Implementation of IEEE 1451.1 conformance/functionality testing using LabView

Sensor networks have been deployed for many applications. The ability for the sensors or actuators to have transducer data sheets will allow the "plug-and-play" of 1451-compatible sensors and actuators for different control networks. Implementation of an intelligent sensor network testbed is in progress to perform research and investigation of smart sensors, and the investigation and verification of interfacing options from smart sensors with the sensor networking bus. There has been some development and integration of IEEE 1451.1 communication; however, after research of products available that are IEEE 1451 capable, only products relating specifically to IEEE 1451.2 were available in development and starter kits. No products were available that depicted the IEEE 1451.1 standard for communication between the smart sensor nodes of a network. Therefore, a 1451.1 compatible NCAP has been developed and integrated into a testbed. This paper will present the development of the IEEE 1451.1 NCAP-NCAP communication using the LabView 8.2 Programming Language. Furthermore, testing of message conformance and functionality of the 1451 communication on the network has been accomplished.