Gateway Semantic Mapping for Brownfield Equipment Data Models
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial automation systems face challenges in integrating legacy manufacturing process equipment into contemporary industrial information models due to proprietary or legacy data models, requiring a solution that is adaptable and efficient, especially for resource-limited environments.
Innovation Solution
A gateway that transforms manufacturing process equipment data models into industrial information models using a semantic mapping engine with knowledge-based mapping rules, allowing for declarative to executable code conversion, and supporting multiple data models and protocols, including IPC-CFX and OPC UA, with AI-assisted mapping knowledge generation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If proprietary or legacy data models are used for brownfield devices, then device-specific functionality is maintained, but integration into standardized industrial information models becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway as an intermediary component that sits between brownfield devices with proprietary data models and the standardized industrial information model environment. This gateway performs semantic mapping and transformation of data models, enabling integration without requiring changes to the legacy devices themselves, thus resolving the contradiction between maintaining device-specific functionality and achieving standardized integration
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway is designed with universal adaptability to handle multiple proprietary and legacy data models through configurable mapping rules. It provides a single platform that can interface with diverse brownfield devices while outputting to a standardized model, eliminating the need for separate integration solutions for each device type
2Adaptability or versatility
If declarative mapping rules are interpreted directly, then flexibility in adapting to different data models is maintained, but processing overhead and resource usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a two-stage approach where mapping rules are first compiled offline into executable code before runtime. This preliminary compilation phase transforms the declarative mapping rules into optimized executable mappings, so that during actual operation, the system executes pre-compiled code rather than interpreting rules, significantly reducing processing overhead and resource consumption while maintaining the flexibility of declarative rule definitions
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes the state of mapping rules from declarative representations to compiled executable forms based on operational needs. The mapping compiler transforms the abstract declarative rules into concrete executable code, changing the parameter of rule representation from human-readable declarative form to machine-executable form, optimizing the balance between flexibility and efficiency
3Adaptability or versatility
If a gateway is designed to support multiple data models and protocols, then adaptability to various brownfield devices is improved, but the gateway's complexity and configuration difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway is architected with universal support for multiple data models and communication protocols through a pluggable mapping rule system. It can handle diverse brownfield devices including proprietary models, legacy models, and standard models using a common framework, reducing the need for device-specific gateway instances while maintaining comprehensive compatibility
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway functionality is segmented into modular components: protocol parsing modules, semantic mapping engines, and code compilation units. Each component handles specific aspects of the transformation process independently, allowing the system to support multiple protocols and data models through modular addition rather than monolithic complexity, making configuration and maintenance more manageable
Data Source
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AI summary
The disclosed embodiments enable a transformation of an existing and/or proprietary data model of a machine vendor into a standardized IPC-CFX information model or any other standardized industrial information model for automation purposes such as PC UA. The disclosed embodiments are particularly advantageous for implementations on low-cost hardware or gateways with limited resources. They are flexible and general in that they work for any proprietary data model of a machine vendor. Based on a declarative semantic mapping which may be generated either by humans or/and with methods provided by Artificial Intelligence, their simple deployment surpasses the known machine-level implementations while the proposed embodiments accomplish the processing speed of known machine-level implementations due to the benefits of the proposed transformation of the declarative mapping rules into executable knowledge-based mapping rules executed in a runtime environment of the gateway.