February 14, 2020 – FieldComm Group, a standards development organization in the process automation industry, announced a milestone in its effort to accelerate digitalization in the process industry with the updated release of its developer tool for the Field Device Integration standard (FDI).

Announced in conjunction with the availability of version 1.2 of the FDI specifications (IEC 62769), this release of the FDI Device Package Integrated Development Environment (FDI-IDE) provides enhancements for field instrument software developers.

HTML5 Apps Enabled. The FDI-IDE, in addition to previously available Microsoft .NET support, now allows for the creation of device-specific application programs using HTML5. This feature allows users to integrate device-specific application tools with emerging web-based asset management systems.

JSON based Device Information.Originally envisioned as an integration technology for control system asset management software, FDI is increasingly being considered for local and remote cloud monitoring and optimization applications. By providing monitoring and device identification information in lightweight JSON format for HART devices, the FDI-IDE enables standardized creation of simple monitoring and optimization applications.

OPC UA Cloud Integration. For applications that rely on OPC UA information models, the FDI-IDE now includes a device information model server with OPC UA local discovery server support to provide a software conduit from FDI servers to local and cloud-based OPC UA applications.

Single Solution for Multiple Protocols. The release of this latest version of the FDI-IDE provides a single developer tool that process automation suppliers can use to create FDI compliant software for many process automation protocols. FOUNDATION Fieldbus, HART, WirelessHART, PROFIBUS, PROFINET, ISA100.11a and a generic protocol extender are all supported.

online Repository Assures Access to Latest Registered Device Files. FDI-IDE also enables developers to take advantage of FieldComm Group’s online FDI Device Package and DD (Device Description) repository. Through the FDI-IDE Reference Runtime Environment, developers can access the up-to-date registered files available for process automation device integration.