Connectivity Framework Annex B : Assessment Template : OPC-UA
B . 6.2 Business Viewpoint
B . 6.2.1 Purpose ( Section 6.2.1 )
B . 6.2.2 Pedigree ( Section 6.2.2 )
B . 6.2.3 Variants ( Section 6.2.3 )
B . 6.2.4 Maturity ( Section 6.2.4 )
B . 6.2.5 Stability ( Section 6.2.5 )
B . 6.2.6 Standards Body
( Section 6.2.6 )
Give the general motivation and expectation for the Connectivity Technology . This section provides the business rationale . It communicates the fundamental " why and what " for the project .
Defines a comprehensive information modeling mechanism , which is fully extensible by specific vertical markets . Defines a standard set of services , which act on the information model .
Expose information about the system , its configuration , topology and data context ( the meta data ) in the collective “ address space ” of the individual OPC-UA servers . Allow this address space to be accessed by authorized OPC-UA clients such that they can see what is available and choose what to access .
Describe the derivation , origin or history of the system . The objective is to understand the brief evolutionary context of this technology .
OPC-UA is the next generation of the OPC protocol , which is widely deployed in industrial automation .
OPC was introduced in 1996 based on Microsoft DCOM . This specification is now referred as “ Classic OPC ”.
OPC-UA was first introduced in 2006 ( version 1.0 ). It no longer depends on DCOM and uses Web-Services and Binary TCP protocols instead .
OPC-UA version 1.03 was released in 2013 . It has been endorsed as a key specification for Industry 4.0 . Describe the options and variants from the original generic description of the technology .
The OPC-UA specification defines many optional profiles and services , notably : Discovery , View , Query , Attribute , Method , Data Monitoring , Data Access and Events & Conditions .
Estimate the technology maturity , state of development and condition relative to perfection . How refined are the connectivity concepts , requirements and demonstrated capabilities ? Is the technology consistent and uniform ?
A website 1 maintains a list of notable project that use OPC-UA .
OPC-UA has broad industrial support . Its focus is to allow information to be easily and securely exchanged between diverse platforms from multiple vendors and to allow seamless integration of those platforms without costly , time-consuming software development .
There are SDKs from multiple companies that can be used to build OPC-UA compliant systems .
Describe whether the connectivity technology has been in use for long enough that most of its initial faults and inherent problems have been removed or reduced ; how easy is it to use for both non-experts and professionals ? Has there been a reduction in the rate of new breakthrough advances related to it ?
“ Classic OPC ” has been widely deployed in the industry . The OPC-UA specification has been stable for many years as has the standard stack implementations and SDKs .
List the relevant organizational bodies developing , coordinating , promulgating , revising , amending , reissuing , interpreting or otherwise producing technical standards and guidelines intended to address the needs of the base of affected adopters .
OPC-UA enjoys broad industry support . The OPC foundation has over 450 members 2 .
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