The Fieldbus Foundation (www.fieldbus.org) announced the latest updates to its FOUNDATION fieldbus Device Description (DD) tools and specifications. The new releases for DD technology (compliant with the IEC 61804 and ISA104 Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL) profile) include enhanced versions of: DD Services (Version 5.1.0), DD Integrated Development Environment (Version 1.1.0), Device Description Language Interoperability Specification (FF-901), Device Description Language Specification (FF-900) and DD Library (Version 3.2).
The latest DD enhancements support Unicode, providing FOUNDATION fieldbus device and system suppliers with an expanded ability to write and visualize DDs using local languages, including Asian languages. The enhancements also allow developers to build device-level menus, thus enabling visualization of multiple blocks and significantly improving the device integration experience. In addition, support for new parameter attributes are designed to ensure an enhanced user interface for accessing devices.
According to the Fieldbus Foundation, support for device-level menus will become mandatory as part of the Fieldbus Foundation”s host profile test and registration program. Host registration is expected strengthen fieldbus interoperability and system integration. Hosts successfully completing registration testing will be authorized to bear the foundation”s official product registration symbol.
Both of the DD technical documents (FF-900 and FF-901) fully describe the
new enhancements and are included in the FOUNDATION fieldbus technical specification. These documents are available for download on Fieldbus Forums (forums.fieldbus.org) to all foundation members with a specification maintenance agreement.
