Fieldbus Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Fieldbus Foundation is an organization dedicated to a single international, interoperable fieldbus
standard
. It was established in September 1994 by a merger of WorldFIP North America and the Interoperable Systems Project (ISP). According to their site, the Fieldbus foundation is a not-for-profit corporation that consists of more than 350 of the world's suppliers and end users of process control and manufacturing automation
products. Working together, these companies have made contributions to the IEC
/ISA fieldbus standards development.
Unlike proprietary network
protocols, FOUNDATION fieldbus is not owned by any individual company, or controlled by a single nation or regulatory body. Foundation strives to design an open, interoperable [fieldbus] that is based on the International Organization for Standardization
's Open Systems Interconnection (OSI/ISO) seven-layer communications model
. The FOUNDATION specification is compatible with the officially sanctioned SP50 standards project of the Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society
(ISA) and the International Electrotechnical Commission
(IEC).
Fieldbus
Fieldbus is the name of a family of industrial computer network protocols used for real-time distributed control, now standardized as IEC 61158....
standard
Standardization
Standardization is the process of developing and implementing technical standards.The goals of standardization can be to help with independence of single suppliers , compatibility, interoperability, safety, repeatability, or quality....
. It was established in September 1994 by a merger of WorldFIP North America and the Interoperable Systems Project (ISP). According to their site, the Fieldbus foundation is a not-for-profit corporation that consists of more than 350 of the world's suppliers and end users of process control and manufacturing automation
Automation
Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization...
products. Working together, these companies have made contributions to the IEC
International Electrotechnical Commission
The International Electrotechnical Commission is a non-profit, non-governmental international standards organization that prepares and publishes International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies – collectively known as "electrotechnology"...
/ISA fieldbus standards development.
Unlike proprietary network
Telecommunications network
A telecommunications network is a collection of terminals, links and nodes which connect together to enable telecommunication between users of the terminals. Networks may use circuit switching or message switching. Each terminal in the network must have a unique address so messages or connections...
protocols, FOUNDATION fieldbus is not owned by any individual company, or controlled by a single nation or regulatory body. Foundation strives to design an open, interoperable [fieldbus] that is based on the International Organization for Standardization
International Organization for Standardization
The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...
's Open Systems Interconnection (OSI/ISO) seven-layer communications model
OSI model
The Open Systems Interconnection model is a product of the Open Systems Interconnection effort at the International Organization for Standardization. It is a prescription of characterizing and standardizing the functions of a communications system in terms of abstraction layers. Similar...
. The FOUNDATION specification is compatible with the officially sanctioned SP50 standards project of the Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society
Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society
The International Society of Automation , formerly known as The Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society, is a non-profit technical society for engineers, technicians, businesspeople, educators and students, who work, study or are interested in industrial automation and pursuits related to...
(ISA) and the International Electrotechnical Commission
International Electrotechnical Commission
The International Electrotechnical Commission is a non-profit, non-governmental international standards organization that prepares and publishes International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies – collectively known as "electrotechnology"...
(IEC).