Phoenix, June 9, 2003 -- A project that was announced to the world on September 11, 2001 at the ISA Show in Houston, TX has turned into one of the greatest achievements of the OPC Foundation's 7-year history, with the release of the long-awaited OPC Data eXchange specification and sample code. OPC DX, one of a family of interoperability solutions for industrial automation and enterprise connectivity from the Foundation, will allow data to be transferred between different controller platforms and architectures over Ethernet, ensuring a high degree of interoperability for end users using disparate control solutions in their plants.
OPC DX is widely viewed as the technology that breaks down remaining barriers between distributed control systems, PLCs, and other controlling devices. As such, OPC DX may be seen as bringing a formal end to the 'fieldbus wars' of the 1990s, when the automation community was unable to achieve interoperability at the communications level. OPC DX eliminates barriers by providing a standardized way of bridging between systems.
The OPC DX specification delivers interoperability across an Ethernet network between automation systems using industrial communication protocols such as EtherNet/IP, PROFInet, High Speed Ethernet (HSE), and INTERBUS. The OPC Foundation worked closely with PROFIBUS International, Open DeviceNet Vendor Association (ODVA), ControlNet International, Fieldbus Foundation, and the INTERBUS Club during the development of the OPC DX specification.
OPC president Tom Burke said that the release of the OPC DX specification marks the end of one of the most fascinating chapters of OPC's existence. "More than 30 companies joined the effort, which ensured that the right result has been achieved though it took a bit longer than we hoped! Everyone was focused on the same objective, but reaching consensus took time. In reality, the work has gone well when you take into consideration the economic climate and that the work was done by volunteers from nearly 30 companies, working as one of the largest subcommittees in OPC history. Also, by treading into uncharted territory, we had to learn quite a few things. All this resulted in a better product and I am proud to recognize the contributions of the many people who worked tirelessly, often on their own time, to help us reach our goals."
Burke added: "Our goal has been achieved with a high degree of harmony, emphasizing the growing role being played by the Foundation in the future of interoperability standards for industrial automation. In one sense, OPC has achieved in 18 months what the world failed to achieve in more than a decade by normal routes."
The OPC Data eXchange 1.0 specification was released on March 17, 2003 and is the first in a series that addresses OPC's vision of interoperability across platforms and language architectures. Included with the specification is the functional definition necessary to support both legacy DCOM based OPC Data Access servers as well as the OPC XML Data Access servers. The specification also provides both web service and DCOM interfaces to facilitate Data eXchange configuration. Fully functional sample code is deliverable today to members from the Foundation website, and development of a compliance test is underway to self-certify Data eXchange servers.
