Architecture

The main aim of the WASUP project is to define an architecture, or objective reference model, for plant supervision monitoring and control in the most generic way possible so that it can be applied to as many supervision, maintenance and control processes as possible.

The following image provides a general outline of the WASUP architecture:

WASUP-Arquitectura

As shown in the image above, the main components of the WASUP architecture are:

  • Plant Element Manager
    • PLCs, OPC Servers and OPC Clients
    • Web Server
  • General System Controller
    • Data Receiver
    • SMARTFlow
  • Event Correlator
  • Event Distributor
  • Inventory Manager
  • Service Layer and EzWeb

Plant Element Manager

The following points outline the main features of the Plant Element Manager:

  • Sensors receive events and capture data, which are then either translated into standard event information or used to monitor devices that do not have spontaneous mechanisms of event emissions.
  • Regular program measuring.
  • Reduce the number of filtered events, avalanche control…
  • Generate alarms.

Once the Plant Element Manager has identified the standard events, using the alarms, it sends them to the General System Controller by means of a REST interface using the data receiver.

General System Controller

The General System Controller manages:

  • The receiving of information provided by the Plant Element Manager, in the form of a REST interface, using the data receiver.
  • The storing of this information in a JDBC database.
  • All alarms created by the correlator during its lifecycle, using the SMARTFlow component – the heart of the platform that constitutes a workflow engine which exports a series of accessible resources using REST technology.

Event Correlator

Using a rule based language, the Event Correlator manages:

  • The deletion of redundant events and generation of added events called to the General System Controller, by means of a REST interface, using the data receiver, to determine the root cause.
  • The generation of alarms from the basic methods and events, communicating them to the SMARTFlow component.

Event Distributor

The Event Distributor acts predominantly as an information exporter; sending information to other systems in the most integral way possible determined by the control and maintenance processes.

The Event Distributor exchanges information, obtained directly from the database, between the various systems or applications that make use of Web Services. This is achieved using the WSDL public interface description language, which allows interoperability independently from the properties and platforms on which the systems or applications are installed.

Inventory Manager

The main functions of the Inventory Manager include:

  • Defining the information model that the inventory conforms to, applying formalisms to the definition of the physical model (physical resources to inventory as well as the hierarchy relations and breakdown of simple components) and logical model (information about the service or process offered, based on the elements of the physical model).
  • Importing inventory information, defining a normalized interface to carry out the information exchange, as well as mapping the defined physical and logical models.

Service Layer and EzWeb

The service layer manages the channel of access to information on behalf of the user, using different types of terminals. This channel of access is made up of a mashup, which defines an advanced operational web environment, using the EzWeb platform.

To do this, it will be necessary to define a series of REST components that carry out the actions of a resource using a representation (usually an XML document) that captures the resources current state, uniquely identified by a URI, and can be accessed using the HTTP protocol. These data sources will be bound to various simple gadget elements, which will provide the visualisation, generation and filtering of data, as well as the exchange of information between them.

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