ABSTRACT
The advent of embedded microcontrollers and the possibility to equip them with small, fast, and low-cost network interfaces has allowed forming smart distributed systems consisting of a set of networked-embedded devices. The term configuration is used for a wide range of actions. Part of the configuration deals with setting up the hardware infrastructure of a fieldbus network and its nodes, i.e., physically connecting nodes and configuring nodes in a network. Plug and play describes a feature for the automatic integration of a newly connected device into a system without user intervention. If different user groups access a system for different purposes, they should only be provided with an interface to the information relevant for their respective purpose. In order to support computer-aided configuration, dedicated computer-readable representations of network and node properties are required. This information plays a similar role as manuals and datasheets for a computer-based support framework during configuration and management of a system.
