Historian Data Retrieval Using Query-Cycle Summary Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional industrial control and automation systems face inefficiencies due to slow data retrieval services that burden network bandwidth, as they often process large volumes of data with cyclical retrieval methods and long time intervals, leading to unnecessary processor resource utilization.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system with a replication component that generates summary data values from source data, storing them in a summary database, and a retrieval component that determines whether to retrieve source or summary data based on query cycle duration, aligning start and end times, to optimize data retrieval and reduce bandwidth usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional cyclical retrieval services are used to retrieve process data, then data can be obtained from the historical database, but the retrieval service processes large volumes of source data values (millions of rows) even when query results contain only a few hundred rows, causing slow retrieval speed and excessive network bandwidth utilization
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and separates summary data from the complete source data set. A summary database is created that contains only essential aggregated information (minimum, maximum, average values) rather than all raw data points. When a query is received, the system first checks the summary database to determine if summary data can satisfy the query requirements, thereby extracting only the necessary data portion and avoiding transmission of unnecessary source data values.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a simplified copy of the source data in the form of summary data. Instead of copying and transmitting millions of source data rows, the system generates and transmits a compact copy containing aggregated statistical values. This copy serves the same informational purpose for many queries while occupying minimal network bandwidth and storage space.
2Measurement precision
If conventional retrieval services process all source data values to ensure query accuracy, then complete data can be provided, but processor resources are unnecessarily utilized and retrieval time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary processing of source data by generating summary data in advance and storing it in a separate summary database. This preliminary action creates aggregated statistical values (min, max, average) before queries are received. When queries arrive, the system can immediately retrieve pre-computed summary data without performing real-time aggregation on millions of source data points, thereby maintaining accuracy while dramatically reducing retrieval time.
3Loss of energy
If summary data is used to reduce data volume, then network bandwidth utilization decreases, but the system must maintain both source and summary databases increasing device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the historical database into two distinct parts: a source database containing complete raw data and a summary database containing aggregated statistical data. This segmentation allows the system to serve different query types from appropriate data sources. The summary database structure is simplified compared to the source database, storing only essential aggregated values rather than complete time-series data points.
Data Source
AI summary
Operational historian system retrieving summary data values and source data values based on alignment between a summarization cycle duration and a query cycle duration. A retrieval service process executing on a historian device utilizes a summarization cycle duration, including start and/or end times thereof, and a query cycle duration, including start and/or end times thereof, to determine whether to retrieve, via a communications network, source tag data and/or summary tag data from memory storage devices.