End Users to Benefit from Wireless Standards Committee Work

Over twenty companies from around the world have responded to the call for proposals from ISA's Wireless Systems for Automation standards committee. The committee is holding a preliminary proposal review meeting on 11-15 September 2006 at ISA in RTP, NC.

The ISA-SP100 committee is establishing standards, recommended practices, technical reports, and related information that will define procedures for implementing wireless systems in the automation and control environment with a focus on the field level. Guidance is directed towards those responsible for the complete life cycle including the designing, implementing, on-going maintenance, scalability or managing manufacturing and control systems, and will apply to users, system integrators, practitioners, and control systems manufacturers and vendors.

Two working groups of ISA-SP100, SP100.11 and SP100.14, simultaneously issued calls for proposals not only to provide input to the committee but also to encourage a variety of industry experts, who may not be members of ISA-SP100, to participate in this process. The CFP process solicited input to help solve critical issues associated with the deployment of wireless technology for industrial automation. During the evaluation process, preference will be given to proposals where sufficient technical detail and performance data is readily available to assess the validity of claims.

The number and variety of responses, with proposals coming from the United States, Canada, Japan, China, Germany, and others, ensures that end users will have their needs met by the standard.

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