FDT Group and CC-Link announce cooperation agreement
17 November 2010
The CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) has signed a cooperation agreement with the FDT Group to promote the use of the FDT as an international standard. Under the agreement CLPA will support the development of an annex of the protocol for the FDT standard to support the CC-Link family of networks including its CC-Link IE Field Gigabit Industrial Ethernet.
CLPA’s participation is significant for the growth of FDT technology because of its pre-eminence in the Asian markets. In November 2010, FDT will make a presentation to a selected audience of members, users and the press at the CLPA 10th anniversary celebrations in Tokyo.
FDT standardizes the communication and configuration interface between all field devices and host systems. It provides a common environment for accessing the devices’ most sophisticated features. Any device can be configured, operated, and maintained over the CC-Link networks through the standardized user interface – regardless of supplier or type.
Steve Jones, European General Manager of the CLPA says, “We find increasingly that users are demanding common tools to enable them to access and integrate intelligent field devices. Implementing the common environment provided by FDT provides this, but also gives us the potential to add new functionality for users of CC-Link networks.”
Glenn Schulz, Managing Director of the FDT Group states, ” We are pleased to have formalized this excellent working relationship with CLPA. Their broad acceptance in the automation market place is a compliment to the core goals and objectives of the FDT standard.”
In addition to CC-Link, FDT supports more than 13 network protocols including Hart, Profibus, Foundation Fieldbus, DeviceNet, Interbus, AS-Interface, and others.
Footnotes
The FDT Group AISBL is an international non-profit corporation consisting of over 80 leading worldwide companies active in process and factory automation. The major purpose of the FDT Group is to provide an open and non proprietary interface for the integration of field devices with engineering, automation and asset management systems. In this environment, end users, manufacturers, universities, and research organizations are working together to develop the technology, provide development tools, support and training, coordinate field trials and demonstrations, and enable product interoperability.
The CLPA is an international organisation with over 1,300 member companies worldwide. The partners’ common objective is promotion of the technical development and adoption of the family of CC-Link open network technologies. Over 1,000 certified products are now available from over 200 manufacturers. CC-Link is the leading industrial fieldbus in Asia and is becoming increasingly popular in Europe and the Americas. The European headquarters is in Germany, with offices throughout the continent.
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