®

F O U N D A T I O N
OPC Unified Architecture

Specification

Part 1: Overview and Concepts

Release 1.02

July 10, 2012

OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1 ii Release 1.02

Specification Industry Standard Comments: Report or view errata:

Type: Specification http://www.opcfoundation.org/errat
a

Title: OPC Unified Date: July 10, 2012

Architecture

Part 1 :Overview and

Concepts

Version: Release 1.02 Software: MS-Word

Source: OPC UA Part 1 - Overview and
Concepts 1.02.7 Specification.doc

Author: OPC Foundation Status: Release

Release 1.02 iii OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1
OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1 ii Release 1.02

CONTENTS
Page

FOREWORD .......................................................................................................................... vi
AGREEMENT OF USE ........................................................................................................... vi
Revision 1.02 Highlights ....................................................................................................... viii
1 Scope .............................................................................................................................. 1
2 Reference documents ...................................................................................................... 1
3 Terms, definitions, and abbreviations ............................................................................... 1
3.1 OPC UA terms ........................................................................................................ 2
3.1.1 AddressSpace ............................................................................................. 2
3.1.2 Alarm .......................................................................................................... 2
3.1.3 Attribute ...................................................................................................... 2
3.1.4 Certificate ................................................................................................... 2
3.1.5 Client .......................................................................................................... 2
3.1.6 Condition .................................................................................................... 2
3.1.7 Communication Stack ................................................................................. 2
3.1.8 Complex Data ............................................................................................. 2
3.1.9 Discovery .................................................................................................... 2
3.1.10 Event .......................................................................................................... 2
3.1.11 EventNotifier ............................................................................................... 3
3.1.12 Information Model ....................................................................................... 3
3.1.13 Message ..................................................................................................... 3
3.1.14 Method ....................................................................................................... 3
3.1.15 MonitoredItem ............................................................................................. 3
3.1.16 Node ........................................................................................................... 3
3.1.17 NodeClass .................................................................................................. 3
3.1.18 Notification .................................................................................................. 3
3.1.19 NotificationMessage .................................................................................... 3
3.1.20 Object ......................................................................................................... 3
3.1.21 Object Instance ........................................................................................... 3
3.1.22 ObjectType ................................................................................................. 4
3.1.23 Profile ......................................................................................................... 4
3.1.24 Program ...................................................................................................... 4
3.1.25 Reference ................................................................................................... 4
3.1.26 ReferenceType ........................................................................................... 4
3.1.27 RootNode ................................................................................................... 4
3.1.28 Server ......................................................................................................... 4
3.1.29 Service ....................................................................................................... 4
3.1.30 Service Set ................................................................................................. 4
3.1.31 Session ....................................................................................................... 4
3.1.32 Subscription ................................................................................................ 4
3.1.33 Variable ...................................................................................................... 5
3.1.34 View ........................................................................................................... 5
3.2 Abbreviations and symbols ..................................................................................... 5
4 Structure of the OPC UA series ....................................................................................... 6
4.1 Specification Organization ...................................................................................... 6
Release 1.02 iii OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1

4.2 Core Specification Parts ......................................................................................... 6

4.3 Access Type Specification Parts ............................................................................. 7
4.4 Utility Specification Parts ........................................................................................ 7
5 Overview ......................................................................................................................... 8
5.1 UA Scope ............................................................................................................... 8
5.2 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 8
5.3 Design goals ........................................................................................................... 8
5.4 Integrated models and services ............................................................................ 10
5.4.1 Security model .......................................................................................... 10
5.4.2 Integrated AddressSpace model ............................................................... 11
5.4.3 Integrated object model ............................................................................ 11
5.4.4 Integrated services ................................................................................... 11
5.5 Sessions ............................................................................................................... 12
5.6 Redundancy ......................................................................................................... 12
6 Systems concepts .......................................................................................................... 12
6.1 Overview .............................................................................................................. 12
6.2 OPC UA Clients .................................................................................................... 13
6.3 OPC UA Servers ................................................................................................... 13
6.3.1 Real objects .............................................................................................. 14
6.3.2 OPC UA Server application ....................................................................... 14
6.3.3 OPC UA AddressSpace ............................................................................ 14
6.3.4 Publisher/subscriber entities ..................................................................... 15
6.3.5 OPC UA Service Interface ......................................................................... 15
6.3.6 Server to Server interactions ..................................................................... 15
7 Service Sets .................................................................................................................. 17
7.1 General ................................................................................................................ 17
7.2 Discovery Service Set ........................................................................................... 17
7.3 SecureChannel Service Set .................................................................................. 17
7.4 Session Service Set .............................................................................................. 18
7.5 NodeManagement Service Set .............................................................................. 18
7.6 View Service Set .................................................................................................. 18
7.7 Query Service Set ................................................................................................. 18
7.8 Attribute Service Set ............................................................................................. 18
7.9 Method Service Set .............................................................................................. 19
7.10 MonitoredItem Service Set .................................................................................... 19
7.11 Subscription Service Set ....................................................................................... 19
OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1 iv Release 1.02

FIGURES

Figure 1 – OPC UA Specification Organization ....................................................................... 6

Figure 2 – OPC UA Target Applications.................................................................................. 9
Figure 3 – OPC UA System Architecture .............................................................................. 12
Figure 4 – OPC UA Client Architecture ................................................................................. 13
Figure 5 – OPC UA Server Architecture................................................................................ 14
Figure 6 – Peer-to-peer interactions between Servers .......................................................... 16
Figure 7 – Chained Server Example ..................................................................................... 16
Figure 8 – SecureChannel and Session Services ................................................................. 18
Release 1.02 v OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1

TABLES
No table of figures entries found.
OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1 vi Release 1.02

OPC FOUNDATION
____________

UNIFIED ARCHITECTURE –

FOREWORD

This specification is the specification for developers of OPC UA applications. The specification is a result of an analysis
and design process to develop a standard interface to facilitate the development of applications by multiple vendors that
shall inter-operate seamlessly together.

