Here's some news from the OPC Foundation at the conclusion of its 2007 DevCon.
The OPC Foundation has announced the establishment of a 19 member Technical Advisory Council (TAC) to guide, monitor and approve the technical deliverables of its OPC Unified Architecture technology.
Unified Architecture is the platform- and OS-independent, firewall-friendly, secure, reliable OPC solution for enterprise-wide connectivity. With OPC-UA end users can easily exchange data between controller products and systems on the factory floor and in higher-level information technology (IT) systems. The Foundation vision for Unified Architecture is to deliver true enterprise-wide openness for data exchange in the manufacturing industries.
"Tight certification disciplines are being implemented to ensure the quality of OPC Unified Architecture products," said OPC Foundation President Tom Burke, "but ultimately someone has to approve everything we do. Therefore, we have invited a variety of stakeholders to be part of that process. These include Board and non-Board members who have committed to UA, and also third party organizations."
The 19 third party organizations currently involved in the Council are ABB, Emerson Process Management, Fieldbus Foundation, Honeywell Process Solutions, Iconics, International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), Invensys Process Solutions, Kepware, Matrikon, OPC Foundation, OSIsoft, Rockwell Automation, SAP, Siemens Energy & Automation, SISCO, WBF, Wonderware and Yokogawa. OPC President, Tom Burke said: "This step adds to the strength of our Early Adopter group. As well as evangelizing Unified Architecture, TAC members will act as the representatives of all members. In effect they will be the 'gatekeepers' of our organization and a Steering Committee driving future strategy. As a result, all Unified Architecture output will be 'rock solid', guaranteeing the quality of our members' products and providing end users with the assurances they need. The TAC will be a significant factor in driving market success."
First demonstration products and deliverable technology based on OPC-UA were shown at the OPC Foundation's DevCon 2007 (Developers' Conference) event June 25-28. DevCon 2007, aimed at visionaries, engineers and end users in automation, attracted 146 delegates from more than 84 companies and 19 countries. Two and a half days of education delivered a detailed view of the Unified Architecture client/server solution that will provide unprecedented communications freedom between products and systems of all types.
Unified Architecture provides for a variety of operating system and language support, including Microsoft Windows, Java, Microsoft's .Net and C++. This means that OPC servers can be as easily embedded in programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and products as in PC-based systems. Two application demonstrations were held. The Kepware server provided UA support for a ControlLogix PLC from Rockwell Automation while the Beckhoff demo showed UA running on a Beckhoff PLC. An Iconics client application drew data from both of these servers in real time during the demo.
OPC Foundation speakers explained how the Unified Architecture vision enables data from process and discrete manufacturing lines to be accessed from anywhere in the enterprise. Using 'services-based' communications, both horizontal and vertical connectivity is possible, enabling plant monitoring, management and maintenance to be carried out transparently across local and wide area networks including the Internet. Firewalls no longer pose a barrier because XML and SOAP are used to transport data while a choice of two security processes guarantees high integrity data. This means that disparate systems can communicate efficiently, reliably and safely across virtually any type of network, including the Internet.
"OPC Unified Architecture goes much, much further than traditional OPC DA solutions that typically are used for SCADA or monitoring," explained Burke. "For example, complex data structures can be transferred, allowing real 'information' to be communicated instead of just raw data. One of the implications is that management can see more accurately what is happening inside their plants. Server 'chaining' is possible, enabling purchasing and maintenance information to be gathered directly from multiple remote sites (e.g., OEM or device vendor companies), making plant and equipment repairs much simpler and faster. None of this is OS or platform dependent and it can all happen freely across the Internet if needed."
OPC Foundation Technical Director, Jim Luth, said that with 8 of the 11 Unified Architecture specifications published and available to members, developers and end users can now get prototype code for most UA options. The Early Adopter program has been running for over 6 months and the key 'wrapper' solutions needed to assist migration are complete. "There's no reason why Unified Architecture products could not be under development," said Luth.
Speaking at the conclusion of DevCon 2007 Burke said that Unified Architecture is on the cusp of delivering real benefits and that OEMs, vendors and end users should now be taking it seriously as an option for the future. "We are barely a step away from real products," he said. "What's even more important is that OPC vendors and users don't need to junk existing products as our 'wrapper' options make it easy to migrate legacy systems. We can now look forward to the time when widespread adoption becomes reality."
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