IEC TR 61158-1:2003

TECHNICAL IEC
REPORT
TR
61158-1
First edition
2003-04
Digital data communications
for measurement and control –
Fieldbus for use in industrial
control systems –
Part 1:
Overview and guidance for the
IEC 61158 series
Reference number
IEC/TR 61158-1:2003(E)
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TECHNICAL IEC
REPORT
TR
61158-1
First edition
2003-04
Digital data communications
for measurement and control –
Fieldbus for use in industrial
control systems –
Part 1:
Overview and guidance for the
IEC 61158 series
 IEC 2003  Copyright - all rights reserved
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mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from the publisher.
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For price, see current catalogue

– 2 – TR 61158-1 © IEC:2003(E)

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION

____________
DIGITAL DATA COMMUNICATIONS FOR MEASUREMENT AND CONTROL –

FIELDBUS FOR USE IN INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEMS –

Part 1: Overview and guidance for the IEC 61158 series

FOREWORD
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Technical reports do not necessarily have to be reviewed until the data they provide are
considered to be no longer valid or useful by the maintenance team.

IEC 61158-1, which is a Technical Report, has been prepared by subcommittee 65C: Digital
communications, of IEC technical committee 65: Industrial-process measurement and control.
The text of this technical report is based on the following documents:
Enquiry draft Report on voting
65C/267/DTR 65C/277/RVC
Full information on the voting for the approval of this Technical Report can be found in the
report on voting indicated in the above table.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.

TR 61158-1 © IEC:2003(E) – 3 –

IEC 61158 consists of the following parts, under the general title Digital data communications

for measurement and control – Fieldbus for use in industrial control systems:

Part 1: Overview and guidance for the IEC 61158 series

Part 2: Physical Layer specification and service definition

Part 3: Data Link Service definition

Part 4: Data Link protocol specification

Part 5: Application Layer Service definition

Part 6: Application Layer protocol specification

The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
2007. At this date the publication will be
• reconfirmed;
• withdrawn;
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
NOTE When revised, this report will be synchronized with the other parts of the IEC 61158 series.

– 4 – TR 61158-1 © IEC:2003(E)

DIGITAL DATA COMMUNICATIONS FOR MEASUREMENT AND CONTROL –

FIELDBUS FOR USE IN INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEMS –

Part 1: Overview and guidance for the IEC 61158 series

1 Scope
This Technical Report presents an overview and guidance for the IEC 61158 series. It
explains the structure and content of IEC 61158, shows how to use it in combination with
IEC 61784, and relates the structure to the ISO/IEC 7498 OSI Basic Reference Model.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document.
For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition
of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
IEC 61158-2, Digital data communications for measurement and control — Fieldbus for use in
industrial control systems – Part 2: Physical Layer specification and service definition
IEC 61158-3, Digital data communications for measurement and control — Fieldbus for use in
industrial control systems – Part 3: Data Link Service definition
IEC 61158-4, Digital data communications for measurement and control — Fieldbus for use in
industrial control systems – Part 4: Data Link protocol specification
IEC 61158-5, Digital data communications for measurement and control — Fieldbus for use in
industrial control systems – Part 5: Application Layer service definition
IEC 61158-6, Digital data communications for measurement and control — Fieldbus for use in
industrial control systems – Part 6: Application Layer protocol specification
IEC 61784, Digital data communications for measurement and control — Fieldbus for use in
industrial control systems – Profile sets for continuous and discrete manufacturing
ISO/IEC 7498-1, Information technology – Open Systems Interconnection – Basic Reference

Model: The Basic Model
3 Definitions and abbreviations
This part of IEC 61158 is based partially on the concepts developed in ISO/IEC 7498-1 and
makes use of the following definitions and abbreviations derived from that standard:

