# OPC Foundation OPC UA FX

Protocols · `OPC UA FX` · verification: source checked

OPC UA FX (Field eXchange) is an extension of OPC UA for field-level industrial automation. Its scope includes real-time communication, functional safety, instrumentation, motion control, and remote I/O. The work is organized through OPC Foundation Field Level Communications working groups, including networking topics for Ethernet and TSN.

## Specification

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Transports | ethernet_l2 |
| Architecture | publish subscribe |
| Encoding | binary |
| Standard body | OPC Foundation |
| Standard ref | OPC 10000-80 |

## Connected

- Related: [OPC UA](https://machineschema.com/protocol/opc-ua.md)

## Safety

- OPC UA Safety uses a black-channel approach for controller-to-controller and controller-to-device safety communication.
- The Safety Working Group covers safety controllers, functionally safe digital and analog IO, and electric drives with safety functions.
- The Certification Requirements Subgroup analyzes testing and certification requirements for UAFX controllers and devices.
- Functional safety is included in the FLC scope for field-level OPC UA.

## Study notes

- The FLC initiative extends OPC UA to the field level for industrial automation requirements.
- FLC scope includes real-time, functional safety, instrumentation, motion control, and remote I/O.
- Technical working groups cover architecture, base facets, offline engineering, networking, safety, motion, instrumentation, IO, prototyping, and test development.
- The Networking Working Group defines lower-layer OSI communication interfaces and behaviors for UAFX devices on Ethernet networks with and without TSN capabilities.
- Offline engineering defines configuration of simple, complex, and modular field devices before physical delivery and deployment when the system comes online.
- TSN work aligns IEC/IEEE 60802, IEEE 802.1, and OPC UA PubSub TSN.
- Certification work defines test cases based on conformance units, profiles, and facets.
- OPC 10000-80 version 1.00.03 was published 2025-07-17 and is marked current.

## Sources

1. [Field Level Communications (FLC) Initiative - OPC Foundation](https://opcfoundation.org/flc/) (accessed 2026-10-25)
2. [OPC-10000-80 – OPC Unified Architecture - Part 80: UAFX Overview and Concepts](https://reference.opcfoundation.org/specs/OPC-10000-80) (accessed 2026-10-25)

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JSON: https://machineschema.com/protocol/opc-ua-fx.json  
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