IEC 61499-4:2013

IEC 61499-4 ®
Edition 2.0 2013-01
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Function blocks –
Part 4: Rules for compliance profiles

Blocs fonctionnels –
Partie 4: Règles pour les profils de conformité

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IEC 61499-4 ®
Edition 2.0 2013-01
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Function blocks –
Part 4: Rules for compliance profiles

Blocs fonctionnels –
Partie 4: Règles pour les profils de conformité

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
PRICE CODE
INTERNATIONALE
CODE PRIX L
ICS 25.040.40 ISBN 978-2-83220-625-6

– 2 – 61499-4 © IEC:2013
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 Contents of compliance profiles . 7
4.1 Structure of compliance profiles . 7
4.2 General provisions of a compliance profile . 7
4.2.1 Scope . 7
4.2.2 References to normative documents . 8
4.2.3 Terms and definitions . 8
4.3 Portability provisions . 8
4.4 Interoperability provisions. 8
4.5 Configurability provisions . 8
4.6 Test requirements . 8
4.7 Annexes . 8
Annex A (informative) Example compliance profile . 9
Annex B (informative) Example device configurability classes . 10
Bibliography . 11

Figure 1 – Topics addressed by compliance profiles . 5

Table 1 – Contents of compliance profiles . 7
Table B.1 – Device configurability classes (informative) . 10

61499-4 © IEC:2013 – 3 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
FUNCTION BLOCKS –
Part 4: Rules for compliance profiles

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
International Standard IEC 61499-4 has been prepared by subcommittee 65B: Measurement
and control devices, of IEC technical committee 65: Industrial-process measurement, control
and automation.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2005. This edition
constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous
edition:
Table B.1 has been updated for consistency with Table 8 of IEC 61499-1:2013.

– 4 – 61499-4 © IEC:2013
The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
65B/854/FDIS 65B/862/RVD
Full information on the voting for the approval of this standard can be found in the report on
voting indicated in the above table.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
A list of all parts of the IEC 61499 series, published under the general title Function blocks,
can be found on the IEC website.
Terms defined in IEC 61499-1, IEC 61499-2 and this standard are italicized.
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the stability date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data
related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
61499-4 © IEC:2013 – 5 –
FUNCTION BLOCKS –
Part 4: Rules for compliance profiles

1 Scope
This part of IEC 61499 defines rules for the development of compliance profiles, which specify
the features of IEC 61499-1 and 61499-2 to be implemented in order to promote the following
attributes of IEC 61499-based systems, devices and software tools:
• interoperability of devices from multiple suppliers;
• portability of software between software tools of multiple suppliers; and
• configurability of devices from multiple vendors by software tools of multiple suppliers.
These attributes are illustrated in Figure 1.
portability
Software tool 1 Software tool 2
…other tools and devices.
configurability
interoperability
Device 1 Device 2
Sensor/ Sensor/
Actuator Actuator
Link #1 Link #2
IEC  274/13
NOTE 1 The sensor/actuator links designated #1 and #2 in Figure 1 may be non-interoperable. However, it is
intended that systems complying with a particular profile may show the transfer of events and data from sensors on
one link to actuators on another link using appropriately configured and interconnected service interface function
blocks.
NOTE 2 Compliance profiles may extend their scope beyond that shown in Figure 1 to include interoperability of
sensors and actuators.
NOTE 3 Suppliers of software tools ensure that their products conform to the requirements of IEC 61499-2 as well
as any specific requirements defined in compliance profiles applicable to their particular software tools.
Figure 1 – Topics addressed by compliance profiles
The specification of provisions for the facilitation of device interchangeability is beyond the
scope of this part of IEC 61499.
2 Normative references
The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and
are indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any
amendments) applies.
– 6 – 61499-4 © IEC:2013
IEC 61499-1,— Function blocks – Part 1: Architecture
IEC 61499-2,— Function blocks – Part 2: Software tool requirements
ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2:2011, Rules for the structure and drafting of International
Standards
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in IEC 61499-1 and
IEC 61499-2, as well as the following, apply.
NOTE 1 Terms defined in this clause are italicized where they appear.
NOTE 2 See also the ISO/AFNOR Dictionary of computer science and the International Electrotechnical
Vocabulary for terms not defined or referenced in this part of IEC 61499.
3.1
comply
comply with a specification
meet all the requirements (of the specification)
3.2
compliance profile
specification complying with the rules given in this part of IEC 61499
3.3
configurability
ability (of a functional unit) to be configured
EXAMPLE The configurability of a device can be expressed by the extent to which it conforms to the
configurability requirements of a compliance profile.
3.4
conform
conform to a specification
satisfy some, but not necessarily all, of the requirements (of the specification)
EXAMPLE A software tool or a device developed to meet some but not necessarily all of the requirements of a
compliance profile is said to "conform to" or to be "conformant with" that compliance profile.
3.5
interoperable
able to operate together to perform a specified set of functions
EXAMPLE Two devices may be considered interoperable if they are able to operate together to perform the
functions specified in a system configuration.
3.6
interchangeable
interchangeable with a functional unit
able to be substituted (for the functional unit)
—————————
To be published. Expected publication date: 2013.
See Bibliography.
See Bibliography.
61499-4 © IEC:2013 – 7 –
EXAMPLE A device may be considered interchangeable with another device if it can be substituted for the device
in such a way that any distributed applications will continue to operate as before the substitution, including
identical dynamic responses of any distributed applications involving the device.
3.7
portable
able to be accepted and correctly interpreted by multiple software tools
EXAMPLE A software library element is portable between two software tools if it can be accepted and correctly
interpreted by both software tools.
4 Contents of compliance profiles
4.1 Structure of compliance profiles
The contents of compliance profiles shall follow the general outline given in Table 1. Rules for
the writing of specific clauses and subclauses of such profiles are given in the remainder of
this clause.
The title of a compliance profile shall have the form "IEC 61499 Compliance Profile for ",
where is free text denoting the scope of intended usage of the profile, for example
"Feasibility demonstrations". The title page or a Foreword shall also denote the
organization(s) or individual(s) responsible for the development and maintenance of the
compliance profile.
Compliance profiles may define features not specified in IEC 61499-1 and 61499-2. Such
features shall be described as "extensions to IEC 61499-1" or "extensions to IEC 61499-2"
and the compliance profile shall specify their mapping to the elements described in
IEC 61499-1 or 61499-2, respectively.
Table 1 – Contents of compliance profiles
0. TITLE
0.1 Foreword
1 Scope
2 Normative documents
3 Terms and definitions
4 Portability provisions
5 Interoperability provisions
6 Configurability provisions
7 Test requirements
8 Annexes
4.2 General provisions of a compliance profile
4.2.1 Scope
Clause 1 of a compliance profile shall address the following subjects:
a) the intended usage of the compliance profile;
b) the functional scope addressed by the compliance profile. This may be addressed by a
suitably edited version of Figure 1 accompanied by appropriate text;
c) any additional requirements or restrictions beyond those of IEC 61499-1 and IEC 61499-2
which shall be met within the scope of the compliance profile;

