The Uniform Engineering of Distributed Control Systems Using the OPC Specification

Abstract

OPC specifications have considerably contributed to the uniformization and standardization procedures for the software applications gathering process data and exchanging it in a unitary manner. However, this specification does not provide instructions or guidelines on how to achieve the interconnection with field devices. The present article proposes a standardization solution in field networks, which will enable users to gain access to a server with a communication component and several network drivers. Consequently, all engineering aspects related to implementation will be given a uniform interpretation. We will get a uniform engineering of distributed control systems.

Keywords

• OPC
• distributed systems
• local industrial networks
• communication component