Issue Highlights
- Whither wireless?
- Fieldbus technology's next biggest hurdle
- HUG announces 2006 meeting agenda

Whither wireless?
SP100 has had real problems. At one point, they weren't even going to issue a true standard. Now, HART Wireless is in trouble, too. What's it going to take to not repeat the SP50 debacle? CONTROL Editor in Chief, Walt Boyes, comments.

Fieldbus technology's next biggest hurdle
If you're a skid or modular assembly manufacturer and want to differentiate yourself from the crowd, offering digital communications and fieldbus technology could be the ticket. Contributing Editor Ian Verhappen continues his coverage of challenges faced by adoption of new automation technologies and fieldbus systems.

Process automation at Dow, Part 2
The second part of this exclusive three-part series for CONTROL describes Dow Chemical Co.'s transition from a successful, homegrown company to a commercially developed, highly integrated process automation solution provider.

Featured White Papers

Applying Power-over-Ethernet in Industrial Networking
Sponsored by Phihong
Power-over-Ethernet is fast becoming the best solution for powering industrial networks. This paper describes the benefits of using PoE for control applications on the factory floor, including utilization of an RPS, time and cost savings, ease of implementation, versatility of plant design, and safety advantages.

Interference and Security Considerations for Wireless Communications in an Industrial Environment
Sponsored by Honeywell
From traditional narrow-band to more complex spread-spectrum technologies, a variety of radio frequency (RF) communication techniques are available for deployment in industrial environments. Presented and evaluated here, in terms of their relative security and integrity performance, are the most common narrow-band and spread-spectrum alternatives.

HART Plant of the Year nominations extended through June 16

Ethernet Alliance subcommittees to support IEE 802.3 standards

Emerson to digitally automate BW Enterprise FPSO

New Products

USB-based modular data acquisition system

Wireless LAN combines protocols in one system

Analyzers feature three-phase troubleshooting

Events

HUG announces 2006 meeting agenda
June 11-15, Phoenix, AZ

ARC Forum: Driving enterprise performance
June 26-28, Boston, MA

MatrikonOPC User Group 2006
September 11-14, Houston, TX