2 5 y e a r s o f c o n t r o l

Exciting developments in industrial networking were clearly among the driving forces behind then-Putman Publishing’s decision to launch

a magazine dedicated to process automation and control. Control’s very first issue in October 1988 dove right into the topic, starting with a news story on the Manufacturing Automation Protocol/Technical Office Protocol (MAP/TOP) standard for communicating among “islands of information” in industrial environments.

A tutorial article detailed the anatomy of the Interna-tional Organiiztion for Standardization’s Open Systems

Interconnect (ISO/OSI) model, and another ar-ticle covered the ISA SP50 committee’s prog-ress toward a digital communications standard, which it had started working on in 1984.

That first issue also included a “Honeywell News” story, “The SP50 War,” where the company

paid for space to explain its neutral position on the emerging standard: “In 1975, ISA’s Standards Practices Committee, SP50, defined 4-20 mA as industry’s analog fieldbus standard. Now, with digital sensors and actuators replacing analog components,

The Fieldbus ChroniclesA 25-year perspective on the quest for a unified digital standard.

by Paul Studebaker

T i m E l i n E

1 9 8 9 2 0 1 4

February1992SP50 Committee Makes Political Gains

Venture Development says, thus far, more political than technical strides have been made by the

Instrument Society of America’s fieldbus standard committee. The study maintains, however, that this

is a positive development.

December1991Rosemount, Ronan, Honeywell Agree on Chipset

Officials announce an agreement to implement an integrated circuit chipset, FieldChipS, to support the

emerging fieldbus standard. Initial sets are projected to be available in early 1992.

July1989DCS Vendors Hold the KeyA study by Venture Development places primary responsibility for developing a digital transmission standard on the shoulders of distributed control system vendors.

OctOber1988ISA SP50 Pursues Fieldbus StandardThe Instrument Society of America’s Standards Project 50 (SP50) committee is developing a digital communication standard using a four-layer architecture for the next generation of field sensors and actuators.

Continued on page 38

OctOber1988

Communications: The Key to CIMWith the help of Paul Merluzzi Jr., of Sequential Automation Consultants,

our inaugural issue described how the International Organization for Standardization’s Open Systems

Interconnect (ISO/OSI) seven- layer model for digital network

communications supports computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM).

January1990

Moving Toward a Digital Fieldbus StandardA roundtable discussion among members of the Instrument Society of America’s SP50 committee, which is charged with developing a fieldbus standard for digital communications, estimates a completed standard in as little as six months.

Brought to you courtesy of

learn more >>

Henibh erat. Ut nonsectet verosto consent vel dolor iuscil exercid uipsum el ipsuscing exer secte dolenis et wisi. Ut nonsectet verosto consent vel dolor iuscil exercid uipsum el ipsuscing exer secte dolenis et wisi.

2 5 y e a r s o f c o n t r o l

September1993Fieldbus Wars Heat Up at ISA/93The 1993 Instrument Society of America show will feature adjacent booth demonstrations by the InterOperable Systems Project, the Profibus Trade Organization and WorldFIP, as well as a number of technical sessions.

auguSt1995Don’t Need No Stinking Fieldbus!

Small bands of renegade suppliers are offering gateways and adapters that allow users to make “the connections

they need without a fieldbus standard.”

December1994There’s a Place in the World for Signal Conditioners

Despite the development of fieldbus-based systems, “It appears that end users and manufacturers will continue

to ignore the premature obituaries assigning signal conditioners to oblivion,” wrote field editor George Ritz.

march1992Rosemount Quits Development Effort

Rosemount drops out of a joint effort with Honeywell and Ronan to develop an integrated chipset for the emerging fieldbus

standard, saying that it would not lead to the interoperability desired by end users. Honeywell remains committed.

July1993SP50 User Document Approved Over ISP ‘No’ Votes

Despite negative votes from key members of the InterOperable Systems Project, a technical report defining

the user layer of the developing fieldbus standard is approved by the SP50 user layer subcommittee.

December1993HART: A Stepping Stone to Fieldbus

“While much of the process control industry’s attention has been focused on the development of a fully digital fieldbus

standard, the HART protocol has quietly gained de facto standard status,” said Senior Editor Keith Larson.

OctOber1992New Powerhouse Consortium to Develop Single FieldbusThe InterOperable Systems Project (ISP) is launched by Fisher Controls, Rosemount, Siemens and Yokogawa to “accelerate the availability of interoperable systems and products.”

