Enabling safety-critical wireless communication using WirelessHART and PROFIsafe

Two major trends can be recognized in industrial automation. One of them is that Ethernet is replacing traditional fieldbus networks continuously, because it combines flexibility, reliability, and introduces fast data rates, which allow beside others quality of services. This is pushed even further when field devices use wireless communication to connect to the control system. Beside that another trend is seen in functional safety due to rising customer demands and evolving regulations in industry. That leads necessarily to a consolidation of both technologies, where safety must be guaranteed in the same manner over wireless channels as it is handled over Ethernet. This paper addresses safety issues emerging when PROFIsafe, as one of various safety protocols on the market, is used on top of a black channel layer, that is comprized of non-safe protocols including WirelessHART.