Copyright © 2006-2012, OPC Foundation, Inc.

AGREEMENT OF USE

COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS

Any unauthorized use of this specification may violate copyright laws, trademark laws, and communications regulations and
statutes. This document contains information which is protected by copyright. All R ights Reserved. No part of this work
covered by copyright herein may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means --graphic, electronic, or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems --without permission of the copyright
owner.

OPC Foundation members and non-members are prohibited from copying and redistributing this specification. All copies
must be obtained on an individual basis, directly from the OPC Foundation Web site
http://www.opcfoundation.org .
HTU UTH

PATENTS

The attention of adopters is directed to the possibility that compliance with or adoption of OPC specifications may require
use of an invention covered by patent rights. OPC shall not be res ponsible for identifying patents for which a license may
be required by any OPC specification, or for conducting legal inquiries into the legal validity or scope of those patents tha t
are brought to its attention. OPC specifications are prospective and adv isory only. Prospective users are responsible for
protecting themselves against liability for infringement of patents.

WARRANTY AND LIABILITY DISCLAIMERS

WHILE THIS PUBLICATION IS BELIEVED TO BE ACCURATE, IT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND MAY CONTAIN ERRORS OR
MISPRINTS. THE OPC FOUDATION MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, WITH REGARD
TO THIS PUBLICATION, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY OF TITLE OR OWNERSHIP, IMPLIED
WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PU RPOSE OR USE. IN NO
EVENT SHALL THE OPC FOUNDATION BE LIABLE FOR ERRORS CONTAINED HEREIN OR FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT,
INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, RELIANCE OR COVER DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOSS OF PROFITS,
REVENUE, DATA OR USE, INCURRED BY ANY USER OR ANY TH IRD PARTY IN CONNECTION WITH THE
FURNISHING, PERFORMANCE, OR USE OF THIS MATERIAL, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGES.

The entire risk as to the quality and performance of software developed using this specification is borne by you.

RESTRICTED RIGHTS LEGEND

This Specification is provided with Restricted Rights. Use, duplication or disclosure by the U.S. government is subject to
restrictions as set forth in (a) this Agreement pursuant to DFARs 227.7202 -3(a); (b) subparagraph (c)(1)(i) of the Rights in
Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARs 252.227 -7013; or (c) the Commercial Computer Software
Restricted Rights clause at FAR 52.227 -19 subdivision (c)(1) and (2), as applicable. Contractor / manufacturer are the OPC
Foundation,. 16101 N. 82nd Street, Suite 3B, Scottsdale, AZ, 85260 -1830
Release 1.02 vii OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1

COMPLIANCE

The OPC Foundation shall at all times be the sole entity that may authorize developers, suppliers and sellers of hardware
and software to use certification marks, trademarks or other speci al designations to indicate compliance with these
materials. Products developed using this specification may claim compliance or conformance with this specification if and
only if the software satisfactorily meets the certification requirements set by the OPC Foundation. Products that do not
meet these requirements may claim only that the product was based on this specification and must not claim compliance or
conformance with this specification.

TRADEMARKS

Most computer and software brand names have trademarks or registered trademarks. The individual trademarks have not
been listed here.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Should any provision of this Agreement be held to be void, invalid, unenforceable or illegal by a court, the validity and
enforceability of the other provisions shall not be affected thereby.

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed under the laws of the State of Minnesota, excluding its choice or law
rules.

This Agreement embodies the entire understanding between the parties with respect to, an d supersedes any prior
understanding or agreement (oral or written) relating to, this specification.

ISSUE REPORTING

The OPC Foundation strives to maintain the highest quality standards for its published specifications, hence they undergo
constant review and refinement. Readers are encouraged to report any issues and view any existing errata here:
http://www.opcfoundation.org/errata
HTU UTH
OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1 viii Release 1.02

Revision 1.02 Highlights

This revision includes various minor clarifications and additions. The following table includes the
Mantis issues resolved with this revision.

Mantis
Summary Resolution
ID
Reference document Removed the version related information from the
descriptions OPC UA references to be consistent with the other
parts.
1827 Align with part 6 Transport protocols updated to match that of part 6.
1898 No “exchange” of software Improved the text to eliminate the notion that
certificates during session software certificates are “exchanged”
establishment
Release 1.02 1 OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1

OPC Unified Architecture Specification

Part 1: Overview and Concepts

1 Scope

Part 1 presents the concepts and overview of the OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA). Reading this
document is helpful to understand the remaining Parts of this m ulti-part document set. Each of the
other parts is briefly explained along with a suggested reading order. This Part is non -normative.

2 Reference documents

The OPC UA Specification is organized as a multi-part document. While describing the concepts,
this part will refer to these parts of the specification:

Part 2: OPC UA Specification: Part 2 – Security Model

http://www.opcfoundation.org/UA/Part2/

Part 3: OPC UA Specification: Part 3 – Address Space Model

http://www.opcfoundation.org/UA/Part3/

Part 4: OPC UA Specification: Part 4 – Services

http://www.opcfoundation.org/UA/Part4/

Part 5: OPC UA Specification: Part 5 – Information Model

http://www.opcfoundation.org/UA/Part5/

Part 6: OPC UA Specification: Part 6 – Mappings

http://www.opcfoundation.org/UA/Part6/

Part 7: OPC UA Specification: Part 7 – Profiles

http://www.opcfoundation.org/UA/Part7/

Part 8: OPC UA Specification: Part 8 – Data Access

http://www.opcfoundation.org/UA/Part8/

Part 9: OPC UA Specification: Part 9 – Alarms and Conditions

http://www.opcfoundation.org/UA/Part9/

Part 10: OPC UA Specification: Part 10 – Programs

http://www.opcfoundation.org/UA/Part10/

Part 11: OPC UA Specification: Part 11 – Historical Access, Version 1.01 or later
http://www.opcfoundation.org/UA/Part11/

Part 12: OPC UA Specification: Part 12 – Discovery

http://www.opcfoundation.org/UA/Part12/

Part 13: OPC UA Specification: Part 13 - Aggregates

http://www.opcfoundation.org/UA/Part13/

3 Terms, definitions, and abbreviations

For the purposes of this specification, the followin g definitions apply.

OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1 2 Release 1.02

3.1 OPC UA terms

3.1.1 AddressSpace
The collection of information that an OPC UA Server makes visible to its Clients. See Part 3 for a
description of the contents and structure of the Server AddressSpace.

3.1.2 Alarm
A type of Event associated with a state condition that typically requires acknowledgement. See
Part 9 for a description of Alarms.

3.1.3 Attribute
A primitive characteristic of a Node. All Attributes are defined by OPC UA, and may not be defined
by Clients or Servers. Attributes are the only elements in the AddressSpace permitted to have data
values.

3.1.4 Certificate
A digitally signed data structure that describes capabilities of a Client or Server.

3.1.5 Client
A software application that sends Messages to OPC UA Servers conforming to the Services
specified in this set of specifications.

3.1.6 Condition
A generic term that is an extension to an Event. A Condition represents the conditions of a system or
one of its components and always exists in some state.

3.1.7 Communication Stack

A layered set of software modules between the application and the hardware that provides various
functions to encode, encrypt and format a Message for sending, and to decode, decrypt and unpack
a Message that was received.

3.1.8 Complex Data

Data that is composed of elements or more than one primitive data type, such as a structure.

3.1.9 Discovery
The process by which OPC UA Clients obtain information about OPC UA Servers, including endpoint
and security information.

3.1.10 Event
A generic term used to describe an occurrence of some significance within a system or system
component.
Release 1.02 3 OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1

3.1.11 EventNotifier
A special Attribute of a Node that signifies that a Client may subscribe to that particular Node to
receive Notifications of Event occurrences.

3.1.12 Information Model

An organizational framework that defines, characterizes and relates information resources of a given
system or set of systems. The core address space model supports the representation of Information
Models in the AddressSpace. See Part 5 for a description of the base OPC UA Information Model.

3.1.13 Message
The data unit conveyed between Client and Server that represents a specific Service request or
response.

3.1.14 Method
A callable software function that is a component of an Object.

3.1.15 MonitoredItem
A Client-defined entity in the Server used to monitor Attributes or EventNotifiers for new values or
Event occurrences and generate Notifications for them.

3.1.16 Node
The fundamental component of an AddressSpace.

3.1.17 NodeClass
The class of a Node in an AddressSpace. NodeClasses define the metadata for the components of
the OPC UA Object Model. They also define constructs, such as Views, that are used to organize the
AddressSpace.

3.1.18 Notification
The generic term for data that announces the detection of an Event or of a changed Attribute value.
Notifications are sent in NotificationMessages.

3.1.19 NotificationMessage
A Message published from a Subscription that contains one or more Notifications.

3.1.20 Object
A Node that represents a physical or abstract element of a system. Objects are modelled using the
OPC UA Object Model. Systems, subsystems and devices are examples of Objects. An Object may
be defined as an instance of an ObjectType.

3.1.21 Object Instance

A synonym for Object. Not all Objects are defined by ObjectTypes.
OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1 4 Release 1.02

3.1.22 ObjectType
A Node that represents the type definition for an Object.

3.1.23 Profile
A specific set of capabilities, defined in Part 7, to which a Server may claim conformance. Each
Server may claim conformance to more than one Profile.

3.1.24 Program
An executable Object that, when invoked, immediately returns a response to indicate that execution
has started, and then returns intermediate and final results through Subscriptions identified by the
Client during invocation.

3.1.25 Reference
An explicit relationship (a named pointer) from one Node to another. The Node that contains the
Reference is the source Node, and the referenced Node is the target Node. All References are
defined by ReferenceTypes.

3.1.26 ReferenceType
A Node that represents the type definition of a Reference. The ReferenceType specifies the
semantics of a Reference. The name of a ReferenceType identifies how source Nodes are related to
target Nodes and generally reflects an operation between the two, such as “A Contains B”.

3.1.27 RootNode
The beginning or top Node of a hierarchy. The RootNode of the OPC UA AddressSpace is defined in
Part 5.

3.1.28 Server
A software application that implements and exposes the Services specified in this set of
specifications.

3.1.29 Service
A Client-callable operation in an OPC UA Server. Services are defined in Part 4. A Service is similar
to a method call in a programming language or an operation in a Web services WSDL contract.

3.1.30 Service Set

A group of related Services.

3.1.31 Session
A logical long-running connection between a Client and a Server. A Session maintains state
information between Service calls from the Client to the Server.

3.1.32 Subscription
A Client-defined endpoint in the Server, used to return Notifications to the Client. Generic term that
describes a set of Nodes selected by the Client (1) that the Server periodically monitors for the
Release 1.02 5 OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1

existence of some condition, and (2) for which the Server sends Notifications to the Client when the
condition is detected.

3.1.33 Variable
A Variable is a Node that contains a value.

3.1.34 View
A specific subset of the AddressSpace that is of interest to the Client.

3.2 Abbreviations and symbols

A&E Alarms and Events
API Application Programming Interface
COM Component Object Model
DA Data Access
DCS Distributed Control System
DX Data Exchange
HDA Historical Data Access
HMI Human-Machine Interface
LDAP Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
MES Manufacturing Execution System
OPC OPC Foundation (a non-profit industry association)
PLC Programmable Logic Controller
SCADA Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition
SOAP Simple Object Access Protocol
UA Unified Architecture
UDDI Universal Description, Discovery and Integration
UML Unified Modelling Language
WSDL Web Services Definition Language
XML Extensible Mark-up Language
OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1 6 Release 1.02

4 Structure of the OPC UA series

4.1 Specification Organization

This specification is organized as a multi-part specification, as illustrated in Figure 1.

