Management functionalities and operations for provider of process control or automation system
A process control or automation system comprising a plurality of instantiated micro-encapsulated execution environments (MEEEs) includes a first one or more instantiated MEEEs communicatively connecting a provider of the plurality of instantiated MEEEs to a first enterprise operating a first one or more industrial or automation processes at a first one or more physical locations or sites. The system also includes a second one or more instantiated MEEEs communicatively connecting the provider to a second enterprise operating a second one or more industrial or automation processes at a second one or more physical locations or sites.
1 . A process control or automation system comprising a plurality of instantiated micro-encapsulated execution environments (MEEEs), the plurality of instantiated MEEEs comprising:
a first one or more instantiated MEEEs executing, in a first portion of the shared compute fabric, a first compute fabric functionality, the first one or more instantiated MEEEs operating to control process devices and provide other process functionalities to service a first one or more industrial or automation processes implemented via a first process control and automation system, the first one or more instantiated MEEEs communicatively connecting a provider of the plurality of instantiated MEEEs to a first enterprise operating the first one or more industrial or automation processes at a first one or more physical locations or sites; and
a second one or more instantiated MEEEs executing, in a second portion of the shared compute fabric, a second compute fabric functionality, the second one or more instantiated MEEEs operating to control process devices and provide other process functionalities to service a second one or more industrial or automation processes implemented via a second process control and automation system, the second one or more instantiated MEEEs communicatively connecting the provider to a second enterprise operating the second one or more industrial or automation processes at a second one or more physical locations or sites.
2 . The process control or automation system of claim 1 ,
wherein a first one of the first one or more instantiated MEEEs and a second one of the first one or more instantiated MEEEs are communicatively connected via a secured point-to-point (PTP) or peer-to-peer (P2P) connection.
3 . The process control or automation system of claim 2 , wherein the secured PTP or P2P connection is a virtual private network (VPN).
4 . The process control or automation system of claim 1 , wherein one of the first one or more instantiated MEEEs communicatively connects the provider to one of (i) a physical device that performs a physical function utilized in at least one of the first one or more industrial or automation processes, or (ii) an intervening device communicatively disposed between the physical device and the one of the first one or more instantiated MEEEs,
wherein the one of the one or more instantiated MEEEs communicatively connects to the physical device or the intervening device via a secured point-to-point (PTP) or peer-to-peer (P2P) connection.
5 . The process control or automation system of claim 4 , wherein the secured PTP or P2P connection is a virtual private network (VPN).
6 . The process control or automation system of claim 4 , wherein the one of the first one or more instantiated MEEEs transmits information to or receives information from the physical device or intervening device based upon access permissions defined by the first enterprise.
7 . The process control or automation system of claim 6 , wherein the access permissions enable the one of the one or more instantiated MEEEs to transmit information to or receive information from the physical device or intervening device, but do not allow the one of the one or more instantiated MEEEs to transmit information to or receive information from another one or more physical devices or intervening device at the first one or more physical locations or sites.
8 . The process control or automation system of claim 1 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs manages execution of a further plurality of MEEEs executing to operate, monitor, control or configure at least one of the first one or more industrial or automation processes of the first enterprise.
9 . The process control or automation system of claim 8 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs perform diagnostics or analytics based upon data generated by the further plurality of MEEEs or by one or more physical devices performing physical functions of the first one or more industrial or automation processes.
10 . The process control or automation system of claim 8 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs allocate execution of respective ones of the further plurality of MEEEs across a plurality of physical computing resources located across multiple physical locations or sites.
11 . The process control or automation system of claim 10 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs moves execution of a particular one of the further plurality of MEEEs from a first physical computing resource at a first one of the multiple physical locations or sites, to a second physical computing resource at a second one of the multiple physical locations or sites.
12 . The process control or automation system of claim 11 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs moves the execution of the particular one of the further plurality of MEEEs in response to a fault detection associated with the particular one of the further plurality of MEEEs or the first one of the multiple physical locations or sites.
13 . The process control or automation system of claim 8 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs monitor a security condition associated with the further plurality of MEEEs.
14 . The process control or automation system of claim 8 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs provide automatic version control or upgrades for applications or services executing via the further plurality of MEEEs.
15 . The process control or automation system of claim 1 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs monitor a security condition associated with at least one physical device or other physical element of at least one of the first one or more physical locations or sites.
16 . The process control or automation system of claim 1 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs monitor a safety condition associated with the first one or more physical locations or sites.
17 . The process control or automation system of claim 1 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs generate an alert associated with the first one or more physical locations or sites.
18 . The process control or automation system of claim 1 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs generate an application or service recommendation for the first enterprise.
19 . The process control or automation system of claim 18 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs generate the application or service recommendation for the first enterprise based upon process software or hardware configuration data of the first enterprise.
20 . The process control or automation system of claim 18 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs generate the application or service recommendation based upon diagnostics data, analytics data, or historical process data associated with the first one or more industrial or automation processes of the first enterprise.
21 . The process control or automation system of claim 18 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs generate the application or service recommendation based upon a simulated execution of at least one of the first one or more industrial or automation processes.
22 . The process control or automation system of claim 18 , wherein the application or service recommendation for the first enterprise identifies an application or service developed by the second enterprise or by a third party.
23 . The process control or automation system of claim 18 , wherein the application or service recommendation identifies a recommended control routine for the first one or more industrial or automation processes.
