1/4/2021 FOUNDATION Fieldbus communication protocol: everything you need to know | Visaya

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FOUNDATION Fieldbus communication protocol:

everything you need to know
 6 minutes to read

Visaya
Sep 18, 2018

Foundation Fieldbus network communication protocol (FF) is one of the many

protocols available to connect your eld devices. This system uses a digital,
multidrop, serial two-way communication to connect your devices.
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The brief history of FOUNDATION Fieldbus

The old Fieldbus Foundation, now known as FieldComm Group, developed this
protocol to replace analog connections. The group created it to work for all types of
industries, and it has become popular in petrochemical, re ning, nuclear, and other
segments.

FOUNDATION Fieldbus comes in two avors, H1 and HSE (high-speed Ethernet),

and they differ in physical media and communication speed. We’ll take a look at both
in this article.

Today, FOUNDATION Fieldbus has to ght for its spot in a new application against
newer protocols that have begun popping up in the automation world. However, the
protocol still brings a lot of bene ts and unique features that can improve your
process control.

Let’s nd out how it works, how to use it, and its pros and cons.

FOUNDATION Fieldbus speci cations

This digital protocol enables two-way communication between your eld devices
and the control system. It also simpli es startup and con guration and allows access
to diagnostic data, which can save money and time.

So you can support a new application or even an entire plant using this technology.
Let’s now take a look at how it works and its two types.

Peer-to-peer communication

The FOUNDATION Fieldbus network uses the peer-to-peer concept, meaning that
eld devices can talk to each other without waiting for a command from a master.
That means they can exchange measurements, diagnostics, alarms, and even control
in the eld. However, the network also allows temporary masters, such as handhelds,
laptops, or tablets.

FOUNDATION Fieldbus uses function blocks to con gure the devices and all control
logic. This feature provides a lot of freedom with its use. Now let’s get into the types:
H1 and HSE.

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H1 and Manchester coding

FOUNDATION Fieldbus H1 uses the IEC 61158-2 standard. The data transfer uses
Manchester coding at a transfer rate of 31.25 kilobit per second (Kbps). You’ll use H1
on eld devices that don’t require high-speed communication, as the protocol sends
signal and voltage through the same pair of wires.

Furthermore, each device requires at least nine volts of juice and a power supply
installed parallel to the trunk. If the device needs more energy, then it should have its
own power supply outside the network.

To optimize your network, some software can calculate the voltage, current
resistance, and supply voltage based on the network topology. You must make sure
that the network consumes less current and voltage than the power supply provides.

Relevant rules of the physical layer:

FOUNDATION Fieldbus devices can communicate with between two and 32 devices
if you don’t need intrinsic safety and don’t have loop power. For an intrinsic, loop-
powered application, you can have up to 16 devices. For loop power with no intrinsic
safety, you can go from from one to 24 devices.
The length of the segment can’t exceed 1900 meters over trunk + spurs using type-A
cable and baud rate of 31.25 Kbps.
You can’t have more than 4 repeaters on the network.
The FOUNDATION eldbus network should continue working when you connect or
disconnect a device in the network.
In a communication failure, it cannot affect the communication for more than one
millisecond.
You must respect polarity to power the devices, and the devices can’t be sensitive to
polarity inversion.
When you have a redundant system,  you can’t include a non-redundant segment
between two redundant segments. The repeaters should have redundancy as well.
HSE protocol

FOUNDATION Fieldbus HSE, based on the Ethernet protocol, operates at 100

megabits per second (Mbit/s). Also, you can use Ethernet cable, optical bre cable, or
PoE (Power over Ethernet) technology. PoE has an interesting feature – natively HSE
doesn’t provide energy for the device, but it can work with PoE.

Usually, you’ll see gateways, linking devices, host systems, input/output (I/O) systems
and similar devices connected to HSE. It operates with a random carrier-sense
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multiple access (CSMA) bus access.

Furthermore, you can use Ethernet switches for a partial HSE network and create a
more extensive network later.

How to connect H1 to HSE?

We call the connection between H1 and HSE a bridge; this application creates a
standard network topology that you can see here:

The bridges connect the H1 network to the high-speed Ethernet, converting data
telegrams and data transfer rates depending on the direction of the transmission.

