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All contents copyright © 2000 Readout Publications
Measurement, Control and Automation Resources throughout the World
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Catching the Bus!
Towards a standard in Digital Communications
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Fieldbus News 2002
Fieldbus News 2003 Fieldbus News 2004 |
Developments
"The Wireless HART initiative will result in a robust and reliable technology that will ensure interoperable products and new connectivity solutions for leveraging the intelligence of HART-smart devices," says Kelly Orth, Chairman of the Wireless HART Working Group. "We are on target for completion of draft specifications in Spring 2006. The Working Group voted to use IEEE 802.15.4 RF transceivers for the Physical layer of Wireless HART which allows us to move forward and focus on other layers of the protocol."
The goal in developing the PROFIsafe V2 mode was to develop a uniform profile for both ProfiBus and ProfiNet platforms that can be used in all markets including production automation, drive technology and motion control as well as process automation. The previous black channel principle has been maintained. The safety layer is independent of the communication system and also includes the backplane buses of PLC and field devices. PROFIsafe in V2 mode takes into account the special properties of Ethernet networks, such as the expanded address space and active network components, such as switches.
"The enhanced DDL updates the industry standard with new capabilities for describing advanced visualization of intelligent device information while maintaining the proven integrity of existing HART DDL technology," said HCF Director of Technology Programs Ed Ladd. "An enhanced DD registered with HCF will work on all enhanced DD-compliant host applications. One DD to work everywhere‹that's our goal."
The first volume of the trilogy, "ProfiBus Recommendation for Cabling and Assembly", is now available in English (order no.: 8.022). "ProfiBus Recommendation for Commissioning" will follow at the end of 2005 and "ProfiBus Recommendation for Planning" will be published in the middle of 2006.
The enhanced EDDL enables users to interact with their intelligent devices in new ways. The enhancements include improved data visualization and display capabilities - like waveforms and valve signatures, a standardized method to access historic measurement or device performance information and enhanced tools for high-level information (such as algorithmic relationships for complex device parameters) display and use in control systems.
At the Genzyme facility on Thursday, Nov. 3, Tri-State University (TSU) Technology Center will host a workshop covering fieldbus end user applications in the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries. The instructor will discuss implementation of the open, integrated FOUNDATION fieldbus H1 and High Speed Ethernet (HSE) automation architecture in life sciences production environments.
Based on the feedback gained from the first 2 events, it will be a totally User-focused event that will take place at Coombe Abbey, Warwickshire (GB) on 26-27 June 2006 Featuring a comprehensive, multi-stream educational programme that will lead Users through ProfiBus from the basic technology through to its use in real world industrial and process applications, this two-day Conference offers Primers and Master Classes presented by experienced users, technology experts and systems builders drawn from a wide variety of application areas.
EDDL is a text-based language for describing the digital communication characteristics of intelligent devices and equipment parameters in an Operating System (OS) and Human Machine Interface (HMI)-neutral environment. EDDL enables a host system manufacturer to create a single engineering environment that can support any device, from any supplier, using any communications protocol, without the need for custom software drivers for each device type.
- Saga of Open Standards - In an interview with Contemporary Controls, Dick Caro tells his story of leading the charge for adopting Ethernet as a fieldbus. He describes the presentation of his landmark paper on Industrial Ethernet in 1998, and the battles and victories that ensued. Find out more about his interesting career in the automation business, and cutting-edge, computer-control applications dating before the modern digital era.
Highlights include:-
-Redundant Digital Control with Fiber Optic Ethernet—way back in 1983
-Closed-Door conversations that opened the door for Ethernet on the factory floor
-The real reason for the Fieldbus Wars
-Dick's crystal ball on the future of U.S. manufacturing - Advanced device description toolkits leverage EDDL technology extensions - The Fieldbus Foundation (FF) today announced the release of its AT-400 Device Description Tokenizer Toolkit Version 5.0 and the AT-401 Device Description Services Toolkit Version 5.0. These advanced development toolkits enable instrumentation manufacturers to read and generate the Device Description (DD) files necessary for distribution with a Foundation fieldbus device, and take advantage of new Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL) technology extensions in their fieldbus product development projects.
