Representative End User Clients
Representative Automation Clients
Representative Software Clients
The FDI Cooperation, LLC announced that it has fulfilled its mission. The Field Device Integration (FDI) specification and the first public releases of developer tools and common host components are available at FieldComm Group for automation suppliers to develop products and host systems compatible with FDI.
The FDI specification has been publically released and made available through the FDI Cooperation website, as well as through the FieldComm Group and PROFIBUS & PROFINET International (PI). The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has recently published FDI as International Standard IEC 62769.
At the core of the FDI Specification is the FDI Device Package that includes everything a host system needs to integrate an intelligent device. The FDI Device Package that can scale according to the complexities and requirements of each device makes it easier for automation suppliers to develop and integrate device information and configurations across a wide range of host systems and protocols.
FDI Technology is future proof and fits seamlessly into the Reference Architecture Model for Industry 4.0 (RAMI) described in the Implementation Strategy for Industry 4.0 by German industry associations BITKOM, VDMA, and ZVEI. The Reference Architecture Model names FDI Technology for the Integration Layer and the Functional Layer. The FDI client/server architecture with its Device Information Model (according IEC 62541-100) provides everything to model real devices as virtual objects and bring them to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).
The FDI Cooperation has completed its mission to develop the FDI Technology successfully. It will provide another release of the developer tools in July 2015 for publication through FieldComm Group and PROFIBUS & PROFINET International. At the end of July 2015, the FDI Cooperation will be dissolved and its assets transferred to its owners: FieldComm Group, FDT Group, OPC Foundation, and PROFIBUS & PROFINET International. The owners will jointly maintain the FDI Specification. FieldComm Group and PROFIBUS & PROFINET International will jointly maintain and further develop the FDI developer tools.
FieldComm Group will become the "home of FDI Technology" and manage the FDI developer tools, while FieldComm Group and PROFIBUS & PROFINET International will cooperate through dedicated working groups to further maintain and develop FDI technology with a strong end user focus.
The FDI specification, developer tools and host components for FOUNDATION Fieldbus, HART, PROFIBUS und PROFINET are available through the FieldComm Group at www.fieldcommgroup.org.
Keywords: FDI Device Packages, FDI Technology, FieldComm Group, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), ARC Advisory Group.