The release of an updated annex to the current FDT standard for ODVA’s media-independent Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) was announced by the FDT Group at SPS IPC Drives 2016. Network adaptations of CIP include EtherNet/IP™, DeviceNet™, CompoNet™ and ControlNet.™ The latest version of the CIP annex to the FDT specification enables the use of proven and widely implemented ODVA networks in FDT/FRAME™ Applications with the latest enhancements.
The announcement was made during a press conference at the SPS IPC Drives exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany. SPS IPC Drives is Europe's leading event for electric automation.
Founded in 1995, ODVA is a global association that advances open, interoperable information and communication technologies in industrial automation. For future interoperability of production systems and the integration of the production systems with other systems, ODVA embraces the adoption of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) and standard, unmodified Internet and Ethernet technologies as a guiding principle wherever possible.
ODVA and the FDT Group have cooperated on the ability to integrate devices implementing ODVA technologies and standards into the FDT ecosystem for more than 10 years. Their most recent work resulted in a CIP annex to the FDT standard that supports seamless tunneling through all of the networks and in combination with any other network supported by the FDT2 standard. One of the benefits of the recent enhancements to the FDT standard is that providers of EtherNet/IP products, as well as DeviceNet, ControlNet and CompoNet products, can now supply FDT Device Type Managers™ (DTMs™) to support their products regardless of the FDT/FRAME or network interface cards involved. All of the latest FDT/FRAMES can then immediately support CIP and the network adaptations of CIP.
“When FDT is used in combination with CIP and its network adaptations, the resulting system provides users with a feature-rich, interoperable environment for configuration, command and control,” said Glenn Schulz, managing director of the FDT Group. “The on-going collaboration between ODVA and the FDT Group will help optimize the exchange of configuration, diagnostic and production data between field devices and higher-level systems.”
ODVA President and Executive Director Katherine Voss stated: “With release of an updated CIP annex to the current FDT standard, ODVA expects that CIP combined with FDT will be increasingly attractive for industrial automation applications. Synchronization of the CIP annex with the most recent FDT standard is essential for hundreds of automation developers and customers around the world, who are working together on unified communications using robust EtherNet/IP technology.”
She added, “ODVA is pleased to cooperate with the FDT Group to ensure that our specifications support use of the two technologies in a single, integrated system.”
FDT Technology standardizes the configuration interface between field devices and host systems independent of the communication protocol used to transmit the data between them, allowing access to device parameters for applications where extensive device configuration may be needed. ODVA’s CIP technology encompasses a comprehensive suite of objects, services and device profiles for industrial automation applications. It allows users to integrate operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) in a unified and extensible communication architecture throughout the industrial enterprise, while protecting existing automation investments.
For more information, please visit the FDT Group website.
