Latest EDDL Enhancements Welcomed

The Fieldbus Foundation (USA) announces it welcomes the latest enhancements to Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL), which are incorporated in the second edition of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61804-3 standard. This technology provides a universal, proven and state-of-the-art method for accessing diagnostic, real-time and asset management information contained in millions of industrial field instruments, while also ensuring optimal data and device interoperability.

EDDL is a text-based language for describing the digital communication characteristics of intelligent devices and equipment parameters in an operating system (OS) and human machine interface (HMI) neutral environment. EDDL assists engineers during Distributed Control System (DCS) configuration, technicians during commissioning and maintenance using device configuration software for laptop or handheld field communicators, and operators working at DCS consoles or using intelligent device management software as part of asset management solutions.

With EDDL, a user can calibrate instruments, diagnose problems, provide data for user interface displays, identify process alarms and obtain information needed for high-level software, such as Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), plant historians, asset management and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). The technology is key to interoperability in a digital process automation architecture, enabling control systems and intelligent field devices from different manufacturers to work together.