Plugging a translation gap

January 2004 Fieldbus & Industrial Networking News

People who do not speak the same language find other ways to communicate. Machines and computers cannot.

Whether it is a car or a chemical plant, different pieces of equipment are controlled by information passing between them and a control panel. The link for this information is called a fieldbus.

The trouble for manufacturers is that different fieldbuses often speak entirely different languages depending on the standard communications protocol they use. One might use a protocol called DeviceNet; another Profibus; a third might use the AS-interface protocol. None is inherently superior, and none will be compatible.

ABB has developed a component which bridges the language divide. The fieldbus plug (FBP) is a compact system which takes information from equipment in the field and converts it to any common protocol. It is, in effect, a translator or interpreter.

ABB believes the FBP will have significant implications for its low-voltage business, currently worth some US$2 billion a year.

ABB's fieldbus plug family of products is highly compact, relatively simple to integrate with existing equipment and pre-tested, simplifying the process of developing manufacturing plants and considerably reducing cost.

Without it, equipping factories can be an expensive nightmare.

For more information, see the whole Technology briefing on www.abb.com.

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