The Industrial Internet of Things
The idea of a smarter world where systems with sensors and local processing are
connected to share information is taking hold in every single industry. These systems will
be connected on a global scale with users and each other to help users make more
informed decisions. Many labels have been given to this overarching idea, but the most
ubiquitous is the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT includes everything from smart homes,
mobile fitness devices, and connected toys to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) with
smart agriculture, smart cities, smart factories, and the smart grid.
The IIoT can be characterized as a vast number of connected industrial
end-to-end solution or (2) adding functionality by repeatedly tacking on
systems that are communicating and coordinating their data analytics
vendor-defined black boxes. The tack-on solution can be quick to
and actions to improve industrial performance and benefit society as a
implement, but at what cost? One of the biggest advantages of the IIoT
whole. Industrial systems that interface the digital world to the physical
is that data is easily shared and analyzed for better decision making. For
world through sensors and actuators that solve complex control
example, in a vendor-defined condition monitoring solution, the data
problems are commonly known as cyber-physical systems. These
being acquired and analyzed is not easily available; the system is limited
systems are being combined with Big Analog Data solutions to gain
to sending simple alarms to prevent a catastrophic failure. Data may be
deeper insight through data and analytics.
available after an event to analyze and determine what went wrong, but
Imagine industrial systems that can
adjust to their own environments or
even their own health. Instead of
running to failure, machines schedule
their own maintenance or, better yet,
adjust their control algorithms
dynamically to compensate for a worn
by then, time, money, and more may have been lost. If the condition
By making machines smarter through
local processing and communication,
the IIoT could solve problems in ways
that were previously inconceivable.
part and then communicate that data to
analyzed and made available through an
open, standardized interface, there is no
possibility of adjusting control
algorithms based on the data collected
or correlating the collected data to
control events to improve efficiency or
prevent system downtime.
other machines and the people who rely on those machines. By making
machines smarter through local processing and communication, the IIoT
The opposite is true for end-to-end solutions. All of the components and
could solve problems in ways that were previously inconceivable. But, as
the end-to-end solution can work in harmony, but the underlying issue
the saying goes, If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.
still remains. When an end-to-end solution is built, the communication
As innovation grows so does the complexity, which makes the
protocols are uniform and data can be shared easily. But at that point, the
IIoT a very large challenge that no company alone can meet.
solution itself essentially becomes the black box due to proprietary
The IIoT Challenge
communication protocols. As soon as an update is required, the
engineer faces the dilemma of tacking on a solution that may not
This challenge becomes even more daunting and complex when
communicate well with the whole system or of starting the process over
comparing the requirements of the industrial internet to those of the
and creating a new end-to-end solution. IIoT systems need to be
consumer internet. Both involve connecting devices and systems all
adaptive and scalable through software or added functionality that easily
across the globe, but the IIoT adds stricter requirements to its local
integrates into the overall solution. When the entire system is a black box,
networks for latency, determinism, and bandwidth. When dealing with
this cannot occur. There has to be a better way to integrate disparate
precision machines that can fail if timing is off by a millisecond, adhering
systems and reduce system complexity without sacrificing innovation.
to strict requirements becomes pivotal to the health and safety of the
machine operators, the machines, and the business.
Adaptability and Scalability
monitoring data is not continuously
Security
Adaptability and scalability are only the first of many challenges
presented by the IIoT. Systems management and security are also
As the IIoT comes to fruition, it will be a big change for historical
paramount. As massive networks of systems come online, these
industrial systems. The traditional design and augmentation of industrial
systems need to communicate with each other and with the enterprise,
systems are characterized by either (1) designing a proprietary or custom
often over vast distances. Both the systems and the communications
need to be secure, or millions of dollars worth of assets are
Platforms to develop the IIoT exist today. The platforms that
put at risk. One of the most prevalent examples of the need
system designers choose need to be based on an IT-friendly
for security is the smart grid, which is on the leading edge of
OS so they can be securely provisioned and configured to
the IIoT. As information on the grid becomes more
properly authenticate and authorize users to maintain system
accessible, so does the damage a security breach can inflict.
integrity and maximize system availability. These platforms
can achieve this through an open OS that helps security
Maintenance and Updates
experts from around the world unite and develop the latest in
In addition to being secure, these systems need to be
embedded security. These platforms also need to be based
THE SYSTEMS AGE
continually modified and maintained to meet ever-changing
on standard Ethernet technologies and incorporate evolving
How many friends do your
functionality and system-maintenance requirements. As
standards to enable a more open and deterministic network
machines have? Hear from GE
more capabilities are added, software updates are needed or
that meets IIoT latency, determinism, and bandwidth
about the interconnected nature
more systems must be added. Soon a tangled web of
requirements while maximizing interoperability between
of todays machines.
interconnected components starts to form. The new system
industrial systems providers and the consumer IoT.
has to integrate not only with the original system but also all
Organizations like the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC)
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of the other systems. Imagine modifying and updating
document use cases and ensure interoperability, and IEEE
thousands or millions of systems located all over the world,
has formed the Time Sensitive Network task group to evolve
including some in remote locations.
IEEE 802.1 to meet these requirements.
The IIoT Investment
The ongoing design of the IIoT represents a massive business
Developing and deploying the systems that will make up the
IIoT represent a massive investment for decades to come.
The only way to meet the needs of today and tomorrow is not
by predicting the future but by deploying a network of
systems flexible enough to evolve and adapt. The way
forward involves a platform-based approach; a single flexible
hardware architecture deployed across many applications
removes a substantial amount of the hardware complexity
and makes each new problem primarily a software challenge.
The same principle must be applied to software tools to form
and technology opportunity for all of us. Organizations like the
IIC, IEEE, and AVnu are working hard to define the IIoT. They
are actively gathering use cases to better understand how
best to enable more innovation. Engineers and scientists are
already implementing systems on the leading edge of the
IIoT, but they still face many unknowns and much work
ahead. Start concentrating on a platform-based approach and
become part of the IIoT generation by getting involved with
these bodies to define the future and ensure that businesses
focus on innovation and not simply integration.
a powerful hardware-software platform that creates a unified
solution. An effective platform-based approach does not
focus on hardware or software but instead on the innovation
within the application itself.
To adapt to changing requirements,
devices that power the IIoT will need to be
built on an open, integrated hardware/
software platform and a real-time network
that can scale with new technologies.
PLATFORM-BASED DESIGN | OPEN ARCHITECTURE | REAL-TIME ETHERNET
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