Distributed Historian Architecture for Industrial Automation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional industrial control system architectures are not equipped to seamlessly exchange data between various components of an enterprise, leading to inefficiencies in data collection and storage, and lack tight integration with standard control systems, which complicates configuration and deployment, and fails to provide unified security across enterprise levels.
Innovation Solution
A distributed and scalable framework that incorporates data historian functionality across organizational levels, using a common data model and directory service to enable efficient data exchange and integration, automatic configuration, and unified security, while allowing marked data to be selectively recorded and utilizing publish and subscribe features to conserve bandwidth.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional PC-historians are used for data collection and storage, then data archiving capability is provided, but integration with control systems is loose and configuration becomes complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the historian functionality directly into the control system architecture by implementing a distributed historian where control processors and I/O modules can natively collect and store process data. This eliminates the need for separate PC-historian systems and their associated configuration complexity, while maintaining reliable data archiving capabilities through the control system's own memory and storage resources.
Solution Approach 2:
The control processors and I/O modules are designed to perform multiple functions: real-time control processing, data collection, and historical data storage. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for dedicated historian hardware and simplifies the overall system architecture while providing robust data archiving as an integrated capability.
2Quantity of substance
If PC-Historians are applied on the back-end of system design, then data storage is provided, but data collection efficiency decreases and security integration is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the data collection and storage functionality across multiple distributed components within the control system. Each control processor and I/O module can independently collect and buffer process data locally, then transfer it to centralized or distributed storage resources. This segmentation enables efficient data collection at the source while maintaining scalable storage capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The control processors and I/O modules perform preliminary data collection and buffering actions before transferring data to long-term storage. This preliminary action at the data source enables efficient real-time data capture without bottlenecking the storage system, maintaining both collection efficiency and storage capacity.
3Loss of information
If conventional historian systems are used, then data capture is provided, but bandwidth is consumed by continuous polling and security is not unified
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements event-driven data transfer mechanisms where data is transferred from control processors to historians based on actual process changes or at optimized intervals rather than continuous polling. This periodic or event-based action maintains complete data capture while dramatically reducing network bandwidth consumption compared to continuous polling architectures.
Solution Approach 2:
The distributed historian architecture enables control processors and I/O modules to self-manage data collection and buffering, transferring data to historians only when necessary. This self-service approach eliminates the need for continuous external polling, reducing bandwidth consumption while maintaining complete and accurate data capture.
Data Source
AI summary
A distributed historian framework is provided where historical data is collected in accordance with an organizational model of a hierarchical system that is distributed across various elements of an enterprise. A directory service operates with the organizational model to enable configuration of historian components within the organization and to enable data to be located within the organization. In one aspect, an industrial automation system is provided. The system includes at least one historian component to archive data within an organization. A common data model then exposes functionality and data of the organization to the historian component.