The components of a FOUNDATION Fieldbus network

Now let’s discuss the components you need in a FOUNDATION Fieldbus H1 to hse
connection network and describe the function of each.

H1 cards: These work as your interface with the FF devices. In a control system
working with H1, you’ll have the H1 cards connecting your network at the controller
or the I/O subsystem. Here you can have redundant cards if you need the backup.
Power supply: Foundation Fieldbus can power more than one H1 segment. You can
nd redundant power supplies, intrinsic models, and also models with signal
conditioners and segment terminators built-in.
Signal conditioner: To provide robust communication, you need to condition the
power supplies. FF also adds inductance between the eld devices and the power
supply, protecting the signal from the low impedance of the power supplies and
more.
Segment terminator: The network requires one segment terminator at each end of
the trunk. The segment terminator matches the impedance of the cable and a
balanced transmission line.  You need no more than two terminators on the network.
Wiring: The FieldComm Group provides specs for your wiring (FF-844), but
primarily you should have a shielded and twisted-pair cable. This cable can maximize
network length and reduce signal re ections.
Device coupler or junction box: This unit will distribute the network to the spurs. It
also operates as a point for maintenance, diagnostics, and circuit protection.
Furthermore, you’ll install all devices in parallel in a junction box.
Foundation Fieldbus topology

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Let’s take a look at some topologies and talk about their characteristics.

Point-to-point or daisy-chain: This layout has all eld devices connected to each in
series. That means that one device will link to the next to the end of the network,
using their own terminals to make these connections. (You won’t see this one much
because its structure can cause network problems during maintenance.)
Bus with spurs: Here, a single bus directly connects to spurs and devices. Moreover,
you can have many devices connected to each spur, and the spur length will depend
on the number of devices connected and even the number of spurs. This table can
help as a guideline, but you should not consider it absolute.

Image courtesy of FieldComm Group

Tree: The trunk of the network connects to several device couplers or junction
boxes, and then each has many devices connected to them. You’ll sometimes hear
this one called chicken-foot or star topology.
End-to-end: This topology gives you two scenarios. In the rst, your eld device
connects directly to the H1 card. In the second, your device connects to the network,
and then another device connects to this device in the network. For instance, you can
have a pressure transmitter connect directly to its nal control element.
Mixed: As the name says, here you can have a mix of some or all of these topologies.
However, you must pay attention to the maximum length of the segment, based on
the number of devices, length of spurs, consumption of current, and more.
Function blocks

FOUNDATION Fieldbus has three types of blocks for data, functions, and more. Each
device type will have a designation based on its function.

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Image courtesy of eldbus.org

Resource block: This block contains all the characteristics of the eld device, such as
serial number, device name, rmware version, and hardware.
Transducer block: This block expands your possibilities with data that can in uence
input and output parameters. It means you can use it to calibrate, linearize, convert
units, and more.
Function block: This block designates what the device does and de nes how to
access it. Each device has at least one function block, and each block has a particular
task for the input and output. This list names function blocks de ned by the
FieldComm Group:
AI: analog input
AO: analog output
B: bias
CS: control selector
DI: discrete input
DO: discrete output
ML: manual loader
PD: proportional/derivative
PID: proportional/integral/derivative
RA: ratio

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RID16 8-channel eld indicator for FOUNDATION Fieldbus™ or PROFIBUS® PA protocols

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What’s the difference between Foundation Fieldbus

vs PROFIBUS?
Both networks have a lot of similarities when it comes to FOUNDATION Fieldbus H1
and PROFIBUS PA applied at the eld instrumentation level. For both, you only use a
twisted-pair cable to power and communicate with the device. They have similar
architectures when you scale their networks, too.

But on the operational side, we found a big difference. The PROFIBUS PA network
uses the master-slave concept while FOUNDATION Fieldbus H1 goes peer to peer.
This means that PROFIBUS PA eld devices must wait for a master command. But in
the FOUNDATION Fieldbus H1 network, the devices can talk to each other freely. In
theory, the PROFIBUS PA network has a simpler con guration because you have
fewer blocks, unlike FOUNDATION Fieldbus devices.

Find and buy one FOUNDATION Fieldbus products

To know more about FOUNDATION Fieldbus, ask our engineers!

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