Profibus calls for integration of EN 50 170 and IEC 61158

Citation

(1998), "Profibus calls for integration of EN 50 170 and IEC 61158", Assembly Automation, Vol. 18 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/aa.1998.03318aab.003

Profibus calls for integration of EN 50 170 and IEC 61158

Profibus calls for integration of EN 50 170 and IEC 61158

Following the "no" result of the third international ballot on the proposed IEC 61158 fieldbus standard, Profibus International (PI) ­ the umbrella organization of the Profibus fieldbus solution ­ has called for the European international fieldbus standard EN 50 170 to be integrated with IEC 61158 as the only constructive way to meet the demands of the users.

The ballot, which closed on 30 October 1997, was the third attempt to get global agreement. More countries than ever before registered votes, indicating the level of interest in the issue of global fieldbus standardization. Mike Bryant, deputy chairman of Profibus International, said: "Because no fourth vote is possible, we now believe that full integration of the only existing international standard ­ EN 50 170, of which Profibus is part ­ into IEC 61158 is necessary and we are prepared to commit to the IEC the resources and support to achieve this. We are certain that Profibus EN 50 170 and the work of the IEC constitute a solid base for a future IEC standard".

Voting took place on the proposals for the Data Link Layer (layer two), the Application Layer (layer seven) and the Introductory Guide for IEC 61158. The Application Layer was formally accepted. The Introductory Guide was rejected owing to the absence of a stable and complete specification for the communication layers. More negative votes were received for the Data Link Layer than in the previous two votes. Since the Application Layer relies on the services of the Data Link Layer, it is not yet usable.

PI believes that, despite the intensive work and good suggestions of the IEC working group, this further rejection demonstrates again that modern, complex technologies are better able to penetrate the marketplace and convince users via real-world solutions than by paper proposals.

Bryant added: "Profibus is already an international standard with over 1,500,000 Profibus devices in action today across the world. The international Profibus User Groups include over 670 member companies and over 1,100 Profibus-compliant products are on the market. Profibus is the only fully integrated H1 (process) and H2 (factory automation) fieldbus solution. Recently it was announced that 15,000 Profibus -PA devices have been sold into the process industries and Profibus -PA remains the only working solution for the process marketplace. We believe it is now time for the successes of Profibus to be acknowledged within the proposed IEC standard. Since much Profibus technology is already incorporated in IEC 61158 this is a readily achievable target."

The IEC voting results indirectly confirm the high international acceptance of EN 50 170. The national statements of many European countries supported the view that EN 50 170 should be integrated into the proposed IEC standard. In addition, Germany's statement offered the IEC active support for developing IEC 61158 in this way.

In the absence of an internationally agreed fieldbus standard, the proven solutions of European Standard EN 50 170 offer a stable basis for fieldbus introductions by both vendors and users. Users can benefit from cost reductions of up to 30 per cent using this new technology and vendors have a stable basis for the design and development of new products.

Further details are available from: The Profibus Group, PNO UK, 1 West Street, Titchfield, Hants PO14 4DH. Tel: 01329 843043; Fax: 01329 512063; e-mail: bobsq@dial.pipex.com