OPC UA Multi-Part Specification

Core Specification Parts Access Type Specification Parts

Part 1 – Overview & Concepts Part 8 – Data Access

Part 2 – Security Model Part 9 – Alarms & Conditions

Part 3 – Address Space Model Part 10 – Programs

Part 4 – Services Part 11 – Historical Access

Part 5 – Information Model

Utility Specification Parts

Part 6 – Service Mappings

Part 12 – Discovery
Part 7 – Profiles
Part 13 – Aggregates

Figure 1 – OPC UA Specification Organization

The first seven parts specify the core capabilities of OPC UA. These core capabilities define the
structure of the OPC AddressSpace and the Services that operate on it. Parts 8 through 11 apply
these core capabilities to specific types of access previously addre ssed by separate OPC COM
specifications, such as Data Access (DA), Alarms and Events (A&E) and Historical Data Access
(HDA). Part 12 describes Discovery mechanisms for OPC UA and Part 13 describes ways of
aggregating data.

Readers are encouraged to read Parts 1 through 5 of the core specifications before reading Parts 8
through 13. For example, a reader interested in UA Data Access should read Parts 1 through 5 and
8. References in Part 8 may direct the reader to other parts of this specification.

4.2 Core Specification Parts

Part 1 – Overview and Concepts

Part 1 (this Part) presents the concepts and overview of OPC UA.

Part 2 – Security Model

Part 2 describes the model for securing interactions between OPC UA Clients and OPC UA Servers.

Part 3 – Address Space Model

Part 3 describes the contents and structure of the Server’s AddressSpace.

Part 4 – Services
Release 1.02 7 OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1

Part 4 specifies the Services provided by OPC UA Servers.

Part 5 – Information Model

Part 5 specifies the types and their relationships defined for OPC UA Servers.

Part 6 – Mappings

Part 6 specifies the mappings to transport protocols and data encodings supported by OPC UA.

Part 7 – Profiles

Part 7 specifies the Profiles that are available for OPC Clients and Servers. These Profiles provide
groups of Services or functionality that can be used for conformance level certification. Servers and
Clients will be tested against the Profiles.

4.3 Access Type Specification Parts

Part 8 – Data Access

Part 8 specifies the use of OPC UA for data access.

Part 9 – Alarms and Conditions

Part 9 specifies use of OPC UA support for access to Alarms and Conditions. The base system
includes support for simple Events; this specification extends that support to include support for
Alarms and Conditions.

Part 10 – Programs

Part 10 specifies OPC UA support for access to Programs.

Part 11 – Historical Access

Part 11 specifies use of OPC UA for historical access. This access includes both historical data and
historical Events.

4.4 Utility Specification Parts

Part 12 – Discovery

Part 12 specifies how Discovery Servers operate in different scenarios and describes how UA
Clients and Servers should interact with them. It also defines how UA related information should be
accessed using common directory service protoco ls such as UDDI and LDAP.

Part 13 – Aggregates

Part 13 specifies how to compute and return aggregates like minimum, maximum, average etc.
Aggregates can be used with current and historical data. .
OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1 8 Release 1.02

5 Overview

5.1 UA Scope

OPC UA is applicable to manufacturing software in application areas such as Field Devices, Control
Systems, Manufacturing Execution Systems and Enterprise Resource Planning Systems. These
systems are intended to exchange information and to use command and control for industrial
processes. OPC UA defines a common infrastructure model to facilitate this information exchange
OPC UA specifies the following:

 The information model to represent structure, behaviour and semantics.

 The message model to interact between applications.

 The communication model to transfer the data between end -points.

 The conformance model to guarantee interoperability between systems.

5.2 Introduction

OPC UA is a platform-independent standard through which various kinds of systems and devices can
communicate by sending Messages between Clients and Servers over various types of networks. It
supports robust, secure communication that assures the identity of Clients and Servers and resists
attacks. OPC UA defines sets of Services that Servers may provide, and individual Servers specify
to Clients what Service sets they support. Information is conveyed using OPC UA-defined and
vendor-defined data types, and Servers define object models that Clients can dynamically discover.
Servers can provide access to both current and historical data, as well as Alarms and Events to
notify Clients of important changes. OPC UA can be mapped onto a variety of communication
protocols and data can be encoded in various ways to trade off portability and efficiency.

5.3 Design goals

OPC UA provides a consistent, integrated AddressSpace and service model. This allows a single
OPC UA Server to integrate data, Alarms and Events, and history into its AddressSpace, and to
provide access to them using an integrated set of Services. These Services also include an
integrated security model.

OPC UA also allows Servers to provide Clients with type definitions for the Objects accessed from
the AddressSpace. This allows information models to be used to describe the contents of the
AddressSpace. OPC UA allows data to be exposed in many different formats, including binary
structures and XML documents. The format of the data may be defined by OPC, other standard
organizations or vendors. Through the AddressSpace, Clients can query the Server for the metadata
that describes the format for the data. In many cases, Clients with no pre-programmed knowledge of
the data formats will be able to determine the formats at runtime and properly utilize the data.

OPC UA adds support for many relationships between Nodes instead of being limited to just a single
hierarchy. In this way, an OPC UA Server may present data in a variety of hierarchies tailored to the
way a set of Clients would typically like to view the data. This flexibility, combined with support for
type definitions, makes OPC UA applicable to a wide array of problem domains. As illustrated below,
OPC UA is not targeted at just the SCADA, PLC and DCS interface, but also as a way to provide
greater interoperability between higher level functions.
Release 1.02 9 OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1

Corporate Enterprise

OPC UA

Manufacturing, Production and Maintenance

OPC UA
OPC UA HMI MES SCADA

OPC UA
Adv.
OPC UA Batch
Control
Control

OPC UA

PLC Data
Data
PLC Industrial ??.......??
DCS IndustrialNetworks
Networks Acquisition ??.......??
DCS Acquisition

Figure 2 – OPC UA Target Applications

OPC UA is designed to provide robustness of published data. A major feature of all OPC servers is
the ability to publish data and Event Notifications. OPC UA provides mechanisms for Clients to
quickly detect and recover from communication failures associated with these transfers without
having to wait for long timeouts provided by the underlying protocols.

