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The OPC Foundation, formally known as Object Linking and Embedding for Process Control, is an industry consortium that creates and maintains standards for open connectivity of industrial automation devices and systems, such as industrial control systems and process control in general. OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) is a machine-to-machine communication protocol for industrial automation developed by the OPC Foundation. It is a vendor-independent communication protocol for industrial automation applications. OPC UA standards were incorporated into Industry 4.0 designs for easier interoperability among various Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) devices controlled from higher-level information systems, like Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES).
Former implementations were specific to manufacturers and network providers, bringing compatibility issues to the forefront of any Industrial Control System (ICS) implementation. Such integrations would eventually need to expose functional safety and security requirements, in addition to their basic functionality, which, due to their inherent and added system complexity, seemed an almost impossible task. In any case, it was a considerable effort and a major concern during their implementation and maintenance phases.
With the introduction of OPC UA, the integration efforts may be reduced, and one may also expect easier maintenance and standards compliance. While standards compliance can pertain to many things – from industry-specific to environmental requirements. This article focuses on system safety and security as they were identified as critical to ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA) of systems. These are the expected properties from the future implementation of Intelligent Production Systems (IPS), particularly their control systems and services.
Moreover, in Society 5.0 one may expect an extra layer of distributed control over interconnected devices, where the devices talk to their control systems and other devices. Hence, ensuring the safety and security of their operation extends beyond the devices themselves to entire systems and systems of systems. Because of this, it is even more important to provide safety and security standards as references for the implementation of standards-compliant IoT devices and systems.