In what is said to be a revolutionary development within the process and control industry, a group of major field instrument manufacturers have got together to engineer an open configuration software which is manufacturer and fieldbus-independent.
Called PACTware, this open platform uses a standardised interface for operation between the frame programme and the individual software modules. For the first time, parameter adjustment and configuration of all field instruments and field buses on a plant is now possible with only one engineering tool.
PACTware supports all common communication protocols and has been designed to allow the integration of future standards. It is based on the FDT (Field Device Tool) technology and specifies the data exchange between the system level and the field instruments.
All devices come with a DTM (device type manager), which is the driver that interfaces with the system. PACTware is the platform for all DTMs according to the FDT standard and enables the adjustment of any instrument in the FDT system. It is now possible to run any manufacturing or production facility using a single configuration tool for all field instruments.
A DTM, written for PACTware can be used without any modification in another FDT environment. Instrument manufacturers maintain only one software component for instrument configuration and can focus on their core business, which is instrument development.
For more information contact Alan Wynn, Vega Instruments SA, 011 958 1901, [email protected]
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