Combination of UML Modeling and the IEC 61499 Function Block Concept for the Development of Distributed Automation Systems

This paper proposes Unified Modeling Language (UML) as modeling tool for distributed control systems (DCSs) according to the IEC 61499 standard. The reason behind using this model is a demand to describe the system considering the whole development process. The object-oriented (OO) concept in UML along with its supporting tools is a good candidate for this purpose. However, IEC 61499 is built on the use of interconnected function blocks (FBs) as a modeling paradigm. A mapping concept from UML into FB-based systems and its implementation are presented. As a result, the UML model using class diagrams, packages, and state diagrams can be transformed automatically to models according to IEC 61499. The proposed process leads to a combination of previously disjoint design levels in the system development.