OPC UA is designed to support a wide range of Servers, from plant floor PLCs to enterprise Servers.
These Servers are characterized by a broad scope of size, performance, execution platforms and
functional capabilities. Therefore, OPC UA defines a comprehensive set of capabilities, and Servers
may implement a subset of these capabilities. To promote interoperability, OPC UA defines subsets,
referred to as Profiles, to which Servers may claim conformance. Clients can then discover the
Profiles of a Server, and tailor their interactions with that Server based on the Profiles. Profiles are
defined in Part 7.

The OPC UA specifications are layered to isolate the core design from the underlying computing
technology and network transport. This allows OPC UA to be mapped to future technologies as
necessary, without negating the basic design. Mappings and data encodings are described in Part 6.
Two data encodings are defined:

 XML/text
 UA Binary

In addition, three transport protocols are defined:

 OPC UA TCP
 SOAP/HTTP
 HTTPS

Clients and Servers that support multiple transports and encodings will allow the end users to make
decisions about tradeoffs between performance and XML Web service compatibility at the time of
deployment, rather than having these tradeoffs determined by the OPC vendor at the time of pr oduct
definition.
OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1 10 Release 1.02

OPC UA is designed as the migration path for OPC clients and servers that are based on Microsoft
COM technology. Care has been taken in the design of OPC -UA so that existing data exposed by
OPC COM servers (DA, HDA and A&E) can easily be mapped and exposed via OPC UA. Vendors
may choose to migrate their products natively to OPC UA or use external wrappers to convert from
OPC COM to OPC UA and vice-versa. Each of the previous OPC specifications defined its own
address space model and its own set of Services. OPC UA unifies the previous models into a single
integrated address space with a single set of Services.

5.4 Integrated models and services

5.4.1 Security model

5.4.1.1 General

OPC UA security is concerned with the authentication of Clients and Servers, the authentication of
users, the integrity and confidentiality of their communications, and the verifiability of claims of
functionality. It does not specify the circumstances under which various security mechanisms are
required. That specification is crucial, but it is made by the designers of the system at a given site
and may be specified by other standards.

Rather, OPC UA provides a security model, described in Part 2, in which security measures can be
selected and configured to meet the security needs of a given installation. This model includes
security mechanisms and parameters. In some cases, the mechanism for exchanging security
parameters is defined, but the way that applications use these parameters is not. This framework
also defines a minimum set of security Profiles that all UA Servers support, even though they may
not be used in all installations. Security Profiles are defined in Part 7.

5.4.1.2 Discovery and Session establishment

Application level security relies on a secure communication channel that is active for the duration of
the application Session and ensures the integrity of all Messages that are exchanged. This means
users need to be authenticated only once, when the application Session is established. The
mechanisms for discovering OPC UA Servers and establishing secure communication channels and
application Sessions are described in Part 4 and Part 6. Additional information about the Discovery
process is described in Part 12.

When a Session is established, the Client and Server applications negotiate a secure
communications channel. Software Certificates are utilized to identify the Client and Server and the
capabilities that they provide. Authority-generated software Certificates indicate the OPC UA Profiles
that the applications implement and the OPC UA certification level reached for each Profile 1. The
details of each Profile and the Certificates are specified in Part 7. Certificates issued by other
organizations may also be exchanged during Session establishment.

The Server further authenticates the user and authorizes subsequent requests to access Objects in
the Server. Authorization mechanisms, such as access control lis ts, are not specified by the OPC UA
specification. They are application or system -specific.

5.4.1.3 Auditing

OPC UA includes support for security audit trails with traceability between Client and Server audit
logs. If a security-related problem is detected at the Server, the associated Client audit log entry can
be located and examined. OPC UA also provides the capability for Servers to generate Event
Notifications that report auditable Events to Clients capable of processing and logging them. OPC
UA defines security audit parameters that can be included in audit log entries and in audit Event
Notifications. Part 5 defines the data types for these parameters. Not all Servers and Clients provide
all of the auditing features. Profiles, found in Part 7, indicate which features are supported.

1 The OPC Foundation is an OPC UA Certificate Authority.

Release 1.02 11 OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1

5.4.1.4 Transport security

OPC UA security complements the security infrastructure provided by most web service capable
platforms.

Transport level security can be used to encrypt and sign Messages. Encryption and signatures
protect against disclosure of information and protect the integrity of Messages. Encryption
capabilities are provided by the underlying communications technology used to exchange Messages
between OPC UA applications. Part 7 defines the encryption and signature algorithms to be used for
a given Profile.

5.4.2 Integrated AddressSpace model

The set of Objects and related information that the OPC UA Server makes available to Clients is
referred to as its AddressSpace. The OPC UA AddressSpace represents its contents as a set of
Nodes connected by References.

Primitive characteristics of Nodes are described by OPC-defined Attributes. Attributes are the only
elements of a Server that have data values. Data types that define a ttribute values may be simple or
complex.

Nodes in the AddressSpace are typed according to their use and their meaning. NodeClasses define
the metadata for the OPC UA AddressSpace. Part 3 defines the OPC UA NodeClasses.

The Base NodeClass defines Attributes common to all Nodes, allowing identification, classification
and naming. Each NodeClass inherits these Attributes and may additionally define its own Attributes.

To promote interoperability of Clients and Servers, the OPC UA AddressSpace is structured

hierarchically with the top levels the same for all Servers. Although Nodes in the AddressSpace are
typically accessible via the hierarchy, they may have References to each other, allowing the
AddressSpace to represent an interrelated network of Nodes. The model of the AddressSpace is
defined in Part 3.

OPC UA Servers may subset the AddressSpace into Views to simplify Client access. Clause 6.3.3.3
describes AddressSpace Views in more detail.

