A distributed measurement architecture for industrial applications

In this paper, a distributed digital measurement architecture for industrial applications is proposed. The architecture is arranged on three hierarchical communication levels: the fieldbus, the intranet, and the Internet. Particular attention has been paid to the lower level, the field level, implemented using a low-priced smart front-end. It is based on the H8/3048F Hitachi microcontroller and embodies a fieldbus interface (I/F). The same board can be linked to a VXIbus controller by means of a suitable register-based interface. The proposed network can embody a number of analog signal conditioning circuits, processor, and communication capabilities, to meet the industrial needs. We propose two applications of this distributed measurement architecture: the monitoring of power quality in an electrical distribution network and the management of a water distribution system. Experimental results showing the system performance are also included in the paper.