Contextual Data Models for Industrial Transmission Workflows
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial automation systems often transmit data without providing context, leading to inefficient data communication and analysis, as raw values are transmitted without appropriate metadata, making it difficult for software platforms to synthesize or analyze the data effectively.
Innovation Solution
A computing device that collects and preserves the context of data acquired from various devices, transmitting the data along with its context using data models, such as SmartTags or other data structures, and allows users to define workflows for data communication through an industrial automation system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If data is transmitted without context metadata, then transmission efficiency is improved, but data analysis effectiveness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines data values with context metadata into unified data models. The information gateway component transmits both the raw data values and their associated context information together in a single data structure, eliminating the need for separate transmission channels and enabling receivers to immediately utilize both data and context for analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The information gateway component serves as an intermediary between data sources and software platforms. It collects context metadata from various sources, associates it with data values, and transmits the combined information. This intermediary process ensures that context information is preserved and made available to software platforms without requiring changes to the underlying data transmission infrastructure.
2Loss of information
If context metadata is included with data, then data analysis effectiveness is improved, but data transmission complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The information gateway component is designed as a universal platform that handles multiple functions: collecting context metadata from various sources, associating it with data values, managing data models, and transmitting combined information. This multi-functional approach consolidates what would otherwise require multiple separate systems, reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter structure of data transmission by introducing standardized data models that include both data values and context metadata as integrated parameters. This standardization transforms the transmission format from simple value-only structures to comprehensive data-context structures, enabling systematic handling of complexity through consistent parameter organization.
3Adaptability or versatility
If data models with context are implemented, then software platform analysis capability is improved, but system integration complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the data transmission system into distinct functional components: data sources, information gateway, data models, and software platforms. The information gateway acts as a standardized interface layer that handles context collection and data-model association. This segmentation allows software platforms to interact with a consistent interface regardless of the complexity of underlying data sources, reducing integration complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The information gateway performs preliminary actions by collecting context metadata and associating it with data values before transmission to software platforms. This pre-processing of data and context ensures that software platforms receive ready-to-analyze structured information, eliminating the need for platforms to perform complex data gathering and context association operations.
Data Source
AI summary
A computing device for collecting and preserving data acquired from various devices in a data model with the respective context of acquired data. The computing device may provide a user interface to receive the context or information model associated with a dataset. By providing data with its context, different software platforms may synthesize or analyze the retrieved data more efficiently. Moreover, the computing device may include transaction conditions to define a workflow for transferring the datasets using data model associated with one or more datasets for transmission of data to a destination. The transaction conditions may detail a custom workflow for data communication through an industrial automation system using the data model.