5.4.3 Integrated object model

The OPC UA Object Model provides a consistent, integrated set of NodeClasses for representing
Objects in the AddressSpace. This model represents Objects in terms of their Variables, Events and
Methods, and their relationships with other Objects. Part 3 describes this model.

The OPC UA object model allows Servers to provide type definitions for Objects and their
components. Type definitions may be subclassed. They also may be common or they may be
system-specific. ObjectTypes may be defined by standards organizations, vendors or end -users.

This model allows data, Alarms and Events, and their history to be integrated into a single OPC UA
Server. For example, OPC UA Servers are able to represent a temperature transmitter as an Object
that is composed of a temperature value, a set of alarm parameters, and a corresponding set of
alarm limits.

5.4.4 Integrated services

The interface between OPC UA Clients and Servers is defined as a set of Services. These Services
are organized into logical groupings called Service Sets. Service Sets are discussed in Clause 7 and
specified in Part 4.
OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1 12 Release 1.02

OPC UA Services provide two capabilities to Clients. They allow Clients to issue requests to Servers
and receive responses from them. They also allow Clients to subscribe to Servers for Notifications.
Notifications are used by the Server to report occurrences such as Alarms, data value changes,
Events, and Program execution results.

OPC UA Messages may be encoded as XML text or in binary format for efficiency purposes. They
may be transferred using multiple underlying transports, for example TCP or web services over
HTTP. Servers may provide different encodings and transports as defined by
Part 6Part 6Part 6Part 6.

5.5 Sessions

OPC UA requires a stateful model. The state information is maintained inside an application
Session. Examples of state-information are Subscriptions, user credentials and continuation points
for operations that span multiple requests.

Sessions are defined as logical connections between Clients and Servers. Servers may limit the
number of concurrent Sessions based on resource availability, licensing restrictions, or other
constraints. Each Session is independent of the underlying communications protocols. Failures of
these protocols do not automatically cause the Session to terminate. Sessions terminate based on
Client or Server request, or based on inactivity of the Client. The inactivity time interval is negotiated
during Session establishment.

5.6 Redundancy
The design of OPC UA ensures that vendors can create redundant Clients and redundant Servers in
a consistent manner. Redundancy may be used for high availability, fault tolerance and load
balancing. The details for redundancy are found in Part 4. Only some Profiles Part 7 will require
redundancy support, but not the base Profile.

6 Systems concepts

6.1 Overview

The OPC UA systems architecture models OPC UA Clients and Servers as interacting partners.
Each system may contain multiple Clients and Servers. Each Client may interact concurrently with
one or more Servers, and each Server may interact concurrently with one or more Clients. An
application may combine Server and Client components to allow interaction with other Servers and
Clients as described in Clause 6.3.6.

OPC UA Clients and Servers are described in the clauses that follow. Figure 3 illustrates the
architecture that includes a combined Server and Client.

Client Client
requests requests
Combined
OPC OPC OPC
UA Server UA Server UA
client responses server responses server
and
client
Published Published
notifications notifications

Figure 3 – OPC UA System Architecture

Release 1.02 13 OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1

6.2 OPC UA Clients

The OPC UA Client architecture models the Client endpoint of client/server interactions. Figure 4
illustrates the major elements of a typical OPC UA Client and how they relate to each other.

OPC UA Client
Client-Application
Requests to Delivery of Requests to Delivery of
send service received service send publishing received
requests responses requests notifications

OPC UA Client API

OPC UA
Communication Req Msg Rsp Msg Publ Msg Notif Msg
Stack

To OPC From To From

UA OPC UA OPC UA OPC UA
server server server server

Figure 4 – OPC UA Client Architecture

The Client Application is the code that implements the function of the Client. It uses the OPC UA
Client API to send and receive OPC UA Service requests and responses to the OPC UA Server. The
Services defined for OPC UA are described in Clause 7, and specified in Part 4.

Note that the “OPC UA Client API” is an internal interface that isolates the Client application code
from an OPC UA Communication Stack. The OPC UA Communication Stack c onverts OPC UA Client
API calls into Messages and sends them through the underlying communications entity to the Server
at the request of the Client application. The OPC UA Communication Stack also receives response
and NotificationMessages from the underlying communications entity and delivers them to the Client
application through the OPC UA Client API.

6.3 OPC UA Servers

The OPC UA Server architecture models the Server endpoint of client/server interactions. Figure 5
illustrates the major elements of the OPC UA Server and how they relate to each other.
OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1 14 Release 1.02

OPC UA Server

OPC UA Server Application

Real
Objects

OPC UA AddressSpace
Monitored
Node Item
Node Node

Node Node
View
Node Node
Node Subscription
Subscription
Node Subscription

OPC UA Server API

OPC UA
Communication Req Msg Rsp Msg Publ Msg Notif Msg
Stack

From To From To
OPC UA OPC UA OPC UA OPC UA
client client client client

Figure 5 – OPC UA Server Architecture

6.3.1 Real objects

Real objects are physical or software objects that are accessible by the OPC UA Server application
or that it maintains internally. Examples include physical devices and diagnostics counters.

6.3.2 OPC UA Server application

The OPC UA Server application is the code that implements the function of the Server. It uses the
OPC UA Server API to send and receive OPC UA Messages from OPC UA Clients. Note that the
“OPC UA Server API” is an internal interface that isolates the Server application code from an OPC
UA Communication Stack.

6.3.3 OPC UA AddressSpace

6.3.3.1 AddressSpace Nodes

The AddressSpace is modelled as a set of Nodes accessible by Clients using OPC UA Services
(interfaces and methods). Nodes in the AddressSpace are used to represent real objects, their
definitions and their References to each other.

6.3.3.2 AddressSpace organization

Part 3 contains the details of the meta model “building blocks” used to create an AddressSpace out
of interconnected Nodes in a consistent manner. Servers are free to organize their Nodes within the
AddressSpace as they choose. The use of References between Nodes permits Servers to organize
the AddressSpace into hierarchies, a full mesh network of Nodes, or any possible mix.
Release 1.02 15 OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1

Part 5 defines OPC UA Nodes and References and their expected organization in the
AddressSpace. Some Profiles will not require that all of the UA Nodes be implemented.

