The original version of the smart manufacturing reference platform developed by Xilinx uses OPC UA and two SoC devices from the "Zynq" series to demonstrate the monitoring and control of motors. While one SoC is connected to a motor, a second SoC is coupled to an HMI that shows the communication of motor data via OPC UA. RTI has now expanded the platform together with Xilinx and integrated DDS (Data Distribution Service). In the demo version of the platform at embedded world, DDS connects a third Xilinx module that is connected to a strobe light. Data is thus communicated via DDS to the second gateway node, which also receives OPC UA data. RTI and Xilinx thus provide an OPC UA/DDS bridge application for the gateway node, which connects both protocols. An extension of the demo is planned for the Hannover Messe, which will focus on secure communication with DDS.

"The All-Programmable Industrial Control System (APICS) on display from Xilinx highlights the key elements of the company's IIoT strategy. It combines software intelligence, hardware optimization, any-to-any connectivity, real-time control with multilayer security as well as functional safety in SoCs of the 'Zynq' series and MPSoCs of the 'UltraScale+' family," explains Christoph Fritsch, Director of Industrial IoT, Scientific, and Medical Markets at Xilinx. "As we expand the capabilities of APICS via Phase 2 implementation at embedded world and Hannover Messe 2017, the collaboration with RTI is a natural fit to enable secure real-time communication at the IIoT edge. RTI combines two communication standards in IIoT and Industry 4.0, OPC UA and DDS, and enables our customers in factory automation, energy management, healthcare, robotics, industrial transportation and smart cities to realize even more intelligent, secure and interoperable systems."

The background to the work on the bridge is the Industrial Internet Connectivity Framework (IICF) document recently published by the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC), which provides guidance on connectivity standards for IIoT systems. It evaluates four connectivity standards, two of which are OPC UA and DDS. Part of the IIC Connectivity Reference Architecture is to define standard bridges between the main connectivity standards. As the OMG (Object Management Group) organization is developing a new standard for bridges between DDS and OPC UA, the demo shows the first version of an OPC UA/DDS bridge. In addition, RTI and Xilinx will demonstrate the IIC Connectivity Reference Architecture with synchronized, distributed control in an intelligent production application.