WirelessHART device integration challenges and solutions in industrial automation

Over the last decade the wireless technology has gained interest in process automation world due to its cost effectiveness, rapid deployment and flexibility features. However, the deployment of wireless technology in industrial environment demands same integration approach as compared to traditional wired device integration. This is one of the important aspects which is required to be considered for easy acceptance of wireless technology/wireless devices in the industrial domain. This paper outlines the challenges of WirelessHART components integration which should be addressed to have seamless integration, easy maintenance and troubleshooting support in industrial plant. In addition to that we also describe our prototype of WirelessHART components integration approach in industrial host application using Field Device Tool (FDT) framework. Further we also discuss the architecture and features of WirelessHART Gateway Device Type Manager (DTM) that address most of the integration challenges.