TR 61158-1 © IEC:2003(E) – 5 –

Term or abbreviation Definition or meaning

3.1 OSI Open Systems Interconnection

3.2 N-layer Layer N of the OSI Basic Reference Model

3.3 AL Application layer (N = 7)

3.4 DL- Data link layer (as a prefix)

3.5 DLL Data link layer (N = 2)

3.6 Ph- Physical layer (as a prefix)

3.7 PhL Physical layer layer (N = 1)

4 Guidelines for implementers and users
4.1 Background and purpose
Communication in global markets requires a global understanding of a specification (standard
or not). ISO/OSI related specifications provide a common basis for understanding and
acceptance between international experts (manufacturers and end-users). Examples are
• ISO/IEC 7498 series for general layering and structuring;
• ISO/IEC 9545 for general application layer modeling;
• ISO/IEC 8824 for data link layer modeling.
The IEC 61158 series specifies a number of different fieldbus types in each of the parts of the
series (Parts 2 to 6). As a result of the editorial harmonization work done by IEC, each PhL,
DLL and AL specification within IEC 61158 is shown in a homogeneous way. The description
of each layer offers, as far as possible, common views, concepts, definitions, and descriptive
method.
This common approach has been adopted to assist users and implementers in understanding
the several specifications. It is also intended to assist in comparing available products and
their communications-related features.
4.2 Supported options
Most of the fieldbus types specified in the IEC 61158 series include a range of selectable and
configurable options within their detailed specifications. In general, only certain restricted
combinations of options will interwork correctly.
The recommended combinations of options are collected in another standard, IEC 61784.

IEC 61784 provides users and implementers with details of supported fieldbus specifications
based on selected options that are intended to work together consistently and correctly. In
most cases, available product demonstrations and working plant experience support these
profiles.
Annex A of IEC 61784 helps select the needed fieldbus by showing the key concepts of each
of the profiled fieldbus protocol families.
As a result, the route map recommended to select a fieldbus is:
– IEC 61784, Annex A: Common concepts
– IEC 61784, communication profile family
– IEC 61158, Parts 2 to 6, for the particular fieldbus type of interest.

– 6 – TR 61158-1 © IEC:2003(E)

4.3 Benefits from using a common and formal style

The benefits gained from using a common and formal style to specify the communication

system are:
– the common look and feel of a specification saves effort during evaluation;

– a common structure helps to identify and to specify common parts and contents;

– the common approach represents a first step to ensure long-term quality and stability;

– missing parts and items of any specification are more readily identified by comparison with

the other specifications, leading to a simplified review and evaluation procedure;

– a common basis facilitates the development of test and certification procedures;
– modular concepts support future enhancements, extensions and adaptation of new
technologies.
5 Structure of IEC 61158 series
Conceptually, a fieldbus is a digital, serial, multidrop, data bus for communication with
industrial control and instrumentation devices such as — but not limited to — transducers,
actuators and controllers.
The IEC 61158 series specifies a number of fieldbus protocol types. Each protocol type is
designed to permit multiple measurement and control devices to communicate on a shared
medium. Devices communicate directly only with other devices of the same protocol type.
NOTE 1 Devices which use the same lower-layer protocols in a compatible fashion but differ in their higher-layer
protocols may be able to share a lower-layer medium.
NOTE 2 In all cases, a particular Data Link Layer protocol type may be used without restriction when coupled with
Physical Layer and Application Layer protocols of the same type, or with other combinations as specified in
IEC 61784. Use of the various protocol types in other combinations may require permission from their respective
copyright holders.
These protocol types have been engineered to support information processing, monitoring
and control systems for any industrial sector and related domains. An example application for
high-integrity low-level communication between sensors, actuators and local controllers in a
process plant, together with the interconnection of programmable controllers, is shown in
Figure 1.
TR 61158-1 © IEC:2003(E) – 7 –

Information systems network
Gateway Gateway
Process plant
Factory shop floor
Fieldbus
Controllers
segment
Sensors
Programmable Programmable Programmable
Fieldbus
controller controller controller
segment
Actuators
Monitoring system
Fieldbus
Bridge
segment
Figure 1 – Generic fieldbus network
A number of fieldbus types are specified in the IEC 61158 serie
...