In an effort to ensure the usefulness of the ISA100.11a Industrial Wireless Standard, the ISA100 Wireless Compliance Institute (WCI) is collaborating with the NIST (www.nist.gov) on a validation study to perform independent simulations of network performance characteristics using data from early adopters of the ISA100.11a Standard. The study will analyze performance data with the aim of determining if the simulations accurately represent real-world application scenarios.
This initiative is expected to validate certain performance dimensions of the ISA100.11a Standard itself during the early stages of adoption by the industrial automation controls community. In addition, the ISA (www.isa.org) says the study will provide field-tested feedback to the ISA100 Standards Committee to ensure the standard meets its intended objectives with satisfactory performance characteristics.
The validation study expects to provide insights beneficial to suppliers who are launching new products based on the ISA100.11a technology and to operators who are investing in the deployment and management of these leading edge technologies.
The general approach is to encourage early adopters to make performance data available to the study effort under appropriate confidentiality protections. The data will be analyzed to determine if the real world works as simulated. If it doesn’t, the committee will seek solutions for closing necessary gaps and improving the standard.
Companies are encouraged to participate in the ISA100.11a validation study. Interested parties should contact Andre Ristaino, ASCI managing director, for details at aristaino@isa.org or 919 990-9222.
