Damisch Alexander
How will energy generation and industrial automation sectors, sometimes referred to as brownfield sectors, implement IoT connectivity on legacy infrastructure equipment which is more than 30 years old?
To define some terms, brownfield is the scenario where there are billions of devices and legacy software applications perform discrete functions in isolation. Some of them will require migration strategies to connect and realise the benefits of the IoT.
Whereas greenfield is built from the ground up to take advantage of the IoT: connected, secure and managed remotely.
There are a number of key elements in the transition from brownfield to greenfield – the first of which is the addition of a gateway.
This concept works sending readings such as location or temperature up into the cloud of ‘big data’ where intelligent analysis can be performed.
When redesigning brownfield systems for the IoT, most likely we will see many in the industry taking a different and more holistic approach.
First is the building of platforms that can run applications in a more flexible way via different devices, systems or layers in a network. This could be in the cloud, or on a network router or gateway, or at the device level.
Similarly, many companies may choose to either open up their platform to external partners and application developers or use it internally in the case of large companies. Having one common platform adds huge value, enabling them to write apps, move them between different layers, reduce the cost and also attract more value to the platform.
To meet this demand, Wind River re-architected its VxWorks RTOS and decoupled application development from the OS’s core API, making it extremely modular and enabling customers to package their own applications and share them with others.
The next step is virtualization and essentially separating software from the underlying platform hardware, allowing an unmodified guest OS such as Windows or Linux running alongside VxWorks, for example.
This transforms the concept of a single function device into systems that have multiple functions. Wind River’s real-time hypervisor technology enables the consolidation of many applications on one platform, thereby bringing savings in space, weight and power consumption.
The third step is placing functions in specific locations as seen in networking markets where previously discrete equipment has been consolidated and functions run on central servers in a kind of cloud system.
The IEEE802.1 time-sensitive networking standard is being developed to enable the moving of functions from devices into the network, where significantly higher computing power may be available.
Targeting this ‘Service Oriented Architecture’ approach, Wind River Titanium Server is a fully integrated NFV (Network Functional Virtualization) platform based on open source and open industry standards which enables an NFV infrastructure to achieve near real-time performance and the six 9s (99.9999%) level of reliability necessary in telecom networks.
The final part of the story is the management layer that handles the chain down to the device and application level.
In device networks that comprise millions of nodes or end points, attached to trusted systems and critical infrastructure, the management of devices at the edge will require intelligence throughout this system of systems.
In this element Wind River Edge Management System can orchestrate device management with the necessary connectivity to move applications and functions to wherever they need to be in the network.
In summary, the brownfield to greenfield vision can enable the new business models of the IoT that will be fundamental in unlocking the value hidden in data, improving real-time decision making, and enhancing productivity and efficiency.
Writer is Alexander Damisch, Senior Director of IoT Solutions, Wind River
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