Recent Trends Will Shape Future of Distributed Control Systems

Keywords: DCS, CPAS, Virtualization, Mobility, Cyber Security.

The term "distributed control system" or "DCS," for short, has been around since the mid '70s. As such, the product is considered to be fairly stable. Improvements, when they come, are largely incremental and breakthroughs in product design and function now a rarity. Having said that, ARC Advisory Group is following several interesting areas that illustrated some trends in DCS.

Major DCS and Related Industry Trends
Several trends have already impacted the DCS market and are likely to continue to do so over the next few years. These include both product- and technology-related trends and general industry trends.

More Intelligent I/O
The DCS input/output (I/O) subsystem is responsible for inputting hun-dreds or often thousands of different process measurements and other inputs into the system, and outputting control signals to a large number of valves, actuators, motors, and other plant final control elements. I/O represents one of the most significant parts of the DCS, and traditionally, a significant cost element. However, DCS suppliers are working to reduce both the cost and the complexity of their I/O by incorporating more intelligence into the devices. For example, in 2009, Emerson introduced its CHARMS (CHARacterizer Modules) for the company's DeltaV DCS, which reduce the number of different I/O types required and increase flexibility by enabling I/O devices to be characterized at commissioning. In the interim, other suppliers have initiated efforts to revamp their own I/O subsystems to make them programmable and smarter.

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