EDDL is the superset specification of the descriptive technology language currently shared by the Fieldbus Foundation, Hart Communication Foundation and ProfiBus Nutzerorganisation e.V. The Fieldbus Foundation's DD technology is a fully defined subset of the IEC 61804-2 "EDDL" standard. - Leading Ethernet protocol - A newly released study by ARC Advisory Group, the leading analyst firm covering automation and enterprise software, shows Modbus TCP as the World's leading industrial Ethernet protocol, in terms of units shipped in 2004. Modbus TCP is the Ethernet variant of the ubiquitous Modbus protocol introduced in 1979. The protocol was recently accepted by the IEC as a Publicly Available Specification.
This standing for Modbus TCP is particularly significant given the current and projected growth of Ethernet in industrial applications. According to ARC Advisory Group,"the worldwide market for Industrial Ethernet is expected to grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 51.4 percent over the next five years. The market totaled 840 thousand units in 2004 and is forecasted to total just over 6.7 million units in 2009." - Modbus-IDA and CAN in Automation Announce CiA DSP 309: Interfacing CANopen with TCP/IP Part 2: Modbus/TCP Mapping Modbus-IDA and CAN in Automation (CiA) have announced a licensing agreement, resulting in Specification CiA DSP 309-2: Interfacing CANopen with TCP/IP Part 2: Modbus/TCP Mapping. CiA DSP 309-2 provides a standardized mapping of CANopen data for transport on Modbus TCP networks. In the specification, Modbus Function Code 43/13 is reserved for this purpose. The reservation of this function code exclusively for CANopen is simultaneously being submitted to the Modbus-IDA RFC standardization process.
CiA will maintain the specification, which will be available for CiA members on their website and for Modbus-IDA members upon request.
The specification defines mapping services so that CANopen devices can communicate over a Modbus TCP network via a gateway device or through the incorporation of a local Modbus TCP transport layer. Access to the entries of a CANopen object dictionary is supported on both a read and write basis, along with a variety of device control functions. - Industry cooperation project adds another member to team - The Fieldbus Foundation has just announced that the OPC Foundation (OPCF) has joined the international cooperative team of the three leading fieldbus organizations, the Fieldbus Foundation (FF), HART Communication Foundation (HCF) and ProfiBus Nutzerorganisation e.V. (PNO), to extend the reach of Electronic Device Descriptions (EDDs) into
OPCF's Unified Architecture.
In 2003, FF, HCF and PNO formed a cooperative joint working group to extend the capabilities of Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL). An underlying technology in millions of installed field instruments, EDDL is a text-based language for describing the digital communication characteristics of intelligent control devices. Device suppliers use EDDs to provide information on parameters and other data in a device. - Modbus Protocol Adopted as Chinese Standard - In a striking affirmation of the ubiquitous Modbus protocol, the Standardization Administration of China (SAC) has formally launched the following three standards for industrial automation in the People's Republic of China:
- GB/Z 19582.1-2004 Modbus Industrial Automation Network Specification Part 1 Modbus Application Protocol
- GB/Z 19582.2-2004 Modbus Industrial Automation Network Specification Part 2 Modbus Protocol Implementation Guide over Serial Link
- GB/Z 19582.3-2004 Modbus Industrial Automation Network Specification Part 3 Modbus Protocol Implementation Guide over TCP/IP
- Keynote addresses by European industry leaders highlight end user-oriented agenda - The Fieldbus Foundation has announced the agenda for its 2005 General Assembly, to be held on Wednesday, February 23, and Thursday, February 24, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Vienna, Austria. This year's event, themed "Plant-wide Integration: HSE+H1," will include an end user-oriented program featuring automation industry leaders, FF case studies, technical training workshops and tabletop product demonstrations. Highlighting the General Assembly agenda will be keynote addresses by Mr. Rajah Jayendran, director of technical services at the Bayer Integrated Site Caojing, and Dr. Gunther Kegel, chief executive officer of Pepperl+Fuchs Mannheim. Mr. Jaydendran will discuss the importance of leading edge automation solutions such as Foundation fieldbus to today's manufacturers, while Dr. Kegel will address the importance of innovative technologies from a supplier's viewpoint.