Connectivity Framework 3 : Connectivity Reference Architecture
3 CONNECTIVITY REFERENCE ARCHITECTURE 3.1 IIOT CONNECTIVITY CHALLENGE
The goal of the industrial internet is to enable seamless information sharing across domains and industries . Historically , there have been a plethora of domain specific connectivity technologies , tightly integrated and optimized to solve domain specific connectivity needs . IIoT systems typically include integration of brownfield technologies to preserve the legacy investments , and greenfield technologies to spur innovation .
Figure 3-1 shows the challenge of building applications that require information exchange across different connectivity technologies . To facilitate information exchange , one has to build bridges to each of the other connectivity technologies . Given N connectivity technologies , this requires building N *( N-1 )/ 2 = O ( N ²) bridges . That quickly becomes impractical for large N (> 3 or 4 ). The result is information silos , making it impossible to realize the vision of the Industrial Internet to create new value stream from heretofore locked up information flows .
N x ( N-1 ) 2
Figure 3-1 : The fundamental N ² ( N-squared ) IIoT connectivity challenge . Each new connectivity technology requires building a bridge to all the existing connectivity technologies , in order to facilitate information exchange between endpoints in different connectivity technologies . This approach does not scale beyond a few ( small N ) technologies , and results in information silos .
In this document , we use the term “ domain-specific ” connectivity technology to refer to a connectivity technology that is especially suited to a particular application area . Domain-specific connectivity technologies include emerging technologies , optimized for certain use cases .
We accept that an IIoT system may require multiple connectivity technologies . Mandating a single connectivity standard across all domains and across all industries is neither realistic nor
IIC : PUB : G5 : V1.0 : PB : 20170228 - 21 -