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Topic : HART Communication

Branch : Electronics

HART Communication

For many years, the field communication standard for process automation equipmen
t has been a milliamp (mA) analog current signal. The milliamp current signal va
ries within a range of 4-2OmA in proportion to the process variable being repres
ented. Li typical applications a signal of 4mA will correspond to the lower limi
t (0%) of the calibrated range and 2OmA will correspond to the upper limit (100%
) of the calibrated range. Virtually all installed systems use this internationa
l standard for communicating process variable information between process automa
tion equipment.
HART Field Communications Protocol extends this 4- 2OmA standard to enhance comm
unication with smart field instruments. The HART protocol was designed specifica
lly for use with intelligent measurement and control instruments which tradition
ally communicate using 4-2OmA analog signals. HART preserves the 4- signal and e
nables two way digital communications to occur without disturbing the integrity
of the 4-2OmA signal. Unlike other digital communication technologies, the HART
protocol maintains compatibility with existing 4-2OmA systems, and in doing so,
provides users with a uniquely backward compatible solution. HART Communication
Protocol is well-established as the existing industry standard for digitally enh
anced 4- 2OmA field communication.
THE HART PROTOCOL - AN OVERVIEW
HART is an acronym for "Highway Addressable Remote Transducer". The HART protoco
l makes use of the Bell 202 Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) standard to superimpose
digital communication signals at a low level on top of the 4-2OmA. This enables
two-way field communication to take place and makes it possible for additional
information beyond just the normal process variable to be communicated to/from a
smart field instrument. The HART protocol communicates at 1200 bps without inte
rrupting the 4-2OmA signal and allows a host application (master) to get two or
more digital updates per second from a field device. As the digital FSK signal i
s phase continuous, there is no interference with the 4- 2OrnA signal.
HART is a master/slave protocol which means that a field (slave) device only spe
aks when spoken to by a master. The HART protocol can be used in various modes f
or communicating information to/from smart field in3truments and central control
or monitor systems. HART provides for up to two masters (primary and secondary)
. This allows secondary masters such as handheld communicators to be used withou
t interfering with communications to/from the primary master, i.e. control/monit
oring system. The most commonly employed HART communication mode is master/slave
communication of digital information simultaneous with transmission of the 4-2O
mA signal. The HART protocol permits all digital communication with field device
s in either point-to-point or multidrop network configuration. There is an optio
nal "burst" communication mode where single slave device can continuously broadc
ast a standard HART reply message.
HART COMMUNICATION LAYERS
The HART protocol utilizes the OSI reference model. As is the case for most of t
he communication systems on the field level, the HART protocol implements only t
he Layers 1, 2 and 7 of the OSI model. The layers 3 to 6 remain empty since thei
r services are either not required or provided by the application layer 7