OctOber1995Fieldbus Approaches

Critical MassAs the pressures of urgent need and tantalizing benefits continue to build, frustrated end users are

giving up on the concept of a single standard and going ahead with

what they can lay their hands on.

December1992Fieldbus, Fieldbus,

Who Has the Fieldbus?With ISP, IFC, SP50,and FIP Club

all going in their own directions, growing confusion among end

users and animosity among vendors is evident at the October

Instrument Society of America show in Houston.

march1993WorldFIP Tries to Balance the ScalesA late breaking news story announces the formation of WorldFIP, a “global organization dedicated to developing an open and universal fieldbus specification.” Charter members include Honeywell Inc., Allen Bradley Co., Elsag Bailey Inc. and Square D Co.

march1994Waiting for FieldbusWhile vendors battled over market dominance in the fieldbus wars, end users were not placing any bets on who will win or what standard will emerg; 88% of survey respondents indicated they will wait until the standard and technology mature.

may1996

Foundation Fieldbus FinalizedThe March 6 completion of the specification for a low-speed 31.25 Kbit/sec. H1 Foundation fieldbus allows users to begin planning applications and vendors to start making products.

February2000IEC Approves Eight-Part Fieldbus StandardCalling IEC 61158 “an eight-headed monster that benefits no one,” long-term SP50 and IEC Fieldbus Committee Working Group 6 Chairman Dick Caro ultimately resigns in protest while vendors rejoice as approval of a standard—any standard—opens the global market.

OctOber2000ISA Expo 2000 Touts Wireless World

July2001BP Chemicals Adopts Foundation fieldbus for plant in Lima, Ohio

June2000Energy companies launch research

into CO2 sequestration

march2000IEC 61158 Is ‘Just a Joke’

Jim Pinto’s notorious fieldbus poem ends: “This standards fiasco confuses the choices, End users simply had no

voices, The ideal standard we all agree, Is only described in poetry.”

auguSt1996Flying Your Plant by Radio Control

Wireless systems are becoming easier to use for widely dispersed data acquisition and control, displacing hardwired communications links that are difficult to install and maintain.

February1998Foundation Fails IEC Vote;

Profibus Calls for Integrated StandardAfter the third IEC ballot to approve Foundation fieldbus

failed (because Brazil’s vote arrived late), Profibus International called for the European international fieldbus

standard EN 50 170 to be “integrated into IEC 61158.”

may1999Industrial Ethernet Association Is Formed

april1999Foundation Fieldbus Wins RecountSaying they lacked the required technical basis, the IEC SC65C subcommittee disqualified six votes cast by the Czech Republic, Denmark, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. But it doesn’t mean IEC 61158 is approved. That’s up to the IEC Committee of Action.

September1996ISA/96 Is Wired for FieldbusFieldbus products across the show floor are wired together in a multi-booth live demo of standardization and interoperability—and it works.

auguSt1999

Ethernet Ready to StrikeIt already exists at the boardroom level; it’s operating at the control level. The next step is the device

level, “but it will have to gain speed and strength if it hopes to swallow the bulk of industrial applications.”

OctOber2001Let Them In

Despite concerns about security and safety, giving customers and

suppliers access to information from your control system network is now

relatively easy, and there are ways to avert the nightmares.

2 5 y e a r s o f c o n t r o l

2 5 y e a r s o f c o n t r o l2 5 y e a r s o f c o n t r o l

may2009Dueling WirelessThe ISA100 Committee has approved a draft standard for ISA100.11a wireless networking, but with many vendors and users committed to WirelessHART and other standards, “The wireless war is far from over.”

auguSt2006Emerson, Siemens Declare Fieldbus War Over

The companies will exchange technology and engineering support to add the interfaces that extend their systems

and software to offer customers expanded global interoperability and greater functionality.

June2005The Many Flavors of Industrial Ethernet

Ethernet is only the base on which to build an industrial protocol, so the Fieldbus Foundation has HSE, Profibus has Profinet, and then there

are also ODVA, EtherNet/IP and many more.

July2006Fieldbus Wars Continue Profibus claims 15.4 million nodes installed worldwide; ODVA announces its millionth EtherNet/IP node. Foundation fieldbus has 625,000 devices and 10,000 systems installed, and some 10 million HART-enabled devices are in the field. Now along comes wireless.

OCTOBER/2007

The Ergonomics of ProcessAnalyzer Enclosures

Flowmeters for Bubbly Liquids

Faking It – Simulation Softwarefor Process Operations

Web Exclusive: Andrew Bond’sEuropean Report

OctOber2007

Fieldbus Foundation, HART and Profibus Will Cooperate on Wireless The Fieldbus Foundation announced it has joined the HART Communication Foundation and Profibus Nutzerorganisation e.V. (PNO) in launching a cooperative initiative for wireless technology in the manufacturing and process industries.

