In the face of the transition to Industry 4.0, insightful manufacturers are busy planning and building the future of smarter manufacturing that combines Information Technology (IT) with Operational Technology (OT) In both areas, a new generation of smart systems is built to drive production, improve operations, enhance customer support, and analyze real-time data from the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).
The simplest concept of Internet of Things (IoT) is to connect to the broader world through an embedded system, and at a broader level it involves data analytics (usually done in the cloud), human-computer interaction, and security The challenge is that manufacturers need to fully integrate four indispensable Industrial IoT technologies: Web technologies, processing technologies, user interface technologies and security technologies.
Timeliness of the Internet
Only by adjusting the network connecting IT and OT are the two networks converging, because the capabilities in this area vary and their networks are distinct. The IT world includes systems that convert data to useful information For manufacturers, it includes not only common systems such as finance, e-mail and customer relationship management systems, but also manufacturing-specific management planning and logistics systems that are computer-based and do not have the requisite real-time Conditional, IT networks can use 'best-effort' common Ethernet technology.
The OT area includes systems for converting raw materials into products, as well as real-time embedded systems for process monitoring and workflow management. Factories can use Industrial Ethernet technology to adjust standard Ethernet networks for instant response and legacy Industrial Communication Protocol Implementation Unfortunately, many industrial Ethernet protocols are neither mutually interoperable nor interdependent with standard Ethernet networks, thus limiting the large-scale growth of technology providers and slowing the pace of innovation A single machine in a plant may connect to different industrial Ethernet networks, with each network running a specific protocol for different control functions, as shown in Figure 1. Manufacturers must deploy gateways on different networks Between the transmission of information, or data transmission to the IT system.
Because of the above interconnection limitations of traditional industrial Ethernet protocols, Industry 4.0 can not be perfected, and IT-oriented standard Ethernet networks can not provide the immediate performance required for control systems. However, The Institute of Engineers (IEEE) formed a team in 2004 to develop audio / video transmission standards for consumer applications and later to standards-based professional applications that developed a set of Audio / Video Bridging ; AVB) standards for time synchronization of network devices (referenced to IEEE 1588), traffic control, and access control. While not fully meeting the needs of industrial applications, these standards provide a more accurate management architecture for Ethernet traffic .
After recognizing the potential of AVB for industrial use, the IEEE team renamed it Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) and began revising the 802 standard series to address industrial and automotive applications Requirements while improving the performance of professional audio and video applications.The new standard defines time-critical traffic control and key traffic scheduling strategies.In order to facilitate scheduling, the new standard to increase non-critical architecture priority scheduling strategy for the new redundant network path Standards to improve the reliability of the network.Now, the industry can only deploy an IEEE standard Ethernet, but can transfer OT systems require instantaneously higher control traffic, but also transfer the general Ethernet in the IT system Road Traffic. With the key Internet technologies in the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) established, manufacturers can focus on the strategic benefits of OT-IT convergence and Industry 4.0.
Just as the network must support time-critical functions, processing must be the same.Open-time operating system (RTOS) helps to ensure that control packets arrive and pass through the gateways that support the TSN, which the CPU can receive and process. Also helps the CPU process processor events from other inputs and execute loops that control the system to which the processor belongs.These loops may need to run in less than 30 microseconds, which is not possible with traditional IT-derived operating systems Degree.
To increase the degree of automation, it is necessary to increase the processing power of the embedded controller, which can reduce the control loop timing by using more efficient processing operations, thereby moving the robot arm and assembly line more quickly and improving the output of the factory. The number of axes managed by a single motion controller allows the robot to have more joints and thus work in a tighter space or perform the tasks that the previous generation of factory robots can not solve.With robots that learn and mimic human operation, Image processing capabilities and new machine learning algorithms.
Commercial RTOSs include VxWorks from Wind River and Nucleus from Mentor Graphics, which have long supported NXP Semiconductors' QorIQ family and previous generations.With the advent of industrial grade Linux, open source solutions have become another These options make it easy for both manufacturers and OEMs to flexibly add new functionality to their systems.
