intelligent sensing for automation (sidebar)

May 1, 2004
Sensing a Standard

IEEE P1451.4 is an emerging standard for adding plug-and-play capabilities to analog transducers. The underlying mechanism for plug-and-play identification is the standardization of a Transducer Electronic Data Sheet (TEDS). A TEDS contains the critical information needed by an instrument or measurement system to identify, characterize, interface and properly use the signal from an analog sensor.

The TEDS is deployed for a sensor in one of two ways. First, the TEDS can reside in embedded memory, typically an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) chip, within the analog transducer. Second, a Virtual TEDS can exist as a separate file, downloadable from the Internet. This concept of Virtual TEDS extends the benefits of the standardized TEDS to legacy sensors and applications for which the embedded memory or EEPROM is not available.

IEEE P1451.4 defines the method of encoding TEDS information for a broad range of senor types and applications. In order to cover such a broad range while also keeping memory usage to a minimum, the IEEE P1451.4 TEDS concept utilizes the concept of templates that define the specific properties for different sensor types.

See the story that goes with this sidebar: intelligent sensing for automation

Sponsored Recommendations

Why Go Beyond Traditional HMI/SCADA

Traditional HMI/SCADAs are being reinvented with today's growing dependence on mobile technology. Discover how AVEVA is implementing this software into your everyday devices to...

4 Reasons to move to a subscription model for your HMI/SCADA

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) gives you the technical and financial ability to respond to the changing market and provides efficient control across your entire enterprise—not just...

Is your HMI stuck in the stone age?

What happens when you adopt modern HMI solutions? Learn more about the future of operations control with these six modern HMI must-haves to help you turbocharge operator efficiency...