Edge computing devices for processing plant process data, methods of operating the same, computing frameworks including the same and related computer program products

Abstract

This invention relates to an edge computing device 120 for processing acquired data 112 regarding the production process of an industrial plant, the industrial plant including a plant control system 110, wherein the control system includes a server 111. The device includes a first unit 125 configured to communicatively couple to the server for receiving the data from the system. A second unit 121 is configured to provide a container runtime environment 122, the container runtime environment 122 being configured to run a container on the second unit. A process container 123 is configured to run on the environment, wherein the process container includes a processor configured to process the acquired data regarding the production process of the industrial plant when running within the process container. The first unit is communicatively coupled to the second unit for providing the received data to the environment, wherein the program is configured to process the provided data.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to an edge computing device, computing framework, method, and computer program product for processing acquired factory process data relating to the production process of an industrial plant. [Previous Technology]

[0002] Optimization of complex production processes in industrial plants, such as those in the chemical or pharmaceutical industries, is often used to increase the reliability, quality, and quantity of production. With the increasing complexity of the production processes, the analysis and optimization programs, and the IT infrastructure running them, often need to be updated, for example, by adding additional hardware and / or software. Generally, such analysis and optimization programs are based on processing plant process data received from an industrial control system that controls the industrial plant, and are often adapted to provide outputs as individual optimization data back to the industrial control system. To increase the data security of the input and output of these analysis and optimization programs, individual analysis and optimization programs are often deployed on a platform, i.e., as part of the plant's hardware and / or software architecture. Therefore, adapting, updating, or replacing an analysis and optimization program across multiple industrial plants is often difficult and inefficient. Manually operating the production plant's software and / or hardware on a platform is often even necessary. This makes the development and deployment of analysis and optimization programs for production plants inefficient and time-consuming. Therefore, it would be advantageous if analysis and optimization programs for multiple industrial plants could be managed (i.e., adapted, updated, and / or replaced) more efficiently. [Summary of the Invention]

[0003] The purpose of this case is to provide an edge computing device, computing framework, method, and computer program product that allows for more efficient management, i.e., more efficient updating, adaptation, and / or replacement of industrial plant analysis and optimization programs.

[0004] In a first embodiment of the present invention, an edge computing device is presented for processing acquired factory process data relating to the production process of an industrial plant, the industrial plant including a factory control system, wherein the factory control system includes an interfacing server. The edge computing device includes a) an interfacing computing unit configured to communicatively couple to the interfacing server for receiving the factory process data from the factory control system; b) a container computing unit configured to provide a container runtime environment configured to run a container on the container computing unit; c) a process container configured to run on the container runtime environment, wherein the process container includes a process program configured to process the acquired factory process data relating to the production process of the industrial plant when the process program runs within the process container, wherein the interfacing computing unit is communicatively coupled to the container computing unit for providing the received factory process data to the container runtime environment, wherein the process program is configured to process the provided factory process data.

[0005] Because the edge computing device provides a container computing unit and a process container configured to run in a container runtime environment, wherein the process container includes a processor configured to process factory process data, for example, to analyze and optimize factory processes based on the factory process data, the processor can operate independently of the individual software and hardware provided as part of the industrial plant. Furthermore, by making the processor's runtime environment independent of the hardware and software provided by the industrial plant, the processor can be managed independently of the industrial plant's IT infrastructure. Therefore, the efficiency of managing (i.e., adapting, updating, and / or replacing) the processor used to optimize the processes of the industrial plant can be increased.

[0006] Generally, an edge computing device involves a computing device adapted to follow an edge computing paradigm (compared to a cloud computing paradigm), involving bringing the computing closer to the location where the result of the computing is needed. Utilizing edge computing generally allows for improved data transmission security, improved response time, and allows for secure network bandwidth. Furthermore, edge computing in this application allows for a combination of physically isolated factory automation systems and connected IT infrastructure (such as edge devices). Therefore, it is preferred to provide edge computing devices on a platform, i.e., as part of the industrial plant, and computing hardware and / or software directly connected to the industrial plant.

[0007] The factory process data acquired regarding the production process of an industrial plant may include any data acquired by a factory control system during the production process. For example, the factory process data may include sensor measurements provided by a plurality of sensors within the plant to monitor the production process. The factory process data may also include settings utilized by one or more production devices in the industrial plant during the production process, such as settings for valves, industrial heaters, pumps, etc. The factory control system may involve any system used to control the production process within the plant and is implemented as hardware and / or software within the plant. The factory control system may include an interfacing server adapted to interface with other computing units to, for example, provide the acquired factory processing data to those other computing units.

