Implementation of a plug and play sensor system using IEEE P1451.4

Almost all test and measurement, industrial automation, and data acquisition systems involve interfacing analog sensors and actuators (for temperature, pressure, flow, vibration, etc.) to some form of instrumentation (data acquisition cards, data loggers, I/O systems, meters, controllers, etc.). The developing IEEE P1451.4 standard proposes a mechanism for adding self-identification to traditional transducers for plug and play operation. Central to this mechanism is the concept of a transducer electronic data sheet (TEDS) that is stored with the transducer. This paper provides a detailed overview of the IEEE P1451.4 Smart Transducer Interface for Mixed-Mode Transducers. In addition to explaining the components and mechanisms of IEEE P1451.4, the paper describes the implication of enabling plug and play sensors for a variety of sensor-based measurement and automation systems. Finally, the paper also documents an example implementation of a computer-based data acquisition system that exploits the plug and play sensor concept.