Much different from non-real-time embedded Linux distributions that focus on IT, Industrial Linux offers the attributes OT requires, including decision making, manageability, industrial networking and security. One way to add instant capabilities to Linux is Apply the PREEMPT_RT patch to the core to eliminate the situation where a software program has been blocked by another program, in which case the application can be encoded as a regular Linux API.
Another Xenomai approach is to add a typical RTOS API to a Linux system to port traditional RTOS applications to Linux. Xenomai also provides a mechanism for device drivers to instantly respond to peripherals to further secure the immediate capabilities of Linux. Reduce the difficulty of switching from traditional RTOS to Linux, NXP is working with the industrial Linux community to launch Linux distributions to consolidate various instant enhancements and TSN protocol stacks while retaining standard Linux functionality.
The processing power must also be available for analysis. The Internet of Things involves not only embedded systems on the network, but also data acquisition from sensors, analysis of such data, and guidance on system response. It is generally accepted that analysis can be performed from a remote server through the cloud. , The amount of data that needs to be transmitted and analyzed, the ability to make timely decisions, and the confidentiality of the data all contribute to the manufacturer's handling of the manufacturing information locally.
As long as the capabilities of the processor are strong enough, the analysis can be done not only on the factory computer, but even on production equipment, and in addition to the processing capabilities of the Industry 4.0 specification for remote operations management enabling the machine To achieve greater autonomy and achieve greater efficiency by linking productive resources and IT systems (such as enterprise resource planning systems).
Human-machine interface
Another feature that requires processing power is the Human Machine Interface (HMI), which is increasingly being infiltrated into relatively conservative industrial devices. The easy-to-use visual interface features a multi-touch tablet that can be embedded in any industrial Device that simplifies operator control of the machine High-resolution (or better) shooting screen output can be viewed through a high-resolution screen to check the production of goods Such screens will be of the same type as smartphones Graphics processing units (GPUs). To reduce cost and power consumption, the GPUs of these GPUs, while having a smaller 3D performance than smartphones, will still support large, high-resolution screens; display graphics, video, and text simultaneously; Beautiful user interface.
The perfect combination of IT systems and OT systems sought by modern digital plants, HMIs are typically built using the Java SDK or web-based tool suite, which accelerates application development and enables manufacturers to easily upgrade process flows throughout the plant. This requires connecting to a typical IT network, supporting updates to the HMI software, or providing uninterrupted connectivity to Web servers, however, these HMIs are used to control industrial equipment and often provide security controls and must therefore be connected to the OT area as well.
safety
The combination of OT and IT also increased the risk of compromising the network, which in the past was isolated and virtually isolated from the outside world, and hackers needed physical network links to attack the device. The converged industrial environment undermined operations Isolation protection, so that the system can share information between to improve efficiency.
Therefore, new protection barriers must be established to ensure the integrity of the system while maintaining the common use of data.Equipment manufacturers must first ensure the security of the processing platform in the device, to ensure that their own system to perform only approved software, and with other systems Secure links. These systems must be securely licensed and regularly updated to prevent hardware and software tampering.
NXP recently released a white paper on IoT security detailing security and trust factors, and although the background described in the white paper is Consumer Internet of Things, the same factor applies to the Industrial Internet of Things. Financial and security risks are higher, and the need for security systems is even more pressing.
Conclusion
To help Industrial 4.0 equipment manufacturers, NXP enabled the integration of a state-of-the-art network environment, performance, human-machine interface and security into the design through the new QorIQ Layerscape LS1028A processor. The SoC incorporates a new generation of industrial systems Required technologies: Time-lapse networking, high-performance processing, hardware-accelerated user interface, and high security.
The LS1028 integrates a four-port Gigabit Ethernet switch and two other Ethernet ports that perform at speeds up to 2.5Gbps and both support the TSN protocol. Two powerful 64-bit ARM CPUs are designed for modern industrial applications and RTOS (Such as Linux with prioritized hot fixes, Xenomai Linux, Mentor Graphics Nucleus, and Wind River VxWorks.) The processor's GPU and LCD interfaces support high-resolution display and touch-screen input. And provides software tools that include the Open Source Industrial Linux SDK for immediate performance and support for the TSN standard. "Importantly, the processor integrates NXP's trusted platform architecture for reliable IoT security.