On Achieving Reliable Communication in IEC 61499

This paper proposes a novel extension for communication in the lEC 61499 standard. Inspired by the features found in the formal programming language SystemJ, the extension supports reliable and guaranteed communication in distributed execution of function block application(s)/program(s). The extension utilizes mechanisms agnostic on underlying network protocols and are based on formal semantics that guarantee data delivery. The use of proposed extension, called channel, is demonstrated in an industrial automation-type example.