A Practical Guide to Using the Industrial Internet Connectivity Framework
Software systems built with OPC UA are
typically compositions of existing modules
like historians and HMIs. Direct OPC UA
users are mostly device vendors. End OPC
UA users are typically control or process
engineers building and configuring systems
of devices and existing software modules.
OPC UA does not offer software teams
integrating custom software help with
complex interfaces that need a common
system data model.
store or analysis function. This is a rare
application for either OPC UA or DDS, which
work between devices. Also, oneM2M works
by offering common services aimed at
integrating mobile devices. None of the
other technologies target this application.
T HE F UTURE
Combinations of the core standards will
make great sense in the future. For instance,
future complex software systems can use
DDS, but access interchangeable OPC UA
devices through a gateway. That design is
powerful.
DDS, on the other hand, directly supports
large custom software integrations. It
explicitly requires a system data model and
then uses that to automatically enforce
interfaces. It works well for building and
integrating AI modules, custom software
development and wide data distribution.
Everything is redundant and massively
parallel. Most DDS end users are teams of
programmers with dozens or even
thousands of developers. DDS frustrates
non-programmers who want to quickly
integrate devices without much new
software.
The IICF specifies an architecture for sharing
data across connectivity technologies to
allow this future, pervasive Industrial
Internet. IIoT use cases are evolving from
simple monitoring to optimization and
finally to autonomy. These increasingly
require more powerful integration.
Today’s IIoT designs are relatively isolated
within industries. Someday, there will also
be cross-industry integrations, such as
manufacturing systems integrated with
transportation
and
power.
More
importantly,
sophisticated
autonomy
software will reconfigure workcells, creating
a bold new world for component device
vendors. Wireless 5G systems will
interoperate with freeway controllers and
autonomous vehicles. 5G may even directly
control factory devices, eliminating wiring in
manufacturing.
Thus, DDS and OPC UA target vastly different
users. For OPC UA, end-user teams with
more than a few programmers are rare. DDS
is the opposite; most end-user teams have
many programmers. That results in vastly
different market penetration, depending on
the integration challenge. For example, most
OPC UA applications are in discrete
manufacturing, while DDS has essentially
none.
That’s
because
discrete
manufacturing systems today are built via
device, rather than software, integration.
However, designers should consider the
vastness of the space. Today, there are few
concrete needs to bridge the huge gaps
between connectivity systems. That doesn’t
Similarly, MQTT applications mostly target
data collection from devices to a central
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September 2017