OT Device Orchestration via Container-to-Control Command Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial control systems in OT environments lack efficient management and orchestration capabilities similar to those in IT environments, limiting the ability to coordinate and manage OT assets like programmable logic controllers and other industrial devices through container orchestration systems.
Innovation Solution
Integration of specialized hardware and software control systems within industrial control systems to act as worker or proxy nodes, enabling participation in container orchestration operations, and using a container orchestration system to manage OT assets by mapping IT commands to OT-specific operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If industrial control systems in OT environments use traditional management approaches, then system simplicity is maintained, but management efficiency and orchestration capabilities are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces control systems as intermediary components that bridge IT container orchestration systems and OT devices. These control systems translate IT commands into OT-specific operations, enabling efficient management of OT assets while maintaining the simplicity of existing OT infrastructure. The intermediary layer allows advanced orchestration capabilities without directly complicating the core OT device architecture.
2Adaptability or versatility
If container orchestration systems are integrated with OT devices, then coordination and management capabilities are improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control systems are designed with multi-functionality to handle both IT command interpretation and OT device coordination. They can manage diverse OT assets including programmable logic controllers, sensors, and actuators through a unified interface, thereby improving adaptability without requiring separate specialized systems for each device type.
Solution Approach 2:
The control systems serve as mediators between the container orchestration system and OT devices, translating commands and managing communications. This intermediary layer abstracts the complexity of OT device heterogeneity, allowing the orchestration system to coordinate diverse assets without directly managing each device's specific protocols and interfaces.
3Extent of automation
If traditional industrial control systems are used, then ease of operation is maintained, but automated management and health monitoring capabilities are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The control systems enable self-service capabilities for OT assets by implementing automatic update mechanisms. The systems can autonomously retrieve, validate, and deploy updates to connected OT devices, perform self-diagnosis through health monitoring, and trigger failover procedures without manual intervention, thereby increasing automation while maintaining operational simplicity through automated routines.
Data Source
AI summary
A method may include receiving, via a first computing node of a cluster of computing nodes in a container orchestration system, a pod from a second computing node in the cluster of computing nodes. The method may also involve retrieving an image file that includes containers from a registry, such that the pod detail an indication of a location of the image file in the registry. The method then involves generating a package based on the one or more containers and one or more mapped commands implementable by a control system in an operational technology (OT) domain. The mapped commands correspond to operations performable by the control system that corresponds to commands specified in the containers. The method may then involve storing the package in a filesystem shared with the control system.