ISA TR100.14.01 PART 1

This Part 1 Technical Report, in combination with the forthcoming Part 2, discusses trustworthiness associated with the use of wireless technology in industrial automation systems. Specifically excluded are those attributes that may be in common with wired systems and are therefore covered elsewhere, or attributes that are specific to other application domains such as healthcare applications. Also excluded are those attributes associated with ancillary issues such as health effects of RF or component materials (such as batteries). For this document, trustworthiness encompasses attributes associated with reliability, security and resiliency.

Purpose

Trustworthiness in Wireless Industrial Automation is divided into two distinct parts. Part 1 (this document) provides introductory information for the end users and regulators; Part 2 will provide more thorough technical details associated with trustworthy wireless systems.

Part 1 provides end users and regulators with information needed to understand the risks and advantages associated with use of wireless systems. The result should be confident decisions about when and where to use them in order to realize the benefits they offer. It is also intended to provide those in a regulator role with sufficient background information to understand the implications and consequences of rules and regulations that apply to use of wireless technology in industrial automation applications.

The document contains introductory material and information intended to demonstrate to the reader that wireless is a viable solution today. The reader will find embedded in Part 1 a few technical bits of guidance as an incentive to read Part 2. Part 1 introduces and uses technical terms to describe concepts that are common to many areas of computer technology and applications. The existence of multiple disciplines and communities which have developed their own approaches to deal with technical issues has produced a literature containing many different technical terms with considerable overlap in use and meaning. A set of terms has been adopted for Part 1 for purposes of presenting a consistent point of view. Detailed discussion of the choices of technical language and terminology is being deferred to Part 2.