Cloud Service Failover Control for Secure Plant Operations
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cloud services used in plant control systems face availability and security challenges, particularly due to network failures, which can disrupt operations and safety, and shifting to cloud systems is hindered by risks and budget constraints, requiring a solution that ensures high availability and information security while allowing for flexible and rapid system transitions.
Innovation Solution
A cloud service control device and system that includes a communicator for managing communication with cloud service providers and users, a verifier to assess the operation state of cloud services, a selector to choose suitable cloud services based on verification results, and an information transferor to manage data transfer, ensuring high availability and security by enabling redundancy and secure information handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If cloud services are used in plant control systems, then system flexibility and cost efficiency are improved, but availability and security deteriorate due to network failures and external risks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the cloud service system into multiple independent virtual machine instances distributed across different physical hosts. Each instance can operate independently, and if one instance fails due to network or security issues, others continue to provide control functions, thereby maintaining system availability while preserving cloud-based flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements prior cushioning by pre-configuring redundant virtual machine instances and establishing failover mechanisms before failures occur. When network failures or security incidents affect cloud service availability, the pre-prepared backup instances can immediately take over, cushioning the impact on plant control operations.
2Ease of manufacture
If cloud services are used in plant control systems, then budget constraints are relaxed and system modernization is enabled, but information security deteriorates due to external access risks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway device as an intermediary between the cloud service platform and the plant control system. This gateway acts as a security mediator that filters, validates, and controls all communications between external cloud services and internal control devices, enabling modernization while mitigating information security risks from external access.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a secure isolated environment for running cloud-based control applications using virtualized containers with restricted network access and hardened operating systems. This inert computational environment allows modern cloud services to operate while protecting the core control system from external security threats.
3Reliability
If cloud service instances are distributed across multiple hosts, then availability is improved through redundancy, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs universal virtual machine images and standardized deployment configurations that can run identically across different physical hosts. This multi-functionality approach allows the same control application to be distributed across multiple devices without increasing operational complexity, as each instance follows the same template and management protocol.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements self-service automation through orchestration software that automatically provisions, monitors, and manages distributed virtual machine instances. The system self-configures failover rules, automatically detects failures, and redistributes workloads across hosts without requiring manual intervention, thereby improving availability while keeping complexity manageable through automation.
Data Source
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AI summary
A cloud service control device includes a first communicator configured to control communication with a cloud service providing a plant control function of controlling a plant, a second communicator configured to control communication with a first device using service information related to the cloud service, a verifier configured to verify an operation state of the cloud service, a selector configured to select the cloud service on the basis of the verified operation state, and an information transferor configured to transfer the service information between the selected cloud service and the first device.