The industrial sector has settled onto an international standard for wireless communication by using WirelessHART technology for process automation.

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) approved the WirelessHART specification as a full international standard on March 26.

"The overwhelming approval by IEC fulfills the request of users for a single international wireless communication standard that is supported by major automation suppliers," said Ron Helson, executive director for the HART Communication Foundation, a consortium of industry providers that developed the technology. "WirelessHART technology has been confirmed by both users and suppliers to be a technically sound, reliable and secure solution for wireless communication in process automation."

WirelessHART is already incorporated into the products of several suppliers, including ABB, Emerson, Endress+Hauser, Pepperl+Fuchs and Siemens.

WirelessHART was released three years ago as an open and interoperable wireless communication standard designed to address the needs of industry for reliable, strong and secure wireless communication in real-time industrial process measurement and control applications.

The IEC is a global organization that prepares and publishes international standards for electronic industrial technologies. Those standards provide industry users with the framework for economies of design, product and service quality, interoperability, and production and efficiency.