6.3.3.3 AddressSpace Views

A View is a subset of the AddressSpace. Views are used to restrict the Nodes that the Server makes
visible to the Client, thus restricting the size of the AddressSpace for the Service requests submitted
by the Client. The default View is the entire AddressSpace. Servers may optionally define other
Views. Views hide some of the Nodes or References in the AddressSpace. Views are visible via the
AddressSpace and Clients are able to browse Views to determine their structure. Views are often
hierarchies, which are easier for Clients to navigate and represent in a tree.

6.3.3.4 Support for information models

The OPC UA AddressSpace supports information models. This support is provided through:

a) Node References that allow Objects in the AddressSpace to be related to each other.
b) ObjectType Nodes that provide semantic information for real Objects (type definitions).
c) ObjectType Nodes to support subclassing of type definitions.
d) Data type definitions exposed in the AddressSpace that allow industry specific data types to be
used.
e) OPC UA companion standards that permit industry groups to define how their specific information
models are to be represented in OPC UA Server AddressSpaces.

6.3.4 Publisher/subscriber entities

6.3.4.1 MonitoredItems

MonitoredItems are entities in the Server created by the Client that monitor AddressSpace Nodes
and their real-world counterparts. When they detect a data change or an event/alarm occurrence,
they generate a Notification that is transferred to the Client by a Subscription.

6.3.4.2 Subscriptions

A Subscription is an endpoint in the Server that publishes Notifications to Clients. Clients control the
rate at which publishing occurs by sending Publish Messages.

6.3.5 OPC UA Service Interface

6.3.5.1 General

The Services defined for OPC UA are described in Clause 7, and specified in Part 4.

6.3.5.2 Request/response Services

Request/response Services are Services invoked by the Client through the OPC UA Service
Interface to perform a specific task on one or more Nodes in the AddressSpace and to return a
response.

6.3.5.3 Publisher Services

Publisher Services are Services invoked through the OPC UA Service Interface for the purpose of
periodically sending Notifications to Clients. Notifications include Events, Alarms, data changes and
Program outputs.

6.3.6 Server to Server interactions

Server to Server interactions are interactions in which one Server acts as a Client of another Server.
Server to Server interactions allow for the development of servers that:
OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1 16 Release 1.02

f) exchange information with each other on a peer-to-peer basis, this could include redundancy or
remote Servers that are used for maintaining system wide type definitions (see Figure 6),
g) are chained in a layered architecture of Servers to provide:
1) aggregation of data from lower-layer Servers,
2) higher-layer data constructs to Clients, and
3) concentrator interfaces to Clients for single points of access to multiple underlying Servers.

Figure 6 illustrates interactions between Servers.

Netw ork

OPC Server OPC Server

server client
interface Interactions interface
between servers
client server
interface interface

Figure 6 – Peer-to-peer interactions between Servers

Figure 7 extends the previous example and illustrates the chaining of OPC UA Servers together for
vertical access to data in an enterprise.

OPC OPC
Client Client
Enterprise Network
Enterprise
Semantic
OPC Layer
Server

OPC OPC
Client Client Process
Operations Network
Semantic
Layer
OPC OPC
Server Server

OPC OPC
Client Client Device
Plant Floor Network Semantic
Layer
OPC OPC
Server Server

Figure 7 – Chained Server Example

Release 1.02 17 OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1

7 Service Sets

7.1 General

OPC UA Services are divided into Service Sets, each defining a logical grouping of Services used to
access a particular aspect of the Server. The Service Sets are described below. The Service Sets
and their Services are specified in Part 4. Whether or not a Server supports a Service Set, or a
specific Service within a Service Set, is defined by its Profile. Profiles are described in Part 7.

7.2 Discovery Service Set

This Service Set defines Services used to discover OPC UA Servers that are available in a system.
It also provides a manner in which clients can read the security configuration required for connection
to the Server. The Discovery Services are implemented by individual Servers and by dedicated
Discovery Servers. Well known dedicated Discovery Servers provide a way for clients to discover all
registered OPC UA Servers. Part 12 describes how to use the Discovery Services with dedicated
Discovery Servers.

7.3 SecureChannel Service Set

This Service Set defines Services used to open a communication channel that ensures the
confidentiality and integrity of all Messages exchanged with the Server. The base concepts for UA
security are defined in Part 2.

The SecureChannel Services are unlike other Services because they are typically not implemented
by the UA application directly. Instead, they are provided by the communication stack that the UA
application is built on. For example, a UA Server may be built on a SOAP stack that allows
applications to establish a SecureChannel using the WS-SecureConversation specification. In these
cases, the UA application simply needs to verify that a WS-SecureConversation is active whenever it
receives a Message. Part 6 describes how the SecureChannel Services are implemented with
different types of communication stacks.

A SecureChannel is a long-running logical connection between a single Client and a single Server.
This channel maintains a set of keys that are known only to the Client and Server and that are used
to authenticate and encrypt Messages sent across the network. The SecureChannel Services allow
the Client and Server to securely negotiate the keys to use.

The exact algorithms used to authenticate and encrypt Messages are described in the security
policies for a Server. These policies are exposed via the Discovery Service Set. A Client selects the
appropriate endpoint that supports the desired security policy by the Server when it creates a
SecureChannel.

When a Client and Server are communicating via a SecureChannel they verify that all incoming
Messages have been signed and/or encrypted according to the security policy. A UA application is
expected to ignore any Message that does not conform to the security policy for the channel.

A SecureChannel is separate from the UA Application Session; however, a single UA Application

Session may only be accessed via a single SecureChannel. This implies that the UA application is
able to determine what SecureChannel is associated with each Message. A communication stack
that provides a SecureChannel mechanism but that does not allow the application to know what
SecureChannel was used for a given Message cannot be used to implement the SecureChannel
Service Set.