OctOber2008

The One Network“If the mythical Tower of Babel had implemented an industrial

network, I think 21st-century controls professionals could have provided

the design and troubleshooting,” says John Rezebek, columnist, “because it appears that our supplier community is gearing up for a diverse spectrum of interconnection options instead of the global standard once envisioned

for IEC 61158.”

april2003Industrial Ethernet to ‘Absorb Competition’

“Remember the 1958 movie “The Blob?” asks Rich Merritt, senior

technical editor. “The Blob slithered along, devouring everything in its

path. It was virtually indestructible and impervious to all weapons.

Ethernet is like that. Except it’s even more adaptable than the Blob was.”

nOvember2004Are the Fieldbus Wars Heating Up Again? Emerson is promoting the latest EDDL standards, the HART Communication Foundation has opened to end users, Modbus TCP has received IEC acceptance as a standard, and Siemens says Profinet is “the one and only fieldbus you will ever need.”

2 5 y e a r s o f c o n t r o l

January2010EDDL Cooperation to Become FDI Cooperation

may2013The Ethernet vs. Fieldbus Cage Match

Industrial Ethernet is faster, can use standard wireless and has more topology options, but fieldbuses hold

their turf in hazardous areas, severe environments and specialized applications.

September2011FDI Cooperation to Promote Field Device Integration Solution Five major fieldbus foundations—FDT Group, Fieldbus Foundation, HART Communication Foundation, Profibus and Profinet International, and OPC Foundation—found FDI Cooperation LLC to promulgate a single, common solution for field device integration (FDI).

February2013Will Ethernet Overtake Fieldbus in Automation Networks? IMS Research estimates that fieldbus protocols accounted for 75% of new industrial automation network connections in 2011, projects that fall to 69% in 2016, and says that industrial Ethernet will be the dominant industrial networking technology within 10 to 15 years.

September2013Fieldbus, HART Foundations in Merger Talks The Fieldbus Foundation and the HART Communication Foundation have entered into discussions on the potential for merging the two organizations into a single industry foundation dedicated to the needs of intelligent device communications in the world of process automation.

auguSt2011All Quiet on the Wireless Front

End users have voted with their feet, ignoring standards wars

and moving ahead with useful applications. Our survey shows

43% of users already have been using wireless field networks, and 27% expect to use them

in the next three years. “That’s remarkable penetration of a market

that appeared to be mired in controversy just a year or so ago,”

says Editor in Chief Walt Boyes.

SP50 has again convened, this time to define a new serial, digital, bi-directional communications protocol. During these interim years, several instrument and control manufac-turers have forged ahead with their own digital communica-tions architecture. The situation has raised some interesting questions.”

Honeywell counseled readers to understand the diffi-culty and importance of developing a truly interoperable fieldbus standard. “Each manufacturer with its own proto-col wants it adapted as the standard. None, however, meet the criteria.” Meanwhile, “Most likely, if you plan to invest in your system, there will be simple digital plug-ins available to convert your protocol to the new fieldbus…for example, Honeywell is developing a plug-in interface card that will link control room devices to the new standard and to the ex-isting protocol in our smart transmitters.”

Development of a single standard was seen as imminent: “The SP50 committee should be submitting a draft for ap-proval by 1990…you could be integrating SP50 components into your system sometime in 1991.” As the accompanying timeline shows, it took a lot longer to get a digital standard.

Some would say we never made it. Users wanted a stan-dard that could do everything; vendors wanted a standard that would give their proprietary protocols a level playing field (if not a head start); and everybody wanted something they could hope to afford to implement. While SP50 and then IEC 61158 committees worked to establish a global standard, the Fieldbus Foundation, Profibus Trade Organi-zation, Open DeviceNet Vendors Assn., HART Communi-cation Foundation and others worked to develop and grow their own protocols and followings.

Meanwhile, Ethernet and the Internet became de facto standards in the commercial world, and the costs of the com-puting power and hardware needed to integrate multiple communications protocols fell precipitously. By February 2000, it seemed almost reasonable that instead of “one stan-dard to rule us all,” the IEC would approve a collection of eight protocols, so plants of different types around the world could chose the most appropriate one for a given task, and simply bridge them wherever needed. The dream of a single, global, digital fieldbus to supplant the global 4-20 mA stan-dard died a hard death, and we all moved on—to wireless.

Continued from page 32