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The Value of FDI

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Abstract
FDI is an evolutionary device integration technology designed to work with multiple fieldcommunication protocols. HART, WirelessHART, FOUNDATION Fieldbus, PROFIBUS, PROFINET,and ISA100 can be natively supported. Other common automation protocols, like
Modbus/TCP, EtherNet/IP, Proprietary or any other protocols can be supported throughan FDI Communication Server – an OPC-UA server used by an FDI server to access non-nativenetworks.

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This article focuses on FDI Communication Server in detail and the benefits it brings in managing the device
and reducing the challenges to support the heterogeneous network topology in the process automation industry.

FDI Communication Server - The Big Picture
In a typical industrial environment, gathering valuable information from field devices from multiple vendors using
different automation protocols not supported by the host system is difficult. FDI offers the solution to overcome thischallenge. As shown in the below image, FDI Communication Server fetches the information from various industrial
network protocols enabling seamless data communication between any field device and host system. The FDI
Communication Server can be thought of as a dedicated OPC UA server providing access to one or more underlying
field device networks. OPC UA is broadly adopted and supported in the IT industry and provides a robust and welladopted solution to get plant information into the hands of corporate officers and management at any time and allows
them instant access to plant performance information.

The Value of FDI: Automation Protocol Flexibility1Automation Protocol Flexibility
End User Beneﬁts
System maintenance made easyNo FDI Host upgrade to support new protocols
Upgrading the host involves high risk, which may result in malfunctioning of integrated components leading tounplanned shutdown. FDI eases the task of the maintenance engineer by supporting the communication with newprotocols like Modbus, EtherNet/IP or any other protocol without upgrading the host.
FDI supports Proprietary Protocols
FDI has support for all the standard protocols such as HART, WirelessHART, PROFIBUS, PROFINET, Foundation
Fieldbus, and ISA100 etc. For devices in plants that use a proprietary protocol, FDI technology allows such devices tointegrate into the host system.
System maintenance becomes easy by having FDI as a single device integration standard to support all field devices
over various communication channels.

FDI provides remote connectivity
FDI technology allows the FDI Communication Server to be embedded into the remote controller/gateway. This
enables the FDI Host to provide OPC based remote connectivity to the underlying field devices over heterogeneousnetworks.

FDI Communication Server - Deep DiveThe Value of FDI: Automation Protocol Flexibility2Automation Protocol Flexibility
FDI Communication Server is a dedicated OPC UA Server that provides access to a field device network. Thecommunication between the FDI Server and the FDI Communication Server happens via standard OPC UA
communication services.
The FDI standard defines both point-to-point and multi-channel FDI Communication servers. The latter enables
gateway devices and operation over heterogeneous networks.
An FDI Communication Package is similar to an FDI Device Package (see ONE Package – ONE Device – ALL Tools
article). It is used to configure the bus parameters and validate the underlying automation network. The FDI Server
imports the FDI Communication Package like any FDI Device Package.
The FDI Server communicates with underlying networks through a native communication driver (HART, FOUNDATION
Fieldbus, etc.) or through an integrated protocol-specific FDI Communication Server.

Generic Protocol Extension support in FDIEDDL technology has support for HART, WirelessHART, FOUNDATION Fieldbus, PROFIBUS, PROFINET and ISA100
communication channels. Along with these communication channels supported by EDDL Standard, FDI extends its
support for any type of communication channels via generic protocol extension support.

The image above shows an FDI Host communicating with MODBUS, EtherNet/IP and proprietary protocol devices. In
this example, in order to communicate with the Modbus device, an FDI Host, that supports the generic protocol extension, sends the Modbus request, embedded in a generic message format, to a Modbus FDI Communication Server,which communicates with the underlying Modbus device and sends the response back to the FDI Host.

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Embedded Communication Server
From the perspective of the FDI Server, an FDI Communication Server is another type of device that provides the information to communicate with the underlying network. FDI Communication Server may run locally on the same machine(loop back adapter) or can also be embedded into a controller as an Embedded FDI Communication Server.

Conclusion
FDI Communication Server allows seamless communication with devices over standard as well as proprietarycommunication networks. FDI supports remote communication devices over a secure channel.
FDI Communication Server supports FDI to achieve its vision to be a single device integration standard, independent of
the communication, manufacturer or host systems.

FieldComm Group9430 Research Blvd., Ste 1-120
Austin, TX 78759 USA
info@fieldcommgroup.org+1 512.792.2300www.fieldcommgroup.org

The Value of FDI: Automation Protocol Flexibility

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