PICMG teams for Open Process Control technology
The PICMG hardware standards consortium has teamed up with the Open Process Automation Forum (OPAF) on interoperable, interchangeable technology specifications for edge controllers in the process control industry.
The partnership between MICMG and OPAF fills a gap in edge controller hardware that exists in the O-PAS Standard—an open architectural framework for developing industrial process automation systems, currently being defined by OPAF initiatives.
To complete and standardize work on an edge controller performed by OPAF member Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), The Open Group Forum evaluated several hardware standards development organizations. The OPAF Members selected PICMG to develop a new open edge hardware technology specification that defines electromechanical interoperability, interchangeability, hot plug capabilities, and compatibility with existing standards such as IEC 61499 and IEC 61131.
OPAF has over 110 members including Schneider Electric, Phoenix Contact, Intel, and others. The O-PAS framework defines resilient and scalable process automation system architectures and uses existing standards wherever possible or, in the absence of such standards, works with associated organizations to achieve proper standard definition.
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This led to the recently ratified InterEdge specification which introduces a modular open architecture that delivers state-of-the-art I/O abstraction and flexibility and in a common physical form factor. It supports the OPAF and O-PAS goals of reducing integration, maintenance, and upgrade costs in the highly fragmented and largely proprietary process control technology market.
PICMG has developed the CompactPCI, AdvancedTCA and COM Express hardware specifications and sees this as key to the development of the process control edge controllers.
Work on new versions of the InterEdge specification already underway with PICMG and the Open Process Automation Forum has introduced InterEdge to its physical platform subcommittee, who plan to include the specification in an upcoming revision of the O-PAS Standard and devise a set of tests that evaluate conformance to the InterEdge specification.
“During development of the O-PAS Standard, we realized the need for physical hardware that provided interchangeability in an interoperable way,” explained David DeBari, Process Control Engineering Associate at ExxonMobil. “Because our focus is primarily on the software side, we opted to bring in third-party expertise. PICMG was the organization that best fit our needs in that regard—a lot of our suppliers were involved with them already, so working together was the natural choice.”
“Through standardization, proprietary physical interfaces are quickly becoming a thing of the past. The InterEdge standard from PICMG is the first step in that transition for process automation industry end users. Enabling hardware interchangeability allows end users to select components based on performance characteristics instead of physical interface compatibility. We look forward to seeing this key quality attribute normatively referenced in the O-PAS standard,” added Aneil Ali, Forum Director of The Open Group Open Process Automation Forum.
“Our relationship with PICMG is invaluable. It is industry changing,” said Steve Bitar, former ExxonMobil automation advisor and secretary of the PICMG InterEdge working group. “And we already know that some of our vendors will use—or are already using—other PICMG standards like COM-Express and COM-HPC. That level of collaboration and integration brings us a step closer to our vision—an industry built on open architecture standards and qualifications that are supported by end users, suppliers, and integrators alike.”
The InterEdge specification is available now and can be purchased from the PICMG website for $750.
The Open Process Automation Forum is at www.opengroup.org/forum/open-process-automation-forum; www.picmg.org
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