The co-owners of the Process Automation Device Information Model (PA-DIM) released June 11 the PA-DIM Version 1.1 specification. It includes expanded, device-type support for process analyzers and an enhanced, basic hierarchy structure with new extensions, which provide added device-integration capabilities that benefit industrial users and vendors.
PA-DIM’s owners include FDT Group, FieldComm Group, ISA 100 WCI, NAMUR, ODVA, OPC Foundation, Profibus and Profinet International, VDMA, and ZVEI organizations.
The PA-DIM specification seeks to improve information standardization for process automation applications. Its owners cooperate to support a unified information model that integrates OT data exchange with IT systems and other higher-level applications. This model includes core parameters, capabilities, status, and diagnostic data based on the NAMUR Open Architecture (NOA) initiative. It lets users access and interpret device information consistently, regardless of their fieldbus protocol, device type or manufacturer, which enhances Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) architectures.
PA-DIM, V1.1’s highlights include:
- Expanded device-type support for process analyzers, including total organic carbon (TOC), continuous gas and pH. This extension broadens the scope of the standard, enabling seamless integration and management of analytical instruments within process automation systems.
- Enhancement of the basic hierarchy structure to include new extensions, such as device condition sets, signal condition sets and signal calibration. These extensions give users greater flexibility and functionality in representing device information, including attributes, such as type, timestamp and calibrated values.
PA-DIM facilitates applications, such as:
- Providing/receiving information to and from HMIs, information apps and reporting apps.
- Supporting inventory management and remote monitoring applications.
- Enabling real-time control applications, such as reading process values and setting parameters.
- Device configuration and parameterization.
- Configuring device security and monitoring its current hardening status.
- Providing information for device dashboards.
"PA-DIM, Version 1.1, introduces new extensions and features that will further improve interoperability and standardization across the industry, empowering users with harmonized solutions for process instrumentation and process analyzers with field-to-cloud semantic interoperability in context,” says Frank Fengler, of ABB and chair of the PA-DIM working group. “We believe these new features and extensions hold immense potential for your operations."
In general, PA-DIM defines protocol-agnostic communication of common process automation instrument parameters, including semantic IDs as defined by IEC 61987, using OPC UA information modeling techniques. Eliminating protocol dependencies simplifies integration of IT and OT systems, while enabling a semantic device information approach for unambiguous machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. Seamless communication is achieved by data mapping fieldbus-specific instrument parameters using the address space defined in the PA-DIM specification.
