Scottsdale, AZ—The much-anticipated OPC Data eXchange (DX) standard will be released and demonstrated at ISA 2002, Oct. 21-24 in Chicago, according to Tom Burke, OPC Foundation's president and Rockwell Software's advisory software developer. Mr. Burke presented an update on OPC DX and the foundation's efforts on Aug. 8 at the Profibus Trade Organization's General Assembly Meeting 2002.

Following incorporation of final comments and completion of sample code this past summer, Mr. Burke says a 60-person team has been preparing OPC DX's interoperability demonstration with devices from 12 companies. The demo at ISA 2002 will show how OPC DX can helpmove data between devices, continued on 16 continued from 15 either those that are PC-based or with embedded functions. OPC DX is able to move data between devices quickly because it defines where that data is going ahead of time.

"OPC has always been based on a vision of moving data from the plant-floor to the enterprise to the Web. So, we're not seeking to replace ProfiNet or Foundation fieldbus. We just want to provide a mechanism for interoperability among different Ethernet-based networks," says Mr. Burke.

Though OPC began as a standard interface for clients and servers, Mr. Burke says its functions recently began moving beyond PCs to PLCs via Web servers and services. Just as OPC seeks to normalize communications across servers, OPC DX is expected to standardize server-to-server communications across Ethernet networks, as well as enable remote configuration, monitoring and diagnostics.

For more information, visit www.opcfoundation.org.