Process Control Alarm Auditing via Low-Priority Queries
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional process control systems face performance limitations in auditing process control alarms due to the significant performance impact of Open Platform Communications (OPC) protocols, which restrict the number and type of alarms that can be audited, leading to resource overload and potential denial-of-service-type attacks.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of an alarm handler within the process control system that communicates with field devices and controllers via low-priority audit queries over field buses like HART and FOUNDATION field buses, manages timing and priority of audit queries, and generates reports in standardized formats to prevent resource overload and cyber threats.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If OPC protocols are used for auditing process control alarms, then alarm auditing capability is provided, but system performance deteriorates and resource overload occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the alarm auditing function from the main process control system by implementing it as a separate background thread. This allows alarm auditing to be performed independently without impacting the real-time performance of the core control system, thus resolving the contradiction between providing auditing capability and maintaining system performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a queue mechanism as an intermediary between alarm generation and alarm auditing. Alarms are placed in the queue for later processing rather than being audited immediately, which decouples the auditing operation from the real-time control loop and prevents performance degradation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If comprehensive alarm auditing is performed, then more alarms can be monitored, but resource consumption increases leading to denial-of-service-type attacks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements alarm auditing as a periodic background process that operates at lower priority than real-time control operations. This allows comprehensive alarm monitoring to be performed over time without consuming excessive resources at any single moment, preventing resource overload and potential denial-of-service conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The alarm auditing system uses available system resources in a self-regulating manner, processing alarms when resources are available and automatically throttling when resource constraints are detected. This self-service approach allows comprehensive auditing while inherently protecting against resource exhaustion.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to audit process control alarms. An example disclosed method includes identifying components in the process control system that correspond to alarms to be audited. The example method also includes if a query to request a status of a particular one of the alarms to be audited is not in a status update queue, generating a query associated with the audit report request to request the status of the particular one of the alarms from the corresponding component. Otherwise, if the query to request the status of a particular one of the alarms to be audited is in the status update queue, associating the audit report request to the query. The example method also includes transmitting, via a process control system bus, the queries to be designated as low priority.