[0008] The interfacing computing unit is configured to be communicatively coupled to the interfacing server for receiving factory process data from the factory control system. For example, the interfacing computing unit of an edge computing device can be communicatively coupled to the interfacing server of the factory control system via a wired or wireless connection. Preferably, to increase the security and availability of data transmission, the interfacing computing unit is communicatively coupled to the interfacing server via a wired connection. However, a wireless connection based on, for example, a 5G standard may also be preferred if the wireless connection is cost-effective and reliably available.

[0009] A container computing unit is configured to provide a container runtime environment, which is configured to run a container on the container computing unit. The container runtime environment relates to a computing environment that allows a container to run. In this context, a container can generally be defined as an instance of an operating system, isolated from other instances of the operating system, and for that instance, the computing resources of the edge computing device available to the individual container can be managed independently. Accordingly, the container binds all the resources and runtime dependencies of a computer program running within it down to the kernel level. Furthermore, due to the constraints on the computing resources of the computing system that the container can access, it is preferred that each container include the individual software that is needed to run the containerized program within the container. For example, a container preferably includes all the function libraries of the computing framework required by a particular program.

[0010] The edge computing device further includes a process container configured to run in a container runtime environment. The process container includes a processing program containerized within it. When the processing program runs within the process container, it is generally configured to process acquired factory process data regarding the production process of the industrial plant. This processing preferably involves analyzing the factory process data for optimization of the industrial plant's production process. The processing program can involve any known, existing processing program, or a customized processing program specifically adapted to process factory process data for a particular production plant. For example, the processing program can involve a software sensor. A software sensor can, for example, be implemented as a Kalman filter that reconstructs an internal state of the industrial plant that is difficult to measure at the physical level. This reconstructed internal state can be fed back as factory control data to the factory control system, where this form of factory control data can then be treated as a real physical measurement. In another example, the process could involve a model predictive controller. For instance, based on the state-space model of the process below, such a controller is used to optimize the yield through the distillation column.

[0011] The interfacing computing unit is further communicatively coupled to the container computing unit, such that factory process data received from the interfacing server can be provided to the container runtime environment. This communicative coupling can be implemented in the form of any wired or wireless connection between the interfacing computing unit and the container computing unit. Preferably, the interfacing computing unit and the container computing unit are parts of the same computing hardware and / or software. In this case, the communicative coupling may involve a virtual coupling that allows the container computing unit to access data provided by the interfacing computing unit, and vice versa. Generally, the container runtime environment is adapted to provide containerized processing programs within the process container with containerized access to the received factory process data as a resource. The processing program is then configured to access and specifically process the provided factory process data.

[0012] In one embodiment, the interfacing computing unit is communicatively coupled to the interfacing server via a protocol converter, wherein the protocol converter is configured to isolate and tunnel the plant process data, and is configured to convert the plant process data from a data format used at the interfacing server to a data format used by the interfacing computing unit. In many applications, plant control systems and therefore interfacing servers provide data, particularly plant process data in a specific format, while edge computing devices (especially interfacing computing units) are configured to use a different data format, such as a more modern data format. In this case, the protocol converter provided between the interfacing computing unit and the interfacing server converts data from the interfacing server to a data format used at the interfacing computing unit, and allows for a more efficient data exchange. The protocol converter can be provided as part of the interfacing server, as part of the interfacing computing unit, or as part of both, the interfacing server, and the interfacing computing unit to perform this task. For example, the protocol converter can be provided as hardware and / or software on an interfacing server, an interfacing computing unit, or both.

[0013] Furthermore, the protocol converter is configured to isolate and tunnel the plant process data. Generally, data isolation involves data processing such that only the intended data is transferred. Data tunneling generally involves the encapsulation of transferred data during transfer to a different data protocol and during the physical transport of data from a source to a separate receiver. In a preferred embodiment, the protocol converter is adapted to tunnel the plant process data by utilizing encryption used for encrypting the plant process data.

[0014] Because the protocol converter adapts the factory process data from a data format used at the interfacing server to a data format used by the interfacing computing unit, and isolates and tunnels the factory process data in this process, the communication between the interfacing server and the interfacing computing unit becomes not only more efficient, but also significantly increases the security of the communication.

