2.11 Fieldbus independent Integration

The fieldbus independent integration of DTMs into a Frame Application is realized by bus category ids defined within the protocol specific annex. These bus category ids are defined as UUIDs.

For validation of topology during system planning runtime information of a DTM must be used. The same category ids are used as parameters of interface methods and within the XML documents used for the interaction between DTMs and Frame Application. The bus information is specified within the XML schemas like DTMParameterSchema or FDTHARTChannelParameterSchema and is available via the according bus independent interfaces. The information about the supported fieldbusses can be used to validate the bus topology or a connection during communication.

For further fieldbusses the definition of category ids can be extended complement on another fieldbus specific XML schema. The fieldbus independent FDT schemas handle the category ids just as an identifier within an attribute and each FDT component can use this information and the parameter of interface methods for validation.

Due to this mechanism the Frame Application must only know the category ids of its direct connected busses. For lower sub-topologies it just needs the contents of the category attribute within the XML documents for validation. Should the occasion arise, it is up to the DTM developer to define new category ids for proprietary bus systems and to install his DTM with this category id according to the FDT installation requirements.