Developing and implementing an open and non-proprietary device description for fieldbus devices based on software standards

Support for interoperability and interchangeability of software components which are part of a fieldbus automation system relies on the definition of open architectures, most of them involving proprietary technologies. Concurrently, standard, open and nonproprietary technologies, such as XML, SOAP, Web services and the like, have greatly evolved and been diffused in the computing area. This article presents a FOUNDATION fieldbus™ device description technology named Open-EDD, based on XML and other related technologies (XLST, Xerces, OO, XML Schema), proposing an open and non-proprietary alternative to the EDD (Electronic Device Description). This initial proposal includes defining the programming language of the technology in the Foundation fieldbus™ protocol, implementing a compiler and a parser, and finally, integrating and testing the new technology using field devices and a commercial fieldbus configurator.