[0015] In a preferred embodiment, the protocol converter is configured to convert factory process data provided at the interfacing server in an legacy data format to a modern data format. In many industrial control systems, multiple legacy software and hardware systems remain active, for example, due to stable performance and, more importantly, due to the often high costs required to implement new hardware or software into an already operational factory control system. Accordingly, such legacy software or hardware systems also provide individual legacy data, i.e., data provided in a legacy data format, which relates to a data format that has been replaced or phased out and is generally no longer used in recent applications. In this context, the term "modern data format" refers to a data format that can still be used in current and latest software and hardware applications. Because many legacy data formats are not only unusable by modern hardware and software systems, but may also include additional drawbacks such as reduced storage performance, it is advantageous to use an interfacing computing unit to convert legacy data to a modern data format for transferring factory process data to the interfacing computing unit. For example, the legacy data format may involve Open Platform Communications Data Access (OPC DA) format, while the modern data format involves Open Platform Communication Unified Access (OPC UA) format. In this case, it is preferred that the protocol converter include an OPC DA-to-UA converter, configured to convert the factory process data provided at the interfacing server in an OPC DA format by applying an OPC UA wrapper to the factory process data. However, if the plant process data is already provided in a modern data structure, it is preferred that the protocol converter be adapted to operate as a transparent communication tunnel, that is, the protocol converter does not convert the plant process data, but only isolates and tunnels the plant process data.

[0016] In one embodiment, the processing program is configured to provide plant control data for controlling or optimizing the industrial plant based on the processing of the plant process data. The container computing unit is communicatively coupled to the interfacing computing unit for providing the plant control data to the interfacing computing unit. The interfacing computing unit is communicatively coupled to the interfacing server for providing the plant control data to the interfacing server for implementation on the plant control system of the industrial plant. In this embodiment, the processing program is adapted to determine plant control data for controlling or optimizing the industrial plant based on the plant process data. Specifically, the plant control data may be the result of analysis of the plant process data. For example, such analysis may show that if some hardware (such as heaters) in the production process is controlled differently, for example, controlled to provide less heat to the product at a specific stage of production, this analysis may show improvements that can be made to the production of that particular product in the production plant. Accordingly, for this example, the provided factory control data may include data instructing the factory control system of the industrial plant to adjust individual hardware controls, in this example, heaters. The factory control data provided by the processor can be provided to the interfacing computing unit via the communication-coupled container computing unit, and further from the interfacing computing unit to the interfacing server, so that the industrial control data can be implemented in the industrial control system of the industrial plant. This embodiment not only allows for the analysis and processing of data provided from the industrial plant, but also allows for direct influence, particularly optimization, of the industrial plant's control.

[0017] Also in this embodiment, it is preferred that the interfacing computing unit is communicatively coupled to the interfacing server via a protocol converter, wherein the protocol converter is configured to isolate and tunnel the plant control data, and is configured to convert the plant control data from a data format used at the interfacing computing unit to a data format used by the interfacing server. As discussed above, and also in this case, the plant control system still includes software and / or hardware using legacy data formats, and the protocol converter is configured to convert the plant control data provided in a modern data format to a legacy data format in order to provide the plant control data to the plant control system. For example, the protocol converter may include an OPC DA-to-UA converter, wherein the OPC DA-to-UA converter is configured to convert plant control data in OPC UA format to OPC DA format in order to provide the plant control data to the plant control system.

[0018] In this embodiment, the edge computing device includes a further abstract container configured to run on the container runtime environment, wherein the abstract container includes an abstract program configured to preprocess the factory process data before it is provided to the process container. The abstract container, including an abstract program for preprocessing the factory process data, is provided to accommodate how the factory process data is provided to the container computing unit by the interfacing computing unit and how the factory process data is utilized in the processing program. This allows for greater flexibility in the system, considering how the factory process data is provided to the container computing unit in the processing program. The preprocessing performed by the abstract program can involve any kind of processing of the factory process data, allowing the factory process data received from the interfacing computing unit to be provided in a format expected as input by the processing program. For example, the preprocessing can involve a transformation of the factory process data, in which case the abstract program includes a data or protocol converter. However, this preprocessing may also involve sorting or converting one physical unit to another, such as converting all physical units to SI units. Furthermore, the abstraction program can be adapted to filter the plant process data, for example, providing only a portion of the plant process data to the process container and thus to the processing program. In addition, the abstraction program can be adapted to perform operations on time series data, such as calculating a clustered average of values ​​over a period of time. Such clustered time series data is particularly suitable for use in machine learning models.

[0019] Because the abstract container is provided to include an abstract program, the system becomes not only more flexible (provided as an abstract container), but also has the advantage of being manageable, meaning it can be updated, adapted, or replaced in the same easy and efficient manner as the processing container. Furthermore, when an abstract program is used for preprocessing the factory process data, which is also the processing container, especially the individual processing program running within that processing container, it can be more easily shared across multiple industrial plants, making it possible for not every industrial plant to require a customized processing program. This more generally increases the efficiency of managing the processing of factory process data.

