Redundant SCADA Control for Multi-PLC Data Consistency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing SCADA architectures are non-redundant and cannot manage multiple high-availability PLC models, leading to issues with temporal consistency and uniqueness of data and information in industrial processes, which are critical for ensuring high availability and reliability.
Innovation Solution
A fully redundant industrial process control system with multiple redundant automaton models, utilizing asynchronous and active redundancy in data management to ensure temporal consistency and uniqueness, coupled with a doubled communication network for message acknowledgment to maintain high availability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a non-redundant SCADA architecture is used, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability deteriorates because the system cannot meet high availability requirements over ten years
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into multiple independent functional modules (interface module, processing module, operator station management module) with paired computers in each module. Each module operates independently with its own redundancy management, allowing the system to achieve high availability through modular segmentation rather than monolithic redundancy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a universal redundancy management mechanism that can handle multiple PLC models (Siemens, Schneider, Allen-Bradley, Omron) through a common interface and processing framework. The paired computer architecture provides universal active or asynchronous redundancy modes that work across different vendor-specific PLC technologies.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple different PLC models are managed, then adaptability is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to temporal consistency and uniqueness issues in data and information
Solution Approach 1:
The interface module acts as an intermediary between diverse PLC models and the processing module. It collects data from multiple PLC vendors through standardized interfaces, performs vendor-specific data elimination, and transforms diverse data formats into a unified structure that the processing module can handle consistently, thereby maintaining temporal consistency across multi-vendor environments.
Solution Approach 2:
Each paired computer in the interface module is configured with vendor-specific data elimination rules tailored to each PLC model's characteristics. This local customization allows each PLC type to be handled with appropriate data validation and deduplication strategies while maintaining overall system-wide temporal consistency through the unified processing architecture.
3Quantity of substance
If data is collected from multiple PLC models without elimination, then quantity of information is increased, but reliability deteriorates due to duplicate data and temporal inconsistency
Solution Approach 1:
The interface module extracts and eliminates duplicate data items from multiple PLC models before forwarding data to the processing module. By removing redundant data at the source (interface level) rather than later in the processing chain, the system maintains complete information while ensuring uniqueness, preventing duplicate processing and maintaining data integrity throughout the system.
4Productivity
If calculations are performed from data of different times, then productivity is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to temporal inconsistency
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary sorting of data by acquisition time in the interface module before data is passed to the processing module. This pre-ordering ensures that when the processing module performs calculations, the data is already arranged in temporal sequence, enabling fast processing without requiring complex temporal validation during calculation, thus maintaining both productivity and temporal consistency.
Data Source
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AI summary
One aspect of the invention relates to a high-availability control system (100) for an industrial process comprising: - A plurality of operator stations (108) displaying a subset of information; - An interface module (105) comprising a pair of computers (104) for each model, each collecting each data received by each automated system (103) presenting the model and eliminating duplicates, the computers (104) operating in asynchronous redundancy; - A processing module (106) comprising a pair of computers (104) each receiving the collected data, sorting the received data according to their acquisition time, eliminating duplicates and calculating a group of information per acquisition time, the computers (104) operating in active redundancy;- An operator station management module (107) comprising a computer (104) per operator station (108), each receiving each group of calculated information and sending to the operator station (108) each group of information corresponding to the subset of information; - A redundant communication network, comprising a distributed redundancy module configured to manage message exchanges between computers (104).