial PC market has become very substantial.