[0020] In one embodiment, the interfacing computing unit and / or the container computing unit is configured to run a virtual Windows (Microsoft Windows) environment or a virtual Linux environment. Specifically, the container computing unit is preferred to either run a Linux environment as an operating system or be configured to run a virtual Linux environment on which the container runtime environment can be provided. More preferably, the interfacing computing unit is configured to run a Windows environment as an operating system, or, if running with a different operating system, is adapted to run a virtual Windows environment. Generally, the interfacing computing unit and the container computing unit can be adapted to run on any suitable operating system and, if necessary, can be adapted to provide a separate virtual environment in which another operating system runs, so as to advantageously allow the execution of software for the individual tasks of the interfacing computing unit and / or the container computing unit.

[0021] Configure the interfacing computing unit and / or the container computing unit to run individual virtual operating system environments, further increasing the flexibility of the edge computing device, such as regarding the operating system running on individual computing units of the edge computing device.

[0022] In one embodiment, the container runtime environment is configured to allow the deployment of the process running within the process container via a continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI / CD) workflow. Because the container runtime environment is configured to allow the deployment of the process via a CI / CD workflow, the processes can be managed more efficiently in situations where multiple processes for different industrial plants must be managed. Furthermore, if the container runtime environment further includes an abstract container with an abstract program, it is further preferred that the abstract program can also be deployed via a CI / CD workflow.

[0023] In a further embodiment of the invention, a computing framework is presented for processing acquired factory process data relating to the production process of an industrial plant, the industrial plant including a factory control system, wherein the computing framework includes a) an edge computing device as described above, and b) an interfacing server, which is part of the factory control system, wherein the interfacing server is communicatively coupled to the interfacing computing unit to provide the factory process data from the factory control system to the interfacing computing unit of the edge computing device, and vice versa.

[0024] In a further embodiment of the present invention, a method is presented for processing acquired factory process data relating to the production process of an industrial plant, the industrial plant including a factory control system, wherein the factory control system includes an interfacing server. The method includes a) receiving factory process data from the factory control system via the interfacing server, b) providing a container runtime environment configured to run a container, wherein the container includes a processor configured to process the factory process data of the industrial plant when running within the container, and c) providing the received factory process data to the container runtime environment and processing the provided factory process data by the processor.

[0025] In a further embodiment of the present invention, a computer program product is presented for processing acquired factory process data concerning the production process of an industrial plant, the industrial plant including a factory control system, wherein the computer program product includes code means that triggers an edge computing device as described above to execute a method as described above.

[0026] It should be understood that the edge computing devices, computing frameworks, methods and computer program products described above have similar and / or identical preferred embodiments, particularly as defined in the appendix.

[0027] It should be understood that a preferred embodiment of the invention may also be any combination of the appended claims or the above embodiments and individual independent claims. These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent and illustrated by reference to the embodiments described below.

Implementation Method

[0032] Figure 1 schematically and illustratively shows a computer frame 100 for processing acquired factory process data 112 about the production process of an industrial plant, which includes a factory control system 110.

[0033] Generally, an industrial plant can involve any technological infrastructure for an industrial purpose. This industrial purpose may be the manufacture or processing of one or more industrial products, i.e., a manufacturing process or treatment performed by the industrial plant. For example, the industrial purpose may involve the production of an industrial product. This industrial product can be, for example, any physical product, such as chemical, biological, pharmaceutical, food, beverage, textile, metal, plastic, or semiconductor. Additionally or alternatively, the industrial product can even be a service product such as electricity, heating, or air conditioning; a waste treatment such as recycling; a chemical treatment such as decomposition or dissolution; or even incineration. Accordingly, the industrial plant may be one or more of the following: a chemical plant, a process plant, a pharmaceutical plant, a fossil fuel processing facility such as an oil well and / or natural gas well, a refinery, a petrochemical plant, a cracking plant, and the like. The industrial plant may even be any of the following: a distillation chamber, an incinerator, or a power plant. The industrial plant may even be any of the examples given above.

[0034] To execute the production process, the industrial plant includes a technological infrastructure that can be controlled by control parameters, which can be considered part of the plant control data used to control the industrial plant and implemented on the technological infrastructure by a process control system. The technological infrastructure may include equipment or process units such as one or more of the following: heat exchangers, distillation columns such as fractionation distillation columns, furnaces, reaction chambers, cracking units, storage tanks, precipitators, pipelines, stacks, filters, valves, actuators, converters, circuit breakers, machinery such as large rotating equipment, such as turbines, generators, crushers, compressors, blowers, pumps, motors, etc. Each of these technological infrastructure components can provide monitoring data for monitoring the functionality of the technological infrastructure. Furthermore, the industrial plant typically includes a plurality of sensors that allow the measurement of operating parameters of the technological infrastructure. The parameters measured by the sensors may relate to various process parameters and / or parameters of the equipment or process units. For example, sensors may be used to measure parameters such as flow rate in pipelines, level in tanks, furnace temperature, and chemical composition of gases. Some sensors may also be used to measure vibration in vortex conveyors, blower speed, valve operation, pipeline corrosion, and voltage across transducers. These functional and operational parameters can both be considered as part of the acquired plant process data 112 regarding the production process of an industrial plant.

