Did you notice in the post about the PI Booth that there were two process walls in the booth? One was for PROFIBUS and the other for PROFINET! If you look closely you may also notice Foundation Fieldbus, HART, and WirelessHART. All of these can have a potential role in a PROFINET/PROFIBUS architected system.
On the PROFINET process wall, PROFINET was the system backbone, while PROFIBUS DP, PROFIBUS PA, and the others were integrated. PROFINET is especially suited to its role as a backbone where wireless, PROFIenergy, PROFIsafe, PROFIdrive, Motor Control Center connectivity, and diagnostics are advantageous. I wrote an article foe Control Engineering describing such architectures: Fieldbus in the field.
At the PI press conference, Ernst Jäger, Marketing Manager Germany for Emerson Process Management presented Emerson’s integration of PROFIBUS DP and PROFIBUS PA. Emerson’s DeltaV has long supported PROFIBUS DP and now it supports PROFIBUS PA instruments as well. Jäger commented: “We are in favor of openness and the support of industry standards. That is why we are continually expanding our range of PROFIBUS product and services.”
You can read more in the press release Emerson strengthens its range of PROFIBUS PA solutions, but the conclusion is:
“With this step, Emerson Process Management is continuing its actions of the past few years to open up its products to PI technologies. This is manifested not only in the implementation of PROFIBUS in products but also in active participation in PI Advisory Board and working groups of PI. PI expressly welcomes this step, not least because it will significantly accelerate the use of PROFIBUS in the market.”
If you have been reading the news at www.us.profibus.com, you probably noted some of this news already: Emerson’s AMS Suite Standardizes on PROFIBUS Technology Provided by Softing.
In addition to DeltaV supporting PROFIBUS PA, Emerson continues to release instruments with PROFIBUS PA connectivity such as the FIELDVUE series as noted here.
–Carl Henning