The Fieldbus Foundation and ISA have announced an agreement to assist the implementation of wireless backhaul transport devices in the United States.
The initiative is based on shared interests in serving the needs of end users and suppliers of wireless systems in industrial automation, says an announcement from the Fieldbus Foundation.
Representatives from both organisations discussed the wireless project at ISA EXPO 2008 in Houston, Texas, a leading international exposition focused on the technology and techniques of automation and control.
At an ISA100 meeting in June, ISA100 leaders established a new working group, ISA100.15 – Wireless Backhaul Networks Working Group – to develop and maintain a standard to address one or more dedicated or shared wireless backhaul(s) to support technologies running multiple applications. The first of these backbones will be the Fieldbus Foundation’s High Speed Ethernet (HSE) implementation.
To expedite the work, the Fieldbus Foundation and ISA have entered into a cross-licensing agreement allowing the two organisations to collaborate on wireless networks.
To enable the ISA100.15 working group to develop the wireless backhaul standard, it will be necessary to use extracts of Fieldbus Foundation specifications as well as parts of other ISA standards in development.
“The Fieldbus Foundation recognises the opportunities that are emerging with wireless applications and believes that effectively interfacing with ISA100 systems will serve as a basis for extending the value and applicability of FOUNDATION(tm) technology in industry,” said FIeldbus Foundation director of technology development and co-chair of the ISA100.15 working group, Dave Glanzer.
Wireless technology has improved in performance and ease-of-use, and a variety of wireless technologies are now being deployed for different applications in mixed environments, said the Fieldbus Foundation in its statement.
These developments bring the need for a wireless backhaul transport network to facilitate interoperability, end-to-end security, and end-to-end quality of service, according to the group.
End users have reported a strong need for this because multiple wireless technologies have been deployed in the same environment for various applications, all needing transport over the common shared wireless media backhaul, said the Fieldbus Foundation.
For more information about ISA100, visit www.isa.org/isa100wireless, or for more information about Fieldbus Foundation, visit www.fieldbus.org