[0035] Plant process data 112 can generally be part of the plant control system 110, such as being acquired and / or stored by the plant control system 110. Furthermore, the plant control system 110 can also be adapted to further process the plant process data 112, for example, to monitor, analyze, and / or optimize the plant process data 112. However, in many applications, the plant control system 110 is not configured to provide up-to-date in-depth analysis and possible optimization of the plant process data 112, and in many cases even involves an legacy system that does not provide the technical hardware or software infrastructure for up-to-date in-depth analysis of the plant process data 112. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide software and / or hardware that allows for up-to-date processing of the plant process data 112 while being easy to deploy and manage.

[0036] To address the aforementioned issues, a computing framework 100 with an edge computing device 120 is proposed. The edge computing device 120 is communicatively coupled to an interfacing server 111 of the factory control system 110, and the edge computing device 120 can also be considered as part of the computing framework 100. Specifically, the edge computing device 120 includes an interfacing computing unit 125 providing one of the technological infrastructures, such as hardware or software for communicatively coupling with the interfacing server 111 of the factory control system 110. Preferably, the interfacing computing unit 125 is adapted to receive factory process data 112 from the interfacing server 111 via communication coupling. In a preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the interfacing computing unit 125 is communicatively coupled to the interfacing server 111 via a protocol converter 130. Preferably, the protocol converter 130 is configured to isolate and tunnel the factory process data 112 from the interfacing server 111 to the interfacing computing unit 125. This allows for the secure and efficient transfer of factory process data 112 from the factory control system 110 to the edge computing device 120. More specifically, the protocol converter 130 can generally be adapted to convert the factory process data 112 from a data format used by the interfacing server 111 to a data format used by the edge computing device 120, particularly by the interfacing computing unit 125 of the edge computing device 120. If the factory control system 110 involves an older system using a legacy data format, it is preferred that the protocol converter 130 be adapted to convert the factory process data 112 provided at the interfacing server 111 in a legacy data format to a modern data format that can be used by the interfacing computing unit 125. An example of a legacy data format that can be converted to a modern data format is the OPC DA data format, which is still used by many factory systems. In this case, it is preferred that the protocol converter 130 include an OPC DA-to-UA converter, which allows the conversion of OPC DA data to OPC UA data format. However, if the factory control system 110 provides the factory process data 112 in the same data format as that used by the interfacing computing unit 125, then the protocol converter 130 may involve a transparent communication unit that does not provide any conversion for the factory process data 112, but simply provides isolation and tunneling of the factory process data 112 between the interfacing server 111 and the interfacing computing unit 125. Generally, the protocol converter 130 may be provided as part of the interfacing server 111, as part of the interfacing computing unit 125, or as both, as provided by each end of the communication coupling in FIG. 1, indicated by the schematic portions of the protocol converters 131, 132, for the interfacing server 111 and the interfacing computing unit 125.

[0037] The edge computing device 120 further includes a container computing unit 121 configured to provide a container runtime environment 122, wherein a process container 123 is provided on the container runtime environment 122. The container computing unit 121 may be, for example, part of the operating system of the edge computing device 120, or dependent on the operating system running on the edge computing device 120, or may be provided using a virtual operating system different from the general operating system of the edge computing device 120. For example, if the edge computing device 120 is generally provided with a Windows operating system, the container computing unit 121 may be configured to run a virtual Linux environment, since most of the container runtime environment 122 is provided as a Linux-based runtime environment.

[0038] The container runtime environment 122 is then adapted to provide the process container 123, which includes a processor running within it. The processor is configured to process the acquired factory process data 112 regarding the production process of the industrial plant. For example, the processor may be adapted to analyze the factory process data 112 and, based on the analysis, provide optimized process control data that allows for optimized control of the industrial plant.

[0039] Optionally, the edge computing device 120 further includes an abstract container 124 configured to run on the container runtime environment (122), wherein the abstract container 124 includes an abstract program. The abstract program may be provided to preprocess the factory process data 112 before it is provided to the process container 123 including the processing program. For example, if the factory process data 112 is provided by the interfacing computing unit 125 in a format that cannot be processed by the processing program, the abstract program may be adapted to preprocess the factory process data 112 so that the factory process data 112 can be processed by the processing program. Depending on the individual configuration and interaction between the interfacing server 111 and the interfacing computing unit 125 regarding the provision and receipt of factory process data 112, such processing may include filtering of the factory process data 112, unit conversion of parameters that are part of the factory process data 112, remanagement of the factory process data 112, selection of the factory process data 112, etc.

