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Foundation Fieldbus

Foundation Fieldbus (FF) is primarily used in the process control industry. It was developed and is maintained by the Fieldbus Foundation. It was originally intended to be the digital replacement for the ubiquitous 4-20 mA standard that still commands 85% of the field device market share.

Foundation Fieldbus operates on two physical layers. Fieldbus H1 uses an RS-485 physical layer operating at 31.25 kbit/second over standard twisted pair cabling H1 is recommended for the field device level. Fieldbus HSE (High Speed Ethernet) runs over standard Ethernet, and recommended for backbone communications in a plant.

Foundation Fieldbus H1 also provides for supplying power to devices through the cable, allowing for intrinsically safe operation in explosive environments. Foundation Fieldbus uses client/server and publisher/subscriber communications methods. Communications between devices and controllers can be scheduled or unscheduled, event-driven messages.

All Foundation Fieldbus devices must supply a device description (DD) file which describes the device to the controller. The Fieldbus Foundation maintains a compliance test suite for conformance and interoperability. Once the test suite is passed, the device is registered with the Foundation and can utilize the logo and marketing resources of the Foundation.

What Can AB Tech Solution Do for Your Foundation Fieldbus Product Development?
  • Obtain manufacturer and product identifiers from Fieldbus Foundation
  • Develop a fully-compliant product for you
  • Add Foundation Fieldbus capability to your existing product
  • Enhance the features and functionality of your product
  • Develop the required DD (device description) files
  • Perform interoperability testing
  • Obtain Fieldbus Foundation registration for your products