HART Integrates with Foundation Fieldbus

Nov. 28, 2012
HART and WirelessHART device information can now be integrated with Foundation Fieldbus Remote Operations Management.

Following years of fieldbus wars, the key protocol groups—Fieldbus Foundation, HART Communication Foundation, Profibus User Organization and Modbus Organization—have been working together to help ease the integration of field devices with various industrial communication networks. In 2008, these fieldbus organizations (with the exception of Modbus, which joined in 2011) formed the Wireless Cooperation Team (WCT) to develop a common wireless interface supporting the sponsoring organizations’ protocols.

In what is being called ā€œone of the first positive results of this unprecedented collaboration,ā€ the WCT announces that specifications for transducer blocks for HART and WirelessHART devices have been added to the latest Foundation Fieldbus technical specifications. According to the HART Communication Foundation, this addition enables full integration of HART and WirelessHART device information, including device diagnostics, into a Foundation for ROM (remote operations management) system.

This development means that industry suppliers can create Foundation Fieldbus transducer blocks that enable HART and WirelessHART device measurement and diagnostic information to be integrated into the Foundation Fieldbus infrastructure.

With such devices, "users can now incorporate HART, WirelessHART and Foundation Fieldbus information into one standard environment for data and device management,ā€ says Ron Helson, HART Communication Foundation executive director.

About the Author

David Greenfield, editor in chief | Editor in Chief

David GreenfieldĀ joinedĀ Automation WorldĀ in June 2011. Bringing a wealth of industry knowledge and media experience to his position, David’s contributions can be found inĀ AW’sĀ print and online editions and custom projects. Earlier in his career, David was Editorial Director ofĀ Design NewsĀ at UBM Electronics, and prior to joining UBM, he was Editorial Director ofĀ Control EngineeringĀ at Reed Business Information, where he also worked onĀ Manufacturing Business TechnologyĀ as Publisher.Ā 

Companies in this Article

Sponsored Recommendations

Inductive Automation offers multiple editions of Ignition created for specific use cases. See what differentiates Ignition, Ignition Edge, Ignition Cloud Edition, and Ignition...
Castle & Key brought new life to a historic Kentucky distillery by blending 140 years of heritage with cutting-edge automation. With help from Gray AES, they replaced outdated...
Learn how Inductive University can help you overcome today’s biggest roadblocks in SCADA training, such as prohibitive costs, gated software access, and more.
Forget complex programmingget smarter, faster automation with MOVI?C. With scalable performance, multibus flexibility, and safety built in, its control tech that adapts to ...