[0040] In a preferred embodiment, the processing program running on process container 123 is adapted to provide factory control data to be implemented in the factory control system 110 based on an analysis of one of the factory process data 112. Process container 123, running on container runtime environment 122 of container computing unit 121, is then adapted to provide the factory control data to interfacing computing unit 125. Preferably, interfacing computing unit 125 can then provide the factory control data to the interfacing server 111 of the factory control system 110 via protocol converter 130. In this case, protocol converter 130 can be adapted to convert the factory control data from a data format used at interfacing computing unit 125 to a data format used at interfacing server 111, particularly a data format used by the factory control system 110. The factory control system 110 can then implement the received factory control data for controlling the industrial plant.

[0041] In a preferred embodiment, the container runtime environment 122 is deployed via a Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI / CD) workflow. This workflow is instructed by workflow systems 140 to 142. Specifically, the CI / CD workflow is based on a control system and container registry 140 provided, for example, on an external cloud-based server. The control system may be adapted, for example, to deploy and manage all versions of processors and / or abstractions, for example, by checking whether a newer version of the processor is available and then, by providing the update to the container runtime environment 122, for example, by replacing the currently running processor with the updated version of the processor. Furthermore, a container registry may be provided that registers all containerized programs on edge computing devices in a plurality of industrial plants to provide an overview of all containerized programs currently in use. Optionally, the CI / CD workflow may further include software and / or hardware configured to continuously receive and monitor the outputs and inputs of the processing program, for example, receiving and monitoring factory process data 112 as input and factory control data as output. This external software / hardware 142 can then be adapted, for example, to use an artificial intelligence system to analyze and monitor the operation of the processing program. Based on this monitoring and analysis, software / hardware 141 can be provided to continuously improve the processing program and, for example, to provide updated versions of the processing program to the control system 140.

[0042] Figure 2 schematically and illustratively illustrates such a CI / CD workflow. Such a workflow may include, for example, a process of first building, testing, and then merging a portion of a processor and / or an abstraction that will be used in one or more industrial plants. This building, testing, and merging may be performed, for example, on an external server or in a cloud-based environment, and allows for the secure and efficient development of a particular processor. If the processor, or, for example, an updated version of the processor, is ready, the process may include automatically releasing the new version of the processor to a repository where the new version of the processor is registered and stored. The new version of the processor can then be automatically deployed from the repository, for example, automatically deployed to the edge computing device with the next update, and then implemented in the container runtime environment of the container computing unit of the edge computing device. This allows for a highly efficient and improved workflow for deploying processors within industrial plants.

[0043] Figure 3 illustrates, schematically and exemplarily, a flowchart of a method for processing plant process data. Method 300 can be configured to be used in conjunction with a computing framework 100 as described with respect to Figure 1. Specifically, method 300 includes receiving plant process data from a plant control system via an interfacing server in a first step 310. In step 320, a container runtime environment is provided, configured to run a container, wherein the container includes a processor configured to process the plant process data of an industrial plant when running within the container. In a final step 330, method 300 includes providing the received plant process data to the container runtime environment and processing the provided plant process data by the processor.

[0044] Optimization of production processes in the chemical industry can be seen as a key to increasing the reliability and quality of production processes. Process optimization using edge paradigms has therefore been used for many years. Normally, this involves implementing a processing program at the edge by installing additional IT infrastructure in an industrial plant. A software stack of a computing framework for such a program can consist of, for example, the following components: i) reading data from a plant control system interface (i.e., an interfacing server), which is often based on OPC DA and involves a DCS interface; ii) processing this data in a programming language suitable for optimization and advanced data analysis, such as Matlab; and iii) writing the output data back to the DCS interface. Maintaining and deploying the edge intelligence implemented by this program requires manual steps until a model at the edge is adapted, retrained, or replaced, often meaning personally entering a plant and manually copying files to a server within the plant. This can slow down the development and deployment process and lead to inefficient work around the solution.

[0045] Part of the solution to this problem, as discussed above, provides for example, containerization of the processor as shown in Figure 1. For example, the processor can be deployed as a Linux container holding Python, R, or Scala code. Containerization enables a true "build once, run anywhere" paradigm, and thus enables automated building, testing, and deployment of processors from the cloud to the edge. Therefore, as a further part of this solution, as described above, for example, with respect to Figure 1, it is advantageous to enable containerized workloads to be deployed physically close to an interfacing server, such as a DCS interface, and to enable them to read process data from and write process data to the interfacing server in a seamless and secure manner. This can be achieved, for example, through the computing framework described with respect to Figure 1, one of the main differences from existing settings being that the processor can be deployed as a container, and based on full automation, extremely fast and responsive exchange and retraining based on a CI / CD pipeline.

