Update: The IEC 61499 Function Block Standard

Track: Asset Performance Session: Standards Date and Time: September 25, 2012, 3:15-4:45PM

 

Final Drafts of the Second Edition of Parts 1 (Architecture), 2 (Software tools) and 4 (Compliance Profiles) of the IEC 61499 Standard for the use of Function Blocks are now in circulation and will be published in early 2013. In a series of three papers written by experts and early adopters, and presented by Jim Christensen, leader of the IEC 61499 maintenance project, managers and engineers attending this session learned that technical enhancements in the Second Edition make IEC 61499 even more suitable for advanced intelligent, distributed industrial process automation and control.

 

An increasing number of commercially supported, freeware and open source software tools and runtime platforms, as well as a number of available design patterns, methodologies and component libraries, provide ample evidence that implementation and adoption of IEC 61499 technology has advanced from the “Launch” phase characterized by research-oriented innovators to the “Takeoff” phase of early industrial adopters. Significant potential payoffs exist for these early adopters, especially those whose application domains require the encapsulation, reuse and distribution of intellectual property (IP = “know-how”) in distributed, intelligent automation and control systems.

 

The major risks to early adopters are that they may not have access to all the required functionality in portable, configurable and interoperable form, and may not be able to deploy a sufficient number of adequately trained personnel. These risks can be mitigated through adequate training programs and ongoing development of multi-vendor compliance profiles, test suites and certification procedures. Essential to this risk mitigation is that software tools and runtime platforms meet the open system requirements for portability, configurability, and interoperability through the implementation of appropriate Compliance Profiles meeting the requirements of IEC 61499-4.

 

The work of the open source and free software communities, as well as the efforts of commercial suppliers of software tools and runtime platforms, can make a significant contribution to the ongoing development and improvement of the IEC 61499 Standard, its associated software technology and its Compliance Profiles.

 

At this stage, providers of software tools, runtime platforms and controls hardware should seriously consider introducing additional IEC 61499-compliant products.  At the same time, system integrators and end users should begin engagement in training, feasibility studies, and technology monitoring to determine the optimum time for adoption of this technology. In support of these efforts, the IEC 61499 team (IEC SC65B/WG15) stands ready to work on updated and improved tutorial materials, and on proposals for future extensions to further enhance the technical capabilities of IEC 61499.