Industrial Asset Discovery and Profiling Across Vendor Protocols
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial automation environments face challenges in communicating and integrating data from devices of different vendors due to varied communication protocols, limiting the ability to provide application-specific information and analytics across multiple vendor devices.
Innovation Solution
A computing system iteratively scans communication networks to detect industrial devices, determines unique identifiers, creates identity objects, and establishes communication to retrieve operational data, generating device profiles that can be standardized and contextualized for diagnostics and analytics, enabling out-of-the-box functionality across multiple vendor devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional HMI systems are used to communicate with industrial devices, then device control and monitoring are achieved, but integration across multiple vendor devices is limited due to varied communication protocols
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system that acts as a mediator between diverse industrial devices and the HMI. This intermediary translates various vendor-specific communication protocols into a unified internal protocol, enabling seamless integration without requiring the HMI to support multiple proprietary protocols directly. The intermediary layer handles protocol conversion, authentication, and data normalization, thus resolving the contradiction between adaptability and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a universal communication framework that can handle multiple vendor protocols through a single unified interface. The system employs a pluggable architecture where different protocol handlers can be dynamically loaded, allowing the same HMI system to universally communicate with devices from any vendor. This multi-functional approach enables the system to adapt to different protocols without increasing inherent complexity.
2Productivity
If manual device integration is performed, then device profiles can be created, but the process is time-consuming and requires significant operator effort
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements automatic device discovery mechanisms that perform preliminary actions before manual integration is needed. The system proactively scans the network, identifies available industrial devices, and pre-configures basic communication parameters. This preliminary automatic discovery eliminates the need for operators to manually search for and configure each device, significantly reducing integration time and increasing productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables devices to provide self-service information during the integration process. Devices automatically transmit their identity, capabilities, and configuration data when discovered, allowing the system to auto-generate device profiles without operator intervention. This self-service approach transforms a manual, time-consuming process into an automated, rapid integration workflow.
3Adaptability or versatility
If vendor-specific protocols are used for device communication, then device-specific functionality is maintained, but standardized data models and analytics cannot be implemented
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the communication system into distinct layers: a protocol-specific transport layer that handles vendor-specific protocols, and a protocol-agnostic data model layer that provides standardized interfaces. This segmentation allows each layer to independently handle its specific concerns—the transport layer manages protocol complexity while the data model layer provides standardization. The layered architecture resolves the contradiction by isolating protocol complexity from the standardized data modeling requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques to facilitate automatic discovery of industrial assets and associated data in an industrial automation environment are disclosed herein. In at least one implementation, a computing system iteratively scans a communication network to automatically detect at least one industrial device on the communication network. The computing system determines a unique identifier of a device type associated with the at least one industrial device detected on the communication network. The computing system determines an identity object for the industrial device and maps the identity object to the unique identifier of the device type associated with the industrial device. Based on the identity object for the industrial device, the computing system establishes communication with the industrial device on the communication network and receives operational data from the industrial device. The computing system processes the operational data received from the industrial device to generate a device profile for the industrial device.