24 . The process control or automation system of claim 18 , wherein the application or service recommendation identifies a monitoring, diagnostics, or analytics functionality for the first enterprise.
25 . The process control or automation system of claim 1 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs execute on a hardware platform disposed at one of the first one or more physical locations or sites.
26 . A method comprising:
securing, to a first enterprise, a first compute fabric functionality executed in a first portion of a shared compute fabric, the first compute fabric functionality composed of micro-encapsulated execution environments (MEEEs) that operate to control process devices and provide other process functionalities to service a first one or more industrial or automation processes implemented via a first process control and automation system, the MEEEs including an instantiated first one or more micro-encapsulated execution environments (MEEEs) to communicatively connect a provider of the first one or more instantiated MEEEs to a first enterprise operating a first one or more industrial or automation processes at a first one or more physical locations or sites; and
securing, to a second enterprise, a second compute fabric functionality executed in a second portion of the shared compute fabric, the second compute fabric functionality composed of MEEEs that operate to control process devices and provide other process functionalities to service a second one or more industrial or automation processes implemented via a second process control and automation system, the MEEEs including an instantiated instantiating a second one or more MEEEs to communicatively connect the provider to a second enterprise operating a second one or more industrial or automation processes at a second one or more physical locations or sites.
27 . The method of claim 26 ,
wherein a first one of the first one or more instantiated MEEEs and a second one of the first one or more instantiated MEEEs are communicatively connected via a secured point-to-point (PTP) or peer-to-peer (P2P) connection.
28 . The method of claim 27 , wherein the secured PTP or P2P connection is a virtual private network (VPN).
29 . The method of claim 26 , wherein one of the first one or more instantiated MEEEs communicatively connects the provider to one of (i) a physical device that performs a physical function utilized in at least one of the first one or more industrial or automation processes, or (ii) an intervening device communicatively disposed between the physical device and the one of the first one or more instantiated MEEEs, and
wherein the one of the one or more instantiated MEEEs communicatively connects to the physical device or the intervening device via a secured point-to-point (PTP) or peer-to-peer (P2P) connection.
30 . The method of claim 28 , wherein the secured PTP or P2P connection is a virtual private network (VPN).
31 . The method of claim 29 , further comprising, via the one of the first one or more instantiated MEEEs, transmitting information to or receiving information from the physical device or intervening device based upon access permissions defined by the first enterprise.
32 . The method of claim 31 , wherein the access permissions enable the one of the one or more instantiated MEEEs to transmit information to or receive information from the physical device or intervening device, but do not allow the one of the one or more instantiated MEEEs to transmit information to or receive information from another one or more physical devices or intervening device at the first one or more physical locations or sites.
33 . The method of claim 26 , further comprising, via the first one or more MEEEs, managing execution of a further plurality of MEEEs executing to operate, monitor, control or configure at least one of the first one or more industrial or automation processes of the first enterprise.
34 . The method of claim 33 , further comprising, via the first one or more MEEEs, performing diagnostics or analytics based upon data generated by the further plurality of MEEEs or by one or more physical devices performing physical functions of the first one or more industrial or automation processes.
35 . The method of claim 33 , further comprising, via the first one or more MEEEs, allocating execution of respective ones of the further plurality of MEEEs across a plurality of physical computing resources located across multiple physical locations or sites.
36 . The method of claim 35 , further comprising, via the first one or more MEEEs, moving execution of a particular one of the further plurality of MEEEs from a first physical computing resource at a first one of the multiple physical locations or sites, to a second physical computing resource at a second one of the multiple physical locations or sites.
37 . The method of claim 36 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs moves the execution of the particular one of the further plurality of MEEEs in response to a fault detection associated with the particular one of the further plurality of MEEEs or the first one of the multiple physical locations or sites.
38 . The method of claim 33 , further comprising, via the first one or more MEEEs, monitoring a security condition associated with the further plurality of MEEEs.
39 . The method of claim 33 , further comprising, via the first one or more MEEEs, providing automatic version control or upgrades for applications or services executing via the further plurality of MEEEs.
40 . The method of claim 26 , further comprising, via the first one or more MEEEs, monitoring a security condition associated with at least one physical device or other physical element of at least one of the first one or more physical locations or sites.
41 . The method of claim 26 , further comprising, via the first one or more MEEEs, monitoring a safety condition associated with the first one or more physical locations or sites.
42 . The method of claim 26 , further comprising, via the first one or more MEEEs, generating an alert associated with the first one or more physical locations or sites.
43 . The method of claim 26 , further comprising, via the first one or more MEEEs, generating an application or service recommendation for the first enterprise.
44 . The method of claim 43 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs generate the application or service recommendation for the first enterprise based upon process software or hardware configuration data of the first enterprise.
45 . The method of claim 43 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs generate the application or service recommendation based upon diagnostics data, analytics data, or historical process data associated with the first one or more industrial or automation processes of the first enterprise.
46 . The method of claim 43 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs generate the application or service recommendation based upon a simulated execution of at least one of the first one or more industrial or automation processes.
47 . The method of claim 43 , wherein the application or service recommendation for the first enterprise identifies an application or service developed by the second enterprise or by a third party.
48 . The method of claim 43 , wherein the application or service recommendation identifies a recommended control routine for the first one or more industrial or automation processes.
49 . The method of claim 43 , wherein the application or service recommendation identifies a monitoring, diagnostics, or analytics functionality for the first enterprise.
50 . The method of claim 26 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs execute on a hardware platform disposed at one of the first one or more physical locations or sites.