[0046] For example, the edge computing device may be a standby device, such as an IPC, placed physically close to the interfacing server, for example, connected using a highly available, potentially redundant network connection (i.e., communication coupling). A protocol converter, such as an OPC DA-to-UA converter, may be installed on the interfacing server to isolate and tunnel potentially outdated and insecure local communications, such as OPC DA-based local communications, optionally via an OPC UA-based wrapper. However, other protocols may also be considered. For example, the protocol at the interfacing server may be an older protocol, such as COM-based OPC DA. The protocol at the interfacing computing unit may be a more modern protocol, such as MQTT or OPC UA, which enables communication using containerized computer programs. An interfacing server (e.g., an OPC UA server) is available on the edge computing device, encompassing all access to the interfacing server. Generally, a protocol converter can run on an interfacing server, be distributed across interfacing servers and interfacing computing units, run, for example, an optional virtual Windows environment, or only on the interfacing computing unit.

[0047] In addition, virtual Windows environments and / or Linux environments can be installed separately on the interfacing computing unit and the container computing unit. For example, the host operating system can be Windows with a Linux virtualization layer, or Linux with a Windows virtualization layer. The virtual Windows environment enables the installation of legacy software and protocols, such as OPC DA, which are only available on Windows OS. In the Linux environment, the container runtime environment used for the abstraction and process container can be deployed.

[0048] The abstraction container can be adapted to further abstract to an access point of the interfacing computing unit. For example, the optional abstraction container can format and / or aggregate factory process data so that it can be processed by the process container, for example, by converting factory-specific units to standard process input units, such as centimeters to meters. The process container can contain processing programs for advanced analysis such as optimization or training AI models. For example, the processing program can be adapted to act as a software sensor such as a Kalman filter, which provides an external measurement or simulation of missing instruments. The processing program can also involve an AI model, such as pre-training using a highly scalable cloud infrastructure, such as big data analytics tools like data bricks. In addition, any kind of real-time optimization can be utilized as a processing program. Furthermore, the processing program can also involve a model predictive controller, where the soft real-time requirements and high availability of network stacks can be met through configuration.

[0049] The deployment process can then be controlled by cloud servers such as IoT hubs and IoT edges, using modern CI / CD and DevOp processes. For example, updates to a processor logic on the cloud side can lead to the fully automated deployment of this processor across all relevant edge computing devices.

[0050] Generally speaking, as explained above, the present invention has the advantage that the process can be deployed in an islanded mode, providing a flexible function for reading, processing, and writing back process data from or to an interfacing server.

[0051] From the study of the drawings, specification and additional claims, those skilled in the art can understand and implement other variations of the disclosed embodiments when implementing the claimed invention.

[0052] In the scope of the patent application, the term "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude the plural.

[0053] A single unit or device may fulfill the functions described multiple times in the claims. The fact that certain measures are described only in mutually different subsidiary claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used for profit.

[0054] The functions performed by several units or devices, such as receiving factory data, providing the container runtime environment, running the process, and processing factory data, can be performed by any other number of units or devices.

[0055] Computer program products may be stored / distributed on suitable media, such as optical storage media or solid-state media, which are supplied together with or as part of other hardware. Furthermore, computer program products may also be distributed in other forms, such as via the Internet or other wired or wireless communication systems.

[0056] Any element symbols in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope. The present invention relates to an edge computing device for processing acquired factory process data relating to a production process of an industrial plant, the industrial plant including a factory control system. The device includes a first unit configured to communicatively couple to the server for receiving the data from the system. A second unit configured to provide a container runtime environment configured to run a container on the second unit. A process container configured to run on the environment, wherein the process container includes a processor configured to process the acquired data relating to the production process of the industrial plant when running within the process container. The first unit is communicatively coupled to the second unit for providing the received data to the environment, wherein the program is configured to process the provided data. [Simplified Explanation of the Diagram]

[0028] In the following example diagram:

[0029] [Figure 1] shows, schematically and illustratively, an embodiment of a computer framework used for processing factory process data.

[0030] [Figure 2] schematically and illustratively shows a process diagram for a continuous deployment and continuous delivery workflow, and

[0031] [Figure 3] shows, in a schematic and illustrative manner, a flowchart of one of the methods for processing plant process data.

