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perspective p12
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FEATURES
8
Succeeding generations of technicians, and technologies,
change plant-floor diagnostics
NEWS
16
Enhanced drivers support IIoT connectivity, bridge operation
and IT
E DITORIAL N OTE
Cybersecurity is all about knowing things
I f nothing else, cybersecurity concerns remind
us of knowledges value. Quantitatively speaking,
half of organizations plan on increasing IT spending
overall this year. At the same time, 69% said they are
that value is only hinted at by all the money com- increasing spending on cybersecurity. Further, 48% will
panies are spending for better cybersecurity, not to make their most significant cybersecurity investment in
mention the bitcoin ransoms some already have paid cloud, 39% in network and 30% in endpoint security, as
to malefactors. According to SonicWall, by the end of well as 29% in security analytics.
2016s first quarter, companies had paid about $209 The cybersecurity strands knot at the intersection of
million in response to rapidly proliferating ransom- human and computer knowledge. Networks handle mil-
ware attacks. lions of data points, but arent context-aware enough to
Enterprise Strategy Groups annual IT-spending inten- always know to whom access shouldnt be granted. Hu-
tions research based upon a global survey of nearly 650 mans contextualize like mad, but then misread an email
IT and cybersecurity professionals found that just over when rushed and click when they shouldnt.
www.controleng.com/IIoT IIoT For Engineers MAY 2017 | 3
ENTERPRISE ANALYTICS: SAFETY & SECURITY
A
s a technology concept, connectivity will include a combina- incidents. Remote cybersecurity attacks
the term Industrial Internet tion of wireline and wireless technol- were reportedly used to cause the
of Things (IIoT) denotes, ogiesrather than being hardwired 2008 explosion of a pipeline in Turkey.
among other things, the ongoing and linear. Increasing digitization of In December 2015, the first successful
proliferation of intelligent sensors operations technology delivers ben- disruption of a public energy grid oc-
and better means-to- efits, Including improved productivity curred in Ukraine when attackers used
connectivity. These devices and and more reliable energy supplies. a spear-phishing campaign to obtain
means are then used in the administrator credentials, then
control and management remotely accessed the SCADA
of a wide variety of indus- network and halted electric-
trial assets throughout the
Responsibility for U.S. federal gov- ity distribution. The resulting
energy sector, including in ernment functions related to indus- blackouts affected more than
midstream oil and gas and 230,000 customers.
electricity transmission. trial cybersecurity is spread across Also in 2015, a major
IIoT-enabled technologies reconnaissance and data
not only enhance the ability
several departments and agencies. exfiltration attack targeted
to monitor asset- the American natural gas
performance in real-time, and geothermal electricity
they also enable management of Unfortunately, it also makes it eas- company Calpine Corp. Attackers
SCADA from remote locations. In ier for malicious actors to hack into operating from IP addresses in Iran
past, industrial-control systems (ICS) operational systems and remotely delivered a Trojan that established
were separate from corporate IT control, or cause catastrophic dam- remote access to the companys
networks. Today, precursors to, and age to, critical energy infrastructure. networks, including its operations-
the growing prevalence of, IIoT blur Alternatively, hackers can surrepti- technology environment. The hackers
the lines between at-the-process tiously access operations systems to made off with more than 19,000
technologies and IT, creating new quietly gather data from within an files, including drawings that detailed
vectors of cybersecurity exposure ICS, which can later be shared with the energy companys network archi-
and increased threat vulnerability bad actors. tecture; the devices used to manage
wherever PLCs, SCADA, and ICS are gas turbines, boilers and other critical
installed. The growing threat equipment; and a mapping of data
As these operations systems are The threat is not hypothetical. The flows between facilities around the
adapted to an open-standard, digital- global energy industry has already country and Calpine Corp.s cloud
age IT infrastructure, enhanced experienced a number of significant environment.
S
lular modem to compromise the structure.
upervisory control and data
command-and-control system of a The U.S. network of oil
acquisition (SCADA) implies a
dam in Rye, N.Y. Finally, in an alarm- and gas transportation
highly configurable set of indus-
ing warning delivered in Decem- and distribution pipelines
trial software applications that can
ber 2016, United Nations Deputy is the purview of the same
be used to support management of
Secretary-General Jan Eliasson spoke Transportation Security Ad-
almost any form of process produc-
of the growing threat of potential ministration responsible for
tion or discrete manufacturing, as
hacking attacks targeting nuclear security in the 440 airports
well as processes in oil and gas,
power plants. of the United States. Oil
mining and other heavy industries.
