Process Control Engineering Server with Isolated Microservices
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Solution Overview
Problem
In process control systems, configuration changes often lead to issues such as system hanging or failure due to dependencies between models and objects, requiring extensive integration tests and being prone to bugs that ripple across multiple tools and services, especially when using monolithic databases and combined engineering and runtime systems.
Innovation Solution
An engineering server with a microservices-based architecture that provides a group of engineering services, including engineering directory services and model services, allowing users to configure real functions for process control equipment, with each model service communicating point-to-point with the engineering directory service and storing configurations in a source file store to isolate changes and reduce the risk of system instability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a monolithic database and combined engineering-runtime system are used, then integration and consistency are improved, but system stability and reliability deteriorate due to bug propagation and system hanging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the previously monolithic engineering system into separate microservices (engineering directory service, model services, deployment service). Each microservice operates independently with its own database, preventing bug propagation across the entire system while maintaining functional consistency through defined interfaces and protocols.
2Adaptability or versatility
If engineering and runtime systems are tightly coupled, then configuration integration is improved, but operational reliability deteriorates due to runtime service blocking during reconfiguration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent separates the engineering system from the runtime system into distinct microservices. The engineering microservices handle configuration and modeling independently, while runtime services execute control functions. This decoupling ensures that reconfiguration operations in the engineering system do not block runtime services, maintaining operational availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a deployment service as an intermediary between engineering microservices and runtime services. This mediator manages the deployment pipeline, transferring configured models from engineering to runtime through controlled interfaces, ensuring that configuration changes do not directly interfere with runtime operations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If configuration changes are made in a monolithic system, then comprehensive updates are achieved, but system complexity and testing requirements increase due to ripple effects across multiple tools
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the configuration system into independent microservices (engineering directory service for object management, model services for function configuration, deployment service for release management). Each service handles specific configuration aspects independently, reducing the complexity of integration testing while maintaining comprehensive configuration capabilities through service coordination.
Data Source
AI summary
An engineering server of a process control system includes at least one processor operable to provide a group of engineering services of an engineering services platform, which group includes at least one engineering directory service and at least one group of model services, where each engineering directory service provides at least one object of a type corresponding to a type of process control equipment and each model service provides a function operating on an object provided by a corresponding engineering directory service and allowing a user to configure the corresponding function, wherein the model services and the engineering directory service are realized as microservices and each model service communicates with the corresponding engineering directory service via a corresponding point-to-point connection and stores configurations made by the user in a source file store for being implemented as configurations of real functions in a runtime system of the process control system operating on process control equipment.