IEC 61499 vs. 61131: A Comparison Based on Misperceptions

The IEC 61131 standard has been widely accepted in the industrial automation domain. However, it is claimed that the standard does not address today the new requirements of complex industrial systems, which include among others, portability, interoperability, increased reusability and distribution. To address these restrictions, the IEC has initiated the task of developing the IEC 61499, which is presented as a mature technology to enable intelligent automation in various domains. This standard was not accepted by industry even though it is highly promoted by the academic community. In this paper, it is argued that IEC 61499 has been promoted by academy based on unsubstantiated claims on its main features, i.e., reusability, portability, interoperability, event-driven execution. A number of misperceptions are presented and discussed in this paper to show that the comparison, which appears in the literature, between IEC 61499 and 61131 is not substantiated.