Control Application Migration with QoS-Reserved Data Streams
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial automation systems face disruptions due to communication interruptions and resource competition in Ethernet-based networks, leading to unreliable data transmission and potential production stoppages, especially when migrating virtualized control applications across different hypervisor hosts.
Innovation Solution
A method that ensures reliable data transmission by reserving and managing network resources with quality of service parameters, checking availability before migrating control applications, and configuring paths using IEEE standards to maintain connectivity and service quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If control applications are migrated between server devices to enable load balancing and resource optimization, then system productivity and resource utilization are improved, but communication interruptions and connectivity loss may occur during migration
Solution Approach 1:
The coordination device checks whether a data stream is already set up for the selected server device before releasing the migration. This preliminary check prevents communication interruptions by ensuring that network resources are reserved and paths are established in advance, so that when the control application migrates, connectivity is maintained without interruption.
2Reliability
If data streams are set up for all possible server devices before migration, then communication reliability is improved, but network resource consumption and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of setting up data streams for all possible server devices uniformly, the system applies local quality by checking and setting up data streams selectively based on the specific migration target. The coordination device determines whether a data stream needs to be set up for the selected server device individually, optimizing resource usage while maintaining reliability only where needed.
3Reliability
If quality of service parameters are strictly enforced during migration, then data transmission reliability is improved, but migration flexibility and speed are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary checks of quality of service parameters and data stream setup status before initiating migration. By preparing and verifying resource availability in advance, the actual migration can proceed quickly without needing to enforce quality of service parameters during the migration process itself, thus maintaining both reliability and speed.
Data Source
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AI summary
Before migrating a control application's process flow component to a selected server facility, a coordinating body verifies whether a data stream for transmitting application data has been previously established for that control application. If no data stream exists, the coordinating body approves the migration of the respective process flow component. If a data stream is already established, the coordinating body checks whether sufficient resources are available for data transmission along the paths to the selected server facility, while adhering to previously specified quality of service parameters. If insufficient resources are available, the migration of the respective process flow component is prevented.Given sufficient resources, the coordination unit initiates the setup of a data stream to the selected server facility, as well as the dismantling of the previously set up data stream, and releases the migration of the respective process control component to the selected server facility.