Centralized Plant Data Repository With Data Diode Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current process control systems face challenges in efficiently and securely collecting, processing, and visualizing data from process plants due to the lack of a coordinated infrastructure for data mining, leading to data context loss, overuse of communication infrastructure, and increased vulnerability to cyber threats.
Innovation Solution
A centralized data mining system that receives data from various sources, processes it through microservices, and stores it in time series and distributed graph databases, providing secure access to external applications while maintaining data context and reducing communication issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If data is collected from multiple process plant sources through centralized infrastructure, then data comprehensiveness and context retention are improved, but communication infrastructure load and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments data processing into specialized microservices (time-series database service, graph database service, data mining service, visualization service) that each handle specific aspects of data management. This segmentation allows comprehensive data collection while distributing system complexity across independent, manageable service components rather than a monolithic system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a data diode as an intermediary component between process control systems and external systems. This intermediary enables secure, unidirectional data transfer that retains data context while preventing bidirectional communication complexities and security vulnerabilities, effectively managing the trade-off between comprehensiveness and system complexity.
2Ease of operation
If traditional centralized data collection methods are used, then data accessibility is improved, but vulnerability to cyber threats and communication infrastructure overuse increase
Solution Approach 1:
The data diode serves as a security intermediary that enables data accessibility from process control systems to external applications while fundamentally blocking cyber threats from propagating back into the control environment. The unidirectional nature of the data diode provides inherent security without compromising data accessibility for authorized external systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the data architecture into isolated layers: process control systems, data diode boundary, external data lake, and application layer. This segmentation contains potential security threats to specific layers while maintaining data accessibility across layers through controlled interfaces, reducing overall system vulnerability.
3Productivity
If multiple data mining applications directly access process control systems, then data availability for analysis is improved, but communication infrastructure is overused and system reliability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a copy of process control data in external data lakes through the data diode, allowing multiple data mining applications to access and analyze data simultaneously without directly querying process control systems. This copying mechanism maintains high data mining productivity while eliminating the communication overload and reliability issues that would result from direct access by multiple applications.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for securely and efficiently obtaining data from a process plant and processing that data for consumption by one or more external applications or systems includes receiving event data from various data sources in or associated with a plant via various different data formats and data communication structures at a centralized server or gateway, striping off the communication format structure from the data, placing the data, including metadata associated with the data, into an event stream, and making the data in the event stream available to a processing infrastructure that processes that data in a comprehensive and robust manner for easy consumption by external data mining, data visualization and data analytic systems or applications.