While cybersecurity attacks in any and gas pipeline managers
SCADA is a platform technology
industry can cause disruption or dam- can look to the cybersecu-
used to control and supervise many
age that costs money for businesses rity recommendations in
types of industrial processes but also
and individuals, a cybersecurity attack the Transportation Security
to optimize complex coordination of
that compromises SCADA in the Administrations Pipeline
operations, including with business
energy sector can be disastrousand security guidelines.
partners.
deadly. For this reason, the security The Federal Energy
measures developed in other indus- Regulatory Commission
triessuch as virtual private net- (FERC) is an independent agency that not create incentives for the con-
works (VPN), firewalls and antivirus regulates interstate transmission of tinual improvement and adaptation
technologiessimply are not sophis- electricity, natural gas and oil. The needed to respond effectively to rap-
ticated enough to prevent advanced idly evolving threats.
cyberattacks that specifically target In addition, The SANS Institutes
industrial-control systems in the Machine learning enables CIS critical security controls provides
energy sector. guidance for implementing cyberse-
Securing todays energy infra- industrial cybersecurity curity and risk management programs
structure requires a combination of
solutions to dynamically specifically for critical infrastructure.
sophisticated cybersecurity frame- The SANS Institute was established
works, training and software solu- map the entire network in 1989 as a cooperative research
tions specifically designed to address and education organization. It says
the unique threats our industries now
and learn industrial it is the largest source in the world
face in the digital age. processes. for information-security training and
security certification in the world.
Information sources Besides the adoption of frame-
As you might imagine, respon- North American Electric Reliability works, energy-asset owners and
sibility for U.S. federal govern- Corp. (NERC), which FERC has certi- operators should develop appropriate
ment functions related to industrial fied as the nations electric reliabil- supporting management practices,
cybersecurity is spread across several ity organization, has developed including employee training, perfor-
departments and agencies. Good critical infrastructure protection (CIP) mance tracking metrics and business
places to start your a quest for more cybersecurity reliability standards for intelligence related to their cyber-
insight into energy-sector cybersecu- electric smart grids. security program.
rity include the following: Note that while these standards
The Cybersecurity framework are a good place to begin, follow- Cultural aspects of security
implementation guidance from the ing their recommendations is in no Energy companies must develop
U.S. Department of Energy includes way mandatory. Moreover, they do a risk-management culture that
www.controleng.com/IIoT IIoT For Engineers MAY 2017 | 5
ENTERPRISE ANALYTICS: SAFETY & SECURITY
focuses on identifying and prevent- security are especially a matter of attachments are opened, or laptops
ing cybersecurity vulnerabilities. This concern because employees are one or USB drives are inappropriately con-
can be done in much the same way of the weakest links in cybersecurity. nected to networks.
a culture for identifying and elimi- The cause of many, if not most, intru- Employees at every level of the or-
nating threats to physical safety of sions is that individuals unintention- ganization, from the executive suite
individuals and infrastructure was ally provide systems access to hackers to engineers to operators, should
developed in the U.S. and Europe by falling victim to spear-phishing receive ongoing cybersecurity train-
in the past. The cultural aspects of campaigns in which malicious email ing tailored to their job role. Those
A
recent Booz Allen Hamilton briefing con- enterprise networks increased by 33%. The total
firmed that spearphishing remains the pri- number of incidents reported by control operators
mary method of cybersecurity attack. It was rose by 20% in 2015.
the initial attack vector for Operation Clandestine Attacks on control systems can lead to tan-
Wolf, one of the largest industrial control system gible impacts, said Booz Allen, making them
(ICS) attack campaigns [of 2016], as well as attacks choice targets for attack. Instead of simply en-
on a German steel mill and Ukrainian electricity crypting files to make them inaccessible, as can
distributors, the two most destructive attacks dis- happen when a business is attacked, ransomware
closed [in 2015], stated the Booz Allen Hamilton attacks on ICS could disrupt operations or prevent
Industrial Cybersecurity Threat Briefing. access to an asset.
