OSI industrial networking at Electricite de France

The number of computers used for supervising and controlling industrial units is rapidly increasing. The design of a sound communication architecture is of primary importance to achieve maximum efficiency for real-time systems. It has to provide independence from the vendors and stability time. Electricite de France (EDF) and Gaz de France (GDF) have addressed the issue of industrial communication networks and produced a set of specifications named SPRINT. They consist in the selection of a number of OSI protocols together with the additions necessary to achieve interoperability in a multi-vendor environment. Whenever possible, reference is made to European functional standards. The need for Fieldbus technology is recognized at the bottom layers of the architecture. SPRINT specifications have been sent for comments to major computer and control equipment vendors and will be used for all industrial networking projects within EDF and GDF. Nuclear power plants site networks, starting to be commissioned in mid 1990, will support the first implementation of SPRINT OSI protocols. While this clearly shows that OSI benefits are now available for industrial networking in the power industry, complementary steps are necessary to handle growing users needs. (author). 1 ref., 3 figs