International Forecourt Standards Forum
Encyclopedia
The International Forecourt Standards Forum is a UK-based European organisation which designs standards for connecting devices on a service station
forecourt, such as dispensers, Tank Level Gauges, Price Signs, Car Washes and Outdoor Payment Terminals. In recent years additional standards have been added for Electronic Funds Transfer
.
Formed in 1992 by a group of oil, pump and computer companies (including AGIP
, BP
, Petrofina
, Mobil
and Texaco
), the principle of IFSF is to create standards so that devices from different manufacturers can interoperate without having to redevelop interfaces:
A similar effort was undertaken earlier in Germany by oil companies and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt
, resulting in the European Petrol Station Interface (“EPSI”) standard, but this was not used much outside Germany.
Standards are only available to paid members of the IFSF organisation.
and some growth markets like Russia
and Eastern Europe
, but is relatively rare elsewhere. It has not seen much usage in North America , although several member companies are based there. However additional members have continued to join IFSF from many countries, in particular Shell
who has pushed IFSF heavily in their European operations. Typically most major manufacturers offer an IFSF version of their equipment, though it may not be widely deployed. Currently an effort is underway to promote IFSF in China.
The newer EFT standards, "POS-EPS" based on XML
technologies, are being used more widely.
Where IFSF is not used, a large variety of proprietary protocols are used. In many deployments, existing site equipment is converted to IFSF operation using a "protocol converter" or PCD, a small computer that accepts IFSF protocol and communicates to the device using its native, proprietary protocol. The PCD is most commonly fitted inside each dispenser, although it is possible for a single converter to convert many devices.
The IFSF standards define messages sent and received by each type of device. The messages are sent predominantly over the control network LonWorks
, and are designed to be expandable by specifying individual fields with types and lengths
. The messages are grouped into various "databases" for the logical parts of each device, such as a nozzle at a pump. Although methods for using TCP/IP transport have been defined this is quite rare.
Filling station
A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...
forecourt, such as dispensers, Tank Level Gauges, Price Signs, Car Washes and Outdoor Payment Terminals. In recent years additional standards have been added for Electronic Funds Transfer
Electronic funds transfer
Electronic funds transfer is the electronic exchange or transfer of money from one account to another, either within a single financial institution or across multiple institutions, through computer-based systems....
.
Formed in 1992 by a group of oil, pump and computer companies (including AGIP
Agip
Agip is an Italian automotive gasoline and diesel retailer established in 1926. It is a subsidiary of the multinational petroleum company Eni.In 2003, Eni S.p.A...
, BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
, Petrofina
Petrofina
Petrofina was a Belgian oil company which merged with Total in 1999 to form TotalFina, but the name has now been changed back to Total after another merger...
, Mobil
Mobil
Mobil, previously known as the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues as a major brand name within the combined company, as well as still being a gas station sometimes paired with their own store or On...
and Texaco
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
), the principle of IFSF is to create standards so that devices from different manufacturers can interoperate without having to redevelop interfaces:
A similar effort was undertaken earlier in Germany by oil companies and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt
The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt is based in Braunschweig and Berlin. It is the national institute for natural and engineering sciences and the highest technical authority for metrology and physical safety engineering in Germany....
, resulting in the European Petrol Station Interface (“EPSI”) standard, but this was not used much outside Germany.
Standards are only available to paid members of the IFSF organisation.
Impact and Deployment
IFSF forecourt equipment has seen considerable success in EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and some growth markets like Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, but is relatively rare elsewhere. It has not seen much usage in North America , although several member companies are based there. However additional members have continued to join IFSF from many countries, in particular Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
who has pushed IFSF heavily in their European operations. Typically most major manufacturers offer an IFSF version of their equipment, though it may not be widely deployed. Currently an effort is underway to promote IFSF in China.
The newer EFT standards, "POS-EPS" based on XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
technologies, are being used more widely.
Where IFSF is not used, a large variety of proprietary protocols are used. In many deployments, existing site equipment is converted to IFSF operation using a "protocol converter" or PCD, a small computer that accepts IFSF protocol and communicates to the device using its native, proprietary protocol. The PCD is most commonly fitted inside each dispenser, although it is possible for a single converter to convert many devices.
How IFSF works
IFSF is more complex but more comprehensive than most proprietary protocols. The IFSF protocol has two independent layers; a single common device application protocol layer and, multiple (currently 2: Lonworks and TCP/IP) communications protocol layers. The application protocol is independent of the underlying communications layer. The communications protocol specification makes the link to the transport layer. Historically Lonworks has been predominatly deployed because existing cables and cabling topology can be reused. TCP/IP requires higher specification cable and a point to point topology and is more suited to green field or rebuild service stations.The IFSF standards define messages sent and received by each type of device. The messages are sent predominantly over the control network LonWorks
LonWorks
LonWorks is a networking platform specifically created to address the needs of control applications. The platform is built on a protocol created by Echelon Corporation for networking devices over media such as twisted pair, powerlines, fiber optics, and RF...
, and are designed to be expandable by specifying individual fields with types and lengths
Type-length-value
Within data communication protocols, optional information may be encoded as a type-length-value or TLV element inside of the protocol. TLV is also known as tag-length value....
. The messages are grouped into various "databases" for the logical parts of each device, such as a nozzle at a pump. Although methods for using TCP/IP transport have been defined this is quite rare.