For 2015 and 2016, even though many intrusions The incorporation of ransomware into exploit
went unreported, it is known that at least 15 major kits facilitates a profitable build-once, infect-many
industrial incidents occurred. While there as yet approach, Booz Allen said. It has led to a veritable
no reported ransomware attacks on ICS, vulner- army of attackers, ensuring massive infection
ability has been a well-known fact for more than a rates. Infections for some variants were estimated
decade. The difference today is that the availability at 90,000 machines per day in February 2016,
of bitcoin digital currency allows criminals to finan- according to Forbes magazine. In fact, per the
cially benefit from attacks. As businesses and other Cryptothreat Alliance, between January and Oc-
possible ransomware targets become more difficult tober 2015 an estimated $325 million in revenue
to penetrate, attackers may turn to industrial- was generated from just one variant, Cryptowall
control systems as easier targets. Operators should version 3.0.
install intrusion-monitoring systems to alert them
if the digital forays of attackers penetrate process- The undocumented past
control networks. The problem is only compounded, Booz Allen
pointed out, when ICS are older and not restorable
By way of enterprise from backup. It also may be difficult to obtain a
The penetration of control networks by way clean version of system software and configura-
of enterprise networks is also on the rise, Booz tion settings. Access to the system itself may be
Allen confirmed, basing its conclusions on a difficult, and there may be a shortage of trained
study by the Department of Homeland Security. personnel for the restoration.
While enterprise-intrusion remained low, at 12% Frequency and severity of ransomware infec-
of reported incidents in 2015, during that time tions on ICS networks are likely to increase, the
the number of intrusions attempted by way of report concluded.
Energy-asset owners and opera- structure more secure and resilient
tors can leverage the SANS Insti- through the adoption of detailed
tutes global industrial cybersecurity
Simply creating an alert cybersecurity protocols, educational
professional certification program, about an atomic event programs and solutions designed
which trains ICS operators how specifically for the critical infrastruc-
best to recognize and react to
or anomaly without the ture in these energy sectors, com-
cyberattacks. The U.S. Department proper situational con- panies can minimize cyber vulner-
of Homeland Securitys Industrial abilities and better protect industrial
Control Systems Cyber Emergency
text will not provide infrastructure against the new threats
Response Team (ICS-CERT) also operators with the in- that come with ever-increasing indus-
provides both in-person and online trial digitization. IIoT
training courses. sight they need.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
For the energy sector
Energy companies must architect that a solution should be non- Ken Hans is a vice president with
their systems to minimize exposure intrusive, requiring zero downtime Trellis Energy, a wholly owned
to the possibility of bad actors and zero interruption to the exist- subsidiary of Blackstone Technology
accessing systems from a remote ing industrial-control network to Group, a technical and management
location. Threat-detection tools install, setup, learn and monitor the consulting firm. Through Trellis En-
specifically for industrial networks network. ergy it provides technology solutions
in the energy sector are available. Important for cybersecurity solu- for midstream oil & gas, as well as
Unlike general-purpose IT security tions in the energy sector is the abil- for electricity grids.
solutions, technologies purpose- ity to provide situational awareness
built for the industrial energy sector to specific security incidents. With MORE
can help identify security incidents, an increasing number of sensors and INFORMATION
malfunctions or misuse in the digital technologies throughout our U.S. Department of Energy; Office of electricity deliv-
industrial-process network, service energy infrastructure, operators can ery and energy reliability; Energy sector cybersecurity
disruptions, anomalies in the ICS be overwhelmed by a deluge of data framework for implementation guidance
www.energy.gov/oe/downloads/energy-sector-cyberse-
and other relevant parameters. originating from multiple systems. curity-framework-implementation-guidance
Important features to look for The reason for this is clear. Simply Sans Institute; CIS critical security controls
in cybersecurity solutions include creating an alert about an atomic www.sans.org/critical-security-controls
machine learning, the ability to be event or anomaly without the proper Transportation Security Administration (TSA);
Pipeline security guidelines
fully passive, and the ability to pro- situational context will not provide www.tsa.gov/sites/default/files/tsapipelinesecuri-
vide situational awareness. Machine operators with the insight they need tyguidelines-2011.pdf
learning enables industrial cyber- to make decisions that allow a quick Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
security solutions to dynamically and appropriate response. and North American Reliability Corp. (NERC)
www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/reliability/
map the entire network and learn