Decentralized Network Discovery for Industrial Control Graphing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Centralized network discovery solutions in industrial control systems pose issues such as single points of failure, limited scalability, increased security risks, and high maintenance costs, making them unsuitable for supervisory and critical communication layers in industrial control systems.
Innovation Solution
A decentralized network discovery and graphing method using a control network module (CNM) that employs a Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) to capture attribute data, build neighbor data tables, and construct graphical representations of network devices, enabling network management at supervisory and I/O communication levels without impacting Ethernet network communications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If centralized network discovery solutions are deployed, then network management functions can be performed, but single points of failure and security risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the centralized network discovery architecture into distributed discovery agents deployed at multiple network nodes (supervisory controllers, I/O modules, gateways). Each agent independently performs local network discovery and shares findings through a distributed data model, eliminating the single point of failure inherent in centralized solutions while maintaining comprehensive network visibility.
2Ease of operation
If centralized network discovery solutions are deployed, then network graphing capabilities are provided, but scalability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The network discovery functionality is segmented into independent agents deployed across multiple network nodes including supervisory controllers and I/O modules. Each agent maintains local network state information and collaborates with other agents to build comprehensive network graphs, enabling the system to scale horizontally as new nodes are added to the industrial control system.
3Reliability
If centralized network discovery solutions are deployed, then network device monitoring is achieved, but maintenance costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
Network discovery agents are deployed as self-contained software components on existing industrial control system nodes. These agents autonomously perform network discovery, device monitoring, and data sharing without requiring external centralized infrastructure. The system leverages existing hardware resources and protocols, eliminating the need for dedicated servers and reducing maintenance overhead.
4Loss of information
If centralized network discovery solutions are deployed, then network inventory is captured, but accuracy at supervisory levels decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements network discovery agents at multiple hierarchical levels within the industrial control system, including supervisory controllers and I/O modules. Each agent operates locally to capture network inventory information with high precision for its immediate vicinity, while the distributed data model aggregates these local views to maintain accurate global network state information without the information loss inherent in centralized approaches.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for discovering and displaying a graphical representation of a plurality of network devices connected to a communication network comprises a control network module coupled to the plurality of network devices. A first component of a control network module captures attribute data from the network devices. A second component of the control network module constructs a switch data table identifying a media access control address for each port of a communication network switch associated with each of the plurality of network devices. The second component uses the attribute data and the switch data table to construct a neighbor data table for the plurality of network devices connected to the communication network. A third component of the control network module uses the neighbor data table to construct a neighboring device table and build the graphical representation of the communication network on a display device.