Fieldbus furore flares again
15 Jan 2000
Just weeks before the next round of voting to decide the final draft of an international fieldbus standard, Profibus International (PI) has called for further work on the proposed IEC 61158 to be suspended.
According to Profibus spokesman Geoff Hodgkinson: 'IEC 61158 covers only the process control sector in theory and ignores industrial automation. In practice, it is a paper specification that has no substance... no products exist and not one vendor anywhere has ever indicated that products will be built... To ask National Committees worldwide to make considered and balanced technical judgements about such complex documents is not realistic. We call upon the IEC to suspend work immediately and look for an alternative approach.'
Alternatives suggested by PI include IEC's own suggestion to standardise interfaces 'in areas of high market competition and fast technological progress'.
Responding to this latest Profibus campaign and demonstrating the current competitiveness of the fieldbus market (see page 20) the rival Fieldbus Foundation refutes many of PI's arguments. In a briefing document, it says: 'IEC 61158 is the culmination of a 12-year, non-commercial effort by IEC members to bring an advanced fieldbus technology to international standardisation versus an older technology which happens to be favoured in a few countries.'
