Intelligent devices receive ISA-standardized support

Process manufacturers will welcome the news that standards body ISA has granted American National Standard status to an Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL).

The standard—ANSI/ISA-61804-3 (104.00.01)-2007, Function Blocks for Process Control-Part 3: Electronic Device Description Language—should do much to advance the use of electronic device descriptions within the manufacturing industry, claims Terry Blevins, principal technologist at Emerson Process Management, and chair of the ISA committee that recommended adoption.

Electronic device descriptions—which are essentially text files containing pertinent information for enabling intelligent devices to integrate with control systems and handheld communicators—aid manufacturers in cost-effectively making available—and maintaining—information on device-specific functions and capabilities such as range setting, calibration trim, diagnostics, information retrieval, and parameter handling.

An EDDL standard, says Blevins, offers assurance that consistency among different process automation vendors' approaches to electronic device descriptions can be achieved as new vendors and requirements complicate a status quo that has existed for almost 15 years.

“As we move beyond handheld devices and introduce capabilities like menus, graphics capabilities, and lists, a standard becomes increasingly important,” says Blevins. “The technology had to evolve, or die—and an EDDL standard provides an ordered framework for that evolution.”

"It’s been good to see companies that compete so fiercely with each other come together to create a foundation that will support the industry for the foreseeable future." —Terry Blevins, principal technologist, Emerson Process Management

“Using tools based on EDDL can mean faster device commissioning, as well as reduced field trips, and eliminating unnecessary maintenance,” says Blevins.

One notable success of the new standard has been the degree of collaboration involved in bringing it to fruition so quickly—work that only started in earnest in early 2006, and involved automation manufacturers as diverse as Emerson, Siemens, and Yokogawa.

“It's been good to see companies that compete so fiercely with each other come together to create a foundation that will support the industry for the foreseeable future,” concludes Blevins.