OT Gateway Integration for Container Orchestration Compatibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial control systems in OT environments lack efficient management tools for provisioning, deploying, and maintaining OT devices, as existing container orchestration systems are not capable of accessing and managing OT assets in the same way they manage IT assets, due to incompatibility with OT operating systems.
Innovation Solution
Integration of specialized hardware and software control systems within industrial control systems to operate as worker or proxy nodes within a container orchestration system, enabling communication and coordination between IT and OT environments, allowing for the management of OT assets through container orchestration systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If container orchestration systems are used to manage IT assets, then automation and coordination efficiency are improved, but the ability to manage OT assets is lost due to OS incompatibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway component that acts as an intermediary between the container orchestration system and OT devices. The gateway runs on or alongside OT devices and translates orchestration commands into OT-compatible instructions, enabling the container orchestration system to manage OT assets despite operating system incompatibilities. This mediator layer allows IT-based orchestration tools to effectively control OT infrastructure.
2Adaptability or versatility
If specialized control systems are integrated to enable container orchestration in OT environments, then management capability is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements control systems with multiple functional modes that can operate as worker nodes, proxy nodes, or gateway components depending on configuration. This multi-functionality allows a single control system to perform various roles in the container orchestration architecture, reducing the need for separate specialized components and thereby managing complexity while maintaining versatility in OT asset management.
Data Source
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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.