The HART Communication Foundation (HCF) has submitted the WirelessHART Communication specification (HART 7.1) to the International Electrotechnical Commission for approval as a publicly available specification (PAS). After the two-month balloting process, the WirelessHART specification will begin the process of becoming an amendment to IEC 61158, the fieldbus standard. HART Communication is already included in the application layer of that document.
Released by the HCF in September 2007, WirelessHART is the first open and interoperable wireless communication standard designed to address the needs of the process industry for reliable, robust, and secure wireless communication in the real world field environment of industrial plant applications.
The WirelessHART standard provides a robust wireless protocol for the full range of process measurement, control, and asset management applications. Based on the proven and familiar HART protocol, it enables users to quickly and easily gain the benefits of wireless technology while maintaining compatibility with existing devices, tools and systems.
“Submitting WirelessHART as an IEC PAS is a landmark for the process automation industry,” said HCF executive director Ron Helson. “We will have the first international standard for wireless communication technology, which is a long-demanded goal of end users.”
HART Communication Foundation
www.hartcomm2.org