Universal Industrial Network being Created by the Driving Forces of OPC UA and TSN?

#News(IoTStack) [ via IoTForIndiaGroup ]

In a significant move, the OPC Foundation announced in late 2018 that it will now actively promote its Publish-Subscribe model for communication with devices at the field level. In addition, time-sensitive networking (TSN), a mechanism for time synchronization and determinism, is quickly gaining acceptance among industry players. The combination of these two technologies is paving the way for the emergence of a single, universal solution for Ethernet in industrial applications that may one day replace today’s industrial Ethernet solutions.

Maybe This Time: The Vision of a Universal Industrial Network
In terms of networking, the industrial world has missed the boat twice: in the late 1980s, when the rest of the world settled on Ethernet as the sole networking standard, and again in 2004 when Ethernet re-emerged as the solution of the future, but industry failed to agree on only one standardized “industrial” Ethernet. The result today is that while we have industrial Ethernet that meets industry requirements, it is implemented in at least six varieties, each with its own protocol and many that modify Ethernet.

The vision of a single solution for industrial networking has always been simple: use standard Ethernet, ensure deterministic performance, and provide a single communications protocol that all devices understand. In the age of the Industrial IoT, this vision has been extended to include commonly developed information models, known as companion specifications, for devices and applications that help lower engineering costs.

The positive developments of the past two years are helping the industry to fulfill this vision through two significant initiatives: 1) the IEEE Ethernet standard is being extended to include TSN, and 2) the OPC Foundation is now actively promoting the use of its Publish-Subscribe model at the device level. This is good news for all industry players!

OPC UA Down to the Field Level
In 2018, the OPC Foundation released a major extension of OPC UA that enables communication down to the field level. Known as Publish-Subscribe (PubSub), the specification adds to OPC UA the time-critical behavior needed to control IO and other field devices. Later that year, the Foundation announced an initiative to identify OPC UA and related TSN harmonization requirements. The announcement resulted in an industry-wide show of support from automation suppliers, proving that the combination of OPC UA and TSN is the missing link that will likely pave the way to fulfilling the vision of a single industrial network. Ultimately, success will be measured by the deeds of member companies, but it is hard to recall a time when so much of the industry was pulling in the same direction at the same time.

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