Composable Industrial Internet Applications for Tiered Architectures
📝 Abstract
A single vendor cannot provide complete IIoT end-to-end solutions because cooperation is required from multiple parties. Interoperability is a key architectural quality. Composability of capabilities, information and configuration is the prerequisite for interoperability, supported by a data storage infrastructure and defined set of interfaces to build applications. Secure collection, transport and storage of data and algorithms are expectations for collaborative participation in any IIoT solution. Participants require control of their data ownership and confidentiality. We propose an Internet of Things, Services and People (IoTSP) application development and management framework which includes components for data storage, algorithm design and packaging, and computation execution. Applications use clusters of platform services, organized in tiers, and local access to data to reduce complexity and enhance reliable data exchange. Since communication is less reliable across tiers, data is synchronized between storage replicas when communication is available. The platform services provide a common ecosystem to exchange data uniting data storage, applications, and components that process the data. Configuration and orchestration of the tiers are managed using shared tools and facilities. The platform promotes the data storage components to be peers of the applications where each data owner is in control of when and how much information is shared with a service provider. The service components and applications are securely integrated using local event and data exchange communication channels. This tiered architecture reduces the cyber attack surface and enables individual tiers to operate autonomously, while addressing interoperability concerns. We present our framework using predictive maintenance as an example, and evaluate compatibility of our vision with an emerging set of standards.
💡 Analysis
A single vendor cannot provide complete IIoT end-to-end solutions because cooperation is required from multiple parties. Interoperability is a key architectural quality. Composability of capabilities, information and configuration is the prerequisite for interoperability, supported by a data storage infrastructure and defined set of interfaces to build applications. Secure collection, transport and storage of data and algorithms are expectations for collaborative participation in any IIoT solution. Participants require control of their data ownership and confidentiality. We propose an Internet of Things, Services and People (IoTSP) application development and management framework which includes components for data storage, algorithm design and packaging, and computation execution. Applications use clusters of platform services, organized in tiers, and local access to data to reduce complexity and enhance reliable data exchange. Since communication is less reliable across tiers, data is synchronized between storage replicas when communication is available. The platform services provide a common ecosystem to exchange data uniting data storage, applications, and components that process the data. Configuration and orchestration of the tiers are managed using shared tools and facilities. The platform promotes the data storage components to be peers of the applications where each data owner is in control of when and how much information is shared with a service provider. The service components and applications are securely integrated using local event and data exchange communication channels. This tiered architecture reduces the cyber attack surface and enables individual tiers to operate autonomously, while addressing interoperability concerns. We present our framework using predictive maintenance as an example, and evaluate compatibility of our vision with an emerging set of standards.
📄 Content
Composable Industrial Internet Applications for Tiered Architectures K. Eric Harper, Karen Smiley ABB Corporate Research 940 Main Campus Drive Raleigh, NC USA {eric.e.harper, karen.smiley} @ us.abb.com Thijmen de Gooijer ABB Corporate Research Forskargränd 7 721 78 Västerås, Sweden thijmen.de-gooijer @ se.abb.com Abstract – A single vendor cannot provide complete Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) end-to-end solutions because cooperation is required from multiple parties. Therefore, interoperability is a key architectural quality. Composability of capabilities, information and configuration is the prerequisite for interoperability, supported by a data storage infrastructure and defined set of service interfaces to build applications. Secure collection, transport and storage of data and algorithms are expectations for collaborative participation in any IIoT solution. Participants require control of their data ownership and confidentiality. We propose an Internet of Things, Services and People (IoTSP) application development and management framework which includes components for data storage, algorithm design and packaging, and computation execution. Applications use clusters of platform services, organized in tiers, and local access to data to reduce complexity and enhance reliable data exchange. Since communication is less reliable across tiers, data is synchronized between storage replicas when communication is available. The platform services provide a common ecosystem to exchange data uniting data storage, applications, and components that process the data. Configuration and orchestration of the tiers are managed using shared tools and facilities. The platform promotes the data storage components to be peers of the applications where each data owner is in control of when and how much information is shared with a service provider. The service components and applications are securely integrated using local event and data exchange communication channels. This tiered architecture for composable applications reduces the cyber security attack surface and enables individual tiers to operate autonomously, while addressing key interoperability concerns. We present our framework using predictive maintenance for power transformers as an example, and evaluate compatibility of our vision with an emerging set of standards. Keywords—interoperability; composability; software architecture; software engineering I. INTRODUCTION Our society has broadly adopted mobile smart phone technology over the past years. With it comes a familiar digital ecosystem including wireless connectivity, app store content deployment, and different platform and application development frameworks. Platform providers are battling over control of the ecosystem because of the advantages and profits that accrue from market adoption. We see these developments repeating in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) domain. Key IIoT vendors are partnering to deliver end-to-end systems that collect industrial data, perform calculations, and use the results to enhance current operations. Their offerings create entirely new businesses, such as advanced fleet analytics and predictive maintenance. However, each vendor’s success requires cooperation from multiple parties. Factory automation vendors do not have the skills and resources to scalably and securely manage large data centers. Cloud hosting and mobile computing vendors lack the industrial expertise to design and configure applications for IIoT scenarios. Each of the vendors and customers in an end-to-end solution form an ecosystem, as illustrated in Figure 1. Aggregating and sharing the information using interoperability brings the promised IIoT benefits and actionable insights. Multiple benefits come from providing end-to-end solutions for IIoT. First, standardizing access to platform capabilities and information accelerates the integration process for existing customer deployments and third parties, rather than starting from scratch with each vendor. Next, simplifying the interfaces to just what is needed reduces the level of expertise needed to complete the integration tasks. Finally, common integration techniques are easier to manage and monitor for proper operation. Based on these insights, we propose an Internet of Things, Services and People (IoTSP) application development and management framework that addresses data ownership, composability and interoperability concerns. IoTSP extends IIoT and is the next logical step in the evolution of industrial automation. Things are industrial assets equipped with sensors, actuators, computing power and software. New Service models leverage this technology and ecosystem to turn identified improvements into actions. People program and control all processes and activities performed by things, and benefit from the resulting value. The framework includes components for data storage, algorithm design and packaging, and computation execution. The core ideas o
This content is AI-processed based on ArXiv data.