The relationship between the UA Application Session and the SecureChannel is illustrated in Figure
8. The UA applications use the communication stack to exchange Messages. First, the
SecureChannel Services are used to establish a SecureChannel between the two communication
stacks, allowing them to exchange Messages in a secure way. Second, the UA applications use the
Session Service Set to establish a UA application Session.
OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1 18 Release 1.02

OPC UA Client OPC UA Server

UA application Session UA application

Communication Stack Communication Stack

SecureChannel

Figure 8 – SecureChannel and Session Services

7.4 Session Service Set

This Service Set defines Services used to establish an application-layer connection in the context of
a Session on behalf of a specific user.

7.5 NodeManagement Service Set

The NodeManagement Service Set allows Clients to add, modify, and delete Nodes in the
AddressSpace. These Services provide an interface for the configuration of Servers.

7.6 View Service Set

Views are publicly defined, Server-created subsets of the AddressSpace. The entire AddressSpace
is the default View, and therefore, the View Services are capable of operating on the entire
AddressSpace. Future versions of this specification may also define Services to create Client
defined Views.

The View Service Set allows Clients to discover Nodes in a View by browsing. Browsing allows
Clients to navigate up and down the hierarchy, or to follow References between Nodes contained in
the View. In this manner, browsing also allows Clients to discover the structure of the View.

7.7 Query Service Set

The Query Service Set allows users to access the address space without browsing and without
knowledge of the logical schema used for internal storage of the data.

Querying allows Clients to select a subset of the Nodes in a View based on some Client-provided
filter criteria. The Nodes selected from the View by the query statement are called a result s et.

Servers may find it difficult to process queries that require access to runtime data, such as device
data, that involves resource intensive operations or significant delays. In these cases, the Server
may find it necessary to reject the query.

7.8 Attribute Service Set

The Attribute Service Set is used to read and write Attribute values. Attributes are primitive
characteristics of Nodes that are defined by OPC UA. They may not be defined by Clients or
Servers. Attributes are the only elements in the AddressSpace permitted to have data values. A
special Attribute, the Value Attribute is used to define the value of Variables.
Release 1.02 19 OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1

7.9 Method Service Set

Methods represent the function calls of Objects. They are defined in Part 3. Methods are invoked
and return after completion, whether successful or unsuccessful. Execution times for Methods may
vary, depending on the function they are performing.

The Method Service Set defines the means to invoke Methods. A Method is always a component of
an Object. Discovery is provided through the browse and query Services. Clients discover the
Methods supported by a Server by browsing for the owning Objects that identify their supported
Methods.

Because Methods may control some aspect of plant operations, method i nvocation may depend on
environmental or other conditions. This may be especially true when attempting to re -invoke a
Method immediately after it has completed execution. Conditions that are required to invoke the
Method may not yet have returned to the state that permits the Method to start again. In addition,
some Methods may be capable of supporting concurrent invocations, while others may have a single
invocation executing at a given time.

7.10 MonitoredItem Service Set

The MonitoredItem Service Set is used by the Client to create and maintain MonitoredItems.
MonitoredItems monitor Variables, Attributes and EventNotifiers. They generate Notifications when
they detect certain conditions. They monitor Variables for a change in value or status; Attributes for
a change in value; and EventNotifiers for newly generated Alarm and Event reports.

Each MonitoredItem identifies the item to monitor and the Subscription to use to periodically publish
Notifications to the Client (see Clause 7.11). Each MonitoredItem also specifies the rate at which the
item is to be monitored (sampled) and, for Variables and EventNotifiers, the filter criteria used to
determine when a Notification is to be generated. Filter criteria for Attributes are specified by their
Attribute definitions in Part 4.

The sample rate defined for a MonitoredItem may be faster than the publishing rate of the
Subscription. For this reason, the MonitoredItem may be configured to either queue all Notifications
or to queue only the latest Notification for transfer by the Subscription. In this latter case, the queue
size is one.

MonitoredItem Services also define a monitoring mode. The monitoring mode is configured to
disable sampling and reporting, to enable sampling only, or to enable both sampling and reporting.
When sampling is enabled, the Server samples the item. In addition, each sample is evaluated to
determine if a Notification should be generated. If so, the Notification is queued. If reporting is
enabled, the queue is made available to the Subscription for transfer.

Finally, MonitoredItems can be configured to trigger the reporting of other MonitoredItems. In this
case, the monitoring mode of the items to report is typically set to sampling only, and whe n the
triggering item generates a Notification, any queued Notifications of the items to report are made
available to the Subscription for transfer.

7.11 Subscription Service Set

The Subscription Service Set is used by the Client to create and maintain Subscriptions.
Subscriptions are entities that periodically publish NotificationMessages for the MonitoredItem
assigned to them (see Clause 7.9). The NotificationMessage contains a common header followed by
a series of Notifications. The format of Notifications is specific to the type of item being monitored
(i.e. Variables, Attributes, and EventNotifiers).

Once created, the existence of a Subscription is independent of the Client’s Session with the Server.
This allows one Client to create a Subscription, and a second, possibly a redundant Client, to
receive NotificationMessages from it.
OPC Unified Architecture, Part 1 20 Release 1.02

To protect against non-use by Clients, Subscriptions have a configured lifetime that Clients
periodically renew. If any Client fails to renew the lifetime, the lifetime expires and the Subscription
is closed by the Server. When a Subscription is closed, all MonitoredItems assigned to the
Subscription are deleted.

Subscriptions include features that support detection and recovery of lost Messages. Each
NotificationMessage contains a sequence number that allows Clients to detect missed Messages.
When there are no Notifications to send within the keep-alive time interval, the Server sends a keep-
alive Message that contains the sequence number of the next NotificationMessage sent. If a Client
fails to receive a Message after the keep-alive interval has expired, or if it determines that it has
missed a Message, it can request the Server to resend one or more Messages.

____________