Distributed Control System Application Generation via Service Level Agreements
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Centralized methods for generating applications for distributed control systems, such as those involving PLCs, HMIs, and SCADAs, face inefficiencies, scalability issues, and reliability problems when the central workstation is disrupted or access is limited, due to high data volumes and complex communication paths.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method where service level agreements (SLAs) control interactions between representatives and physical components, enabling distributed generation and verification of component applications across a cloud-based environment, allowing for activation, deactivation, and verification of application generation, and facilitating efficient distribution of applications to physical components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If application generation is performed centrally on a workstation, then control and coordination are simplified, but efficiency and availability deteriorate when the central workstation is disrupted or access is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the centralized application generation function into distributed representatives, where each representative can independently generate applications for its assigned physical components. This segmentation eliminates the single point of failure at the central workstation while maintaining coordinated control through defined interaction protocols among representatives.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a service level agreement mechanism as an intermediary layer that mediates interactions between representatives and physical components. This intermediary enables distributed representatives to coordinate their actions and maintain system-wide consistency without requiring direct access to a central workstation.
2Productivity
If data volumes and communication paths are increased to support distributed generation, then generation capacity is improved, but communication complexity and data management difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by enabling each representative to independently generate applications for its locally assigned physical components. This localized generation capacity increases overall productivity while the service level agreement mechanism ensures that local actions maintain global consistency, preventing communication complexity from becoming unmanageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements partial action by having each representative generate only the portion of applications relevant to its assigned components rather than all applications centrally. This partial generation approach increases overall system capacity while reducing the communication burden on any single representative or central coordinator.
3Productivity
If distributed representatives are implemented, then efficiency and scalability are improved, but interaction control and verification complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the control parameter from centralized command-and-control to service level agreements that define expected behaviors and verification criteria. This parameter change enables distributed representatives to interact efficiently while the standardized SLA framework keeps verification complexity manageable through consistent evaluation criteria.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where service level agreements verify the correctness of application generation and data transfer between representatives and physical components. This feedback loop ensures that distributed interactions maintain system consistency without requiring complex centralized coordination, as each representative can self-verify its actions against SLA criteria.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and an engineering system for generating and handling component applications (CA1 . . . CAn) for physical components (C1 . . . Cn) such as a programmable control (Programmable Logic Control (PLC)), Human Machine Interface (HMI) and/or a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Unit (SCADA) of a control system (CA), in which instances (ICF1 . . . ICFn) of component functions (CF1 . . . CFn) for the components (C1 . . . Cn) are produced and from which the component applications (CA1 . . . CAn) are generated, the generated component applications (CA1 . . . CAn) being loaded to the physical components (C1 . . . Cn).