WirelessHART Standard Crowning Achievement in 15 Years of Success for HART Communication Foundation
Austin, TX (August 6, 2008) — “The most significant accomplishment of the HART® Communication Foundation (HCF) in our 15-year history is establishing the HART Protocol as the global standard and leading communication technology for intelligent measurement and control devices in process automation” says HCF Executive Director Ron Helson. “Our crowning achievement is the recent enhancement and extension of the protocol standards to enable wireless devices and establish the first wireless communication standard for process automation - WirelessHART™.
Organized in 1993, the HART Communication Foundation is celebrating 15 years of continuous growth and service to the industry. The not-for-profit organization leads the industry in establishing communication standards for intelligent process instrumentation and provides open, unbiased technical programs and support services to facilitate the adoption, application and use of HART technology in process applications around the world.
Throughout its 15 year history, the Foundation has supported and
enhanced the HART technology to serve process industry needs while
remaining true to its key principles of backward compatibility and
interoperability.
“A major role of the Foundation is ensuring the HART technology serves the evolving needs of industry users and suppliers,” says Helson. “The new WirelessHART standard is the latest step in the evolution of HART technology.”
WirelessHART provides simple, reliable and secure wireless communication with the same user-friendly experience that HART users know and expect. The new wireless communication capability preserves and builds on the extensive investment in HART-enabled devices, tools, training, work procedures, system interfaces and software applications in use throughout the process automation and manufacturing industries today.
Among the Foundation’s technology successes in its first 15 years of operation are: the Device Description (DD) Registration Program and DD Library (1994); HART Test Specifications, Procedures and Device Registration Program (1995); HART OPC Server (1999); Enhanced Diagnostics for System Integration with HART 6 (2001); DD Integrated Development Environment (2003); Smart Device Configurator Software Technology—SDC-625 (2004); Enhanced DD Language (2005), and HART 7 with WirelessHART (2007).
In 2002, the Foundation established the HART Plant of the Year Award Program to recognize the people and companies around the world who are using HART technology in innovative real-time applications. The Foundation’s educational programs include training workshops, trade shows and conferences, HART website, online product catalog, e-learning, newsletters, publications, CDs, and speaking engagements.
The HART Communication Foundation, an international, not-for-profit,
membership organization, is the technology owner, standards setting
body and central authority for all matters pertaining to the HART
Protocol and associated technology. The Foundation is supported
by more than 220 companies worldwide. For information on the HART
Communication Protocol, products with HART capability, Foundation
programs and membership, go to www.hartcomm.org.