– 8 – 61499-4 © IEC:2013
d) any requirements of IEC 61499-1 and IEC 61499-2 that need not be met within the scope
of the compliance profile;
e) provisions of the compliance profile that contradict the normative requirements of
IEC 61499-1 and IEC 61499-2, and the technical reasons for such contradictions.
4.2.2 References to normative documents
Clause 2 of a compliance profile shall follow the rules for normative references given in Part 2
of the ISO/IEC Directives.
4.2.3 Terms and definitions
Clause 3 of a compliance profile shall follow the rules for terms and definitions given in 6.3.1
and Annex D of Part 2 of the ISO/IEC Directives.
4.3 Portability provisions
Clause 4 of a compliance profile shall contain the following information:
• The extent to which conforming software tools shall be capable of producing library
elements in the syntax and with the semantics defined in Annexes A and B of
IEC 61499-2:2013.
• The extent to which conforming software tools shall be capable of correctly parsing and
interpreting library elements in the syntax and with the semantics defined in Annexes A
and B of IEC 61499-2:2013.
• The format of filenames (if any) to be used for the exchange of library elements, for
instance .xml.
4.4 Interoperability provisions
Clause 5 of a compliance profile shall specify the means to be used to meet the requirements
for communication among entities within the functional scope of the compliance profile, for
instance in terms of the semantics of the event and data inputs and outputs of
communication function blocks defined in IEC 61499-1.
The syntax of the event and data inputs and outputs of communication function blocks may,
but are not required to, be used to meet the requirements of this subclause.
4.5 Configurability provisions
Clause 6 of a compliance profile shall specify the means to be implemented by devices and
software tools to achieve configurability of the former by the latter. This may include the
definition of one or more configurability classes for devices.
NOTE An example of the definition of configurability classes is shown in Annex B.
4.6 Test requirements
Clause 7 of a compliance profile shall specify the tests (if any) to be performed to ensure
compliance with the requirements of the profile.
4.7 Annexes
A compliance profile may contain normative or informative annexes. A normative annex
contains provisions which shall be satisfied by compliant implementations, while an
informative annex shall not contain such provisions. The normative or informative nature of
each Annex shall be made clear by the way in which it is referred to in the text and by an
indication in the profile's table of contents and under the heading of the annex.

61499-4 © IEC:2013 – 9 –
Annex A
(informative)
Example compliance profile
An example document used to guide and record the results of an IEC 61499 feasibility
demonstration project undertaken by the Holonic Manufacturing Systems (HMS) Consortium
is available online at http://www.holobloc.com/doc/ita/index.htm. To save space, this
document is not included here. Notices of updates to the referenced document will be posted
at http://www.holobloc.com/.
– 10 – 61499-4 © IEC:2013
Annex B
(informative)
Example device configurability classes

NOTE The following is an example of suggested wording that could be used in a compliance profile and does not
form a normative provision of this standard.
Types and instances of devices conforming with this compliance profile are specified
according to the rules given in IEC 61499-1.
Devices conforming to this compliance profile are characterized as belonging to one of three
configurability classes, namely:
• Class 0: Simple devices;
• Class 1: Simple programmable devices;
• Class 2: User-reprogrammable devices.
Configurability is specified in terms of the management commands (defined in IEC 61499-1)
to which each type of device can respond, as given in Table B.1.
Table B.1 – Device configurability classes (informativ
...