Integration of an open and non-proprietary device description technology in a foundation fieldbus simulator

This work describes an application and a case study of the Open-EDD technology to the supervision of a FOUNDATION Fieldbus simulation tool, based on the FBSIMU tool. The Open-EDD technology was developed base on software standards already spread for personal computers (XLST, Xerces — DOM implementation, OO, XML Schema) and it is applied in this paper as viable alternative to the currently standardized Device Description technology (IEC 61804-2 - EDD) used for the HART, PROFIBUS and FOUNDATION Fieldbus protocols. In the case of FOUNDATION Fieldbus protocol, for the integration of IEC 61804-2 EDD with FBSIMU, it is necessary to purchase an integration toolkit, that has a high cost. The fieldbus simulation is based on the FBSIMU tool that focuses on the application process of Foundation Fieldbus systems and provides all functionalities to the user considering the configuration and operation of a fieldbus strategy. The results comprehend a functional and temporal evaluation that proves the possibility to reach fieldbus interoperability with the use of truly open software standards.