IEC 61158 to become standard by year end; may add Profibus

The International Electrotechnical Commission’s (IEC) Committee of Action on June 15 partially cleared the way for IEC 61158 to become a long-awaited international fieldbus standard. The committee acknowledged international support for 61158 and essentially upheld a Jan. 15 recommendation to disqualify six votes against 61158 because they were technically unsupported. The Committee of Action also instructed its subcommittee’s SC65C working group to assemble 61158’s specifications and submit at least one other protocol, probably Profibus, by mid-October, so it can be voted on by the end of 1999. If this second protocol isn’t submitted in an acceptable form or its ballot fails during voting, the four existing 61158 technical specifications will become IEC’s fieldbus standard. “By establishing a mandatory deadline for final approval, the Committee of Action is responding to the wishes of approximately 86% of the world’s automation market voting in favor of IEC 61158,” says John Pittman, president of the Fieldbus Foundation (Austin, Tex.).

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