Intelligent sensors and the need for new metrics

Given the availability of intelligent sensors performing internal diagnostics, and digital communications systems such as Fieldbus to communicate the results, in what form should sensor fault data be communicated? This paper outlines the SEVA approach to instrument validation (Henry and Clarke 1993), which advocates exploiting the manufacturer´s knowledge of an instrument to detect faults internally while describing the impact on each measurement in generic, device-independent terms (including the dynamic uncertainty). It is asserted that standard metrics for measurement data validity must be agreed ideally as a supplement to the current Fieldbus standardisation effort