IEEE P1451.3 A Developing Standard For Networked Transducers

Abstract

The IEEE P1451.3 standard for networked transducers is designed to support applications in many industries but aerospace representatives have had a major say in what is included in the standard. The standard is written to allow multiple different transducers to exist on a single transmission line. This single transmission line may also carry power to the transducers. A bus is expected to have a single controller and many transducers. Individual transducers may be operated in several modes including a strict master-slave relationship or individual transducers may operate independently from the bus controller. In addition the bus controller can provide a clock to allow all transducers to operate synchronously or the clock can be ignored for asynchronous operation. The standard includes an extensible command set and Transducer Electronic Data Sheets (TEDS) that allows for full plug and play operation of the transducer. If a manufacturer chooses to leave out some of the features that allow for plug and play operation the standard allows for that as well. This paper provides an overview of the features of the standard as well as the types of system that can best utilize these features.