Claims

1. An edge computing device (120) for processing acquired factory process data (112) regarding the production process of an industrial plant, the industrial plant including a factory control system (110), wherein the factory control system (110) includes an interfacing server (111), wherein the edge computing device (120) includes: An interfacing computing unit (125), configured to communicatively couple to the interfacing server (111), for receiving factory process data (112) from the factory control system (110); a container computing unit (121), configured to provide a container runtime environment (122), configured to run a container on the container computing unit (121); and a process container (123), configured to run on the container runtime environment (122), wherein the process container (123) includes a processor, configured to process the acquired factory process data (112) regarding the production process of the industrial plant when the processor runs within the process container (123). The interfacing computing unit (125) is communicatively coupled to the container computing unit (121) for providing the received factory process data (112) to the container runtime environment (122), wherein the processor is configured to process the provided factory process data (112), and wherein the interfacing computing unit (125) is communicatively coupled to the interfacing server (111) via a protocol converter (130), wherein the protocol converter (130) is configured to isolate and tunnel the factory process data (112), and is configured to convert the factory process data (112) from a data format used at the interfacing server (111) to a data format used by the interfacing computing unit (125).

2. The edge computing device (120) of claim 1, wherein the protocol converter (130) is configured to convert the factory process data (112) provided at the interfacing server (111) in an old data format to a modern data format.

3. The edge computing device (120) of claim 1, wherein the protocol converter (130) includes an Open Platform Communications Data Access to Unified Access (OPC DA-to-UA) converter configured to convert the factory process data (112) provided at the interfacing server (111) in an Open Platform Communications Data Access (OPC DA) data format by applying an Open Platform Communications Unified Access (OPC UA) wrapper to the factory process data (112).

4. An edge computing device (120) as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the processing program is configured to provide plant control data for controlling or optimizing the industrial plant based on processing the plant process data (112), wherein the container computing unit (121) is communicatively coupled to the interfacing computing unit (125) for providing the plant control data to the interfacing computing unit (125), wherein the interfacing computing unit (125) and the interfacing server (111) are communicatively coupled for providing the plant control data (112) to the interfacing server (111) for implementation on the plant control system (110) of the industrial plant.

5. The edge computing device (120) of claim 4, wherein the interfacing computing unit (125) is communicatively coupled to the interfacing server (111) via a protocol converter (130), wherein the protocol converter (130) is configured to isolate and tunnel the plant control data, and is configured to convert the plant control data from a data format used at the interfacing computing unit (125) to a data format used by the interfacing server (111).

6. The edge computing device (120) of claim 5, wherein the protocol converter (130) is configured to convert the plant control data provided in a modern data format to an old data format in order to provide the plant control data to the plant control system (110).

7. The edge computing device (120) of claim 6, wherein the protocol converter (130) includes an OPC DA-to-UA converter, wherein the OPC DA-to-UA converter is configured to convert factory control data formatted in OPC UA to an OPC DA format in order to provide the factory control data to the factory control system (110).

8. The edge computing device (120) of any one of claims 1 to 3, the edge computing device (120) further includes an abstract container (124) configured to run on the container runtime environment (122), wherein the abstract container (124) includes an abstract program configured to preprocess the factory process data (112) before the factory process data (112) is provided to the process container (123).

9. An edge computing device (120) as described in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the interfacing computing unit (125) and / or the container computing unit (121) are configured to run a virtual Windows environment or a virtual Linux environment.

10. An edge computing device (120) as described in any of requests 1 to 3, wherein the container runtime environment (122) is configured to allow the processing program running within the process container to be deployed via a continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI / CD) workflow.

11. A computational framework (100) for processing acquired factory process data (112) regarding the production process of an industrial plant, the industrial plant including a factory control system (110), wherein the computational framework (100) includes: The edge computing device (120) of any of the claims 1 to 10, and an interfacing server (111) which is part of the factory control system (110), wherein the interfacing server (111) is communicatively coupled to the interfacing computing unit (125) to provide the factory process data (112) from the factory control system (110) to the interfacing computing unit (125) of the edge computing device (120) and vice versa.

12. A method (300) for processing acquired factory process data (112) relating to the production process of an industrial plant, the industrial plant including a factory control system (110), wherein the factory control system (110) includes an interfacing server (111), wherein the method (300) includes: The plant process data (112) is received (310) from the plant control system (110) via a protocol converter (130) and the interfacing server (111) at an interfacing computing unit (125). A container runtime environment (122) configured to run a container is provided (320), wherein the container includes a processor configured to process the plant process data (112) of the industrial plant when running within the container, and to provide (330) the received plant process data (112) to the container runtime environment (122), and the provided plant process data (112) is processed by the processor, wherein the receiving (310) includes isolating and tunneling the plant process data (112), and converting the plant process data (112) from a data format used at the interfacing server (111) to a data format used by the interfacing computing unit (125).

13. A computer program product for processing acquired factory process data (112) about the production process of an industrial plant, the industrial plant including a factory control system (110), wherein the computer program product includes code means that causes an edge computing device (120) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 to perform the method (300) as claimed in claim 12.

Images