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Open Automation Software
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Open Automation Software

What Is Open Automation Software?

Yokogawa's Open Automation Software is a set of software applications and tools that conform to the Open Process Automation*1 (OPA) Standard (O-PAS). This product portfolio consists of several software packages, which enable various components, such as the Advanced Computing Platform (ACP) and Distributed Control Node*2(DCN), to comply with O-PAS.

*1,*2 About OPA and DCN, please refer to "What is OPA?"

What Is OPA?

Open Process Automation (OPA) is an initiative aimed at developing a new generation of automation systems that serve a wide range of industries, including modern process automation and factory automation. OPA introduces the concept of a Software-Defined Control System—a next-generation industrial automation framework designed to revolutionize process control across sectors such as oil and gas, petrochemicals, and manufacturing. Unlike traditional proprietary systems, OPA is built on open standards, promoting interoperability, portability, flexibility, and scalability for smarter, more adaptable industrial operations.

Open Process Automation (OPA) systems require the portability of configurations and applications, along with seamless interoperability between components from different suppliers. To meet these requirements, industrial PCs, PLCs, and remote I/O components used in OPA environments must support operation as a Distributed Control Node (DCN). Additionally, they must provide integrated products and services that manage OPC UA application communications efficiently across higher-level platforms.

Two Open Automation Software packages, "OpreX Open Automation SI Kit" and "OpreX OPC UA Management Package," provide essential functions for building such OPA systems.

OPA Overall_main_fig

“OpreX Open Automation SI Kit" is a set of development tools that provides necessary functions for components intended to be run as DCNs in OPA systems.
“OpreX OPC UA Management Package" provides several services, which are useful for managing OPC UA applications running on OPA systems. By using these products, it is easy to make your own developed components compliant with OPA.

Detalles

What Is the OpreX Open Automation SI Kit?

OpreX Open Automation SI Kit is a software suite used for building an OPA system. It includes components to make open devices operate as O-PAS compliant “Compute and I/O” DCNs. Yokogawa’s function block library for engineering environments supports IEC61499, which is one of the selected engineering languages in O-PAS.

SI Kit for DCN

The components working in a DCN include an OPC UA server supporting the O-PAS information model, OPC UA A&C, GDS client function and Alias Name Service.

SI-kit

FB Library for IEC61499

FB Library for IEC61499 is a set of pre-defined function blocks, which have been developed from years of DCS experience. It enables improved engineering quality and reduced engineering time.

IEC61499-SI kit

 

What Is the OpreX OPC UA Management Package?

 

OpreX OPC UA Management Package provides a set of functions to help manage and integrate field devices connected on an OPC UA network. It is primarily used when building an OPA system using OPC UA compliant devices and consists of two applications: Global Discovery Server (GDS) and Alarm Parameter Storage Service (APS). The GDS provides the service to authenticate devices as OPC UA servers, and alias name resolution of I/O tags. The APS provides the service to store and restore alarm parameters in the OPC UA server.

The specific services provided by OPC UA Management Package are as follows:

OPC UA

Alias Name Resolution

Alias Name Service (ANS) allows any nodes in the system to be accessed by a specified alias name instead of a node ID. In addition, ANS enables client applications to locate a device without the need to specify the address and node ID in the system. When making changes to the OPC UA server, such as replacing a device, it is not necessary to be aware of the address or node ID.

Communication Authentication

This is an authentication function for devices realized by GDS. An OPC UA device with GDS client functionality makes an authentication request to GDS and obtains CA certification issued by GDS, allowing the device to access other devices within the domain. It is possible to strengthen the security of the system in the OPC UA network.

Management of Alarm Parameter Settings

This function backs up alarm setting values configured on the OPC UA server. In systems that support OPC UA A&C, alarm setting values are written to the endpoint device from a client application such as a Human Machine Interface (HMI) or configuration tool, and these settings are retained by the device itself. Because of this mechanism, these set values may be lost due to device failure, etc. Therefore, a backup function outside of the device is required. APS enhances system continuity of operations by retaining alarm setting values external to the device and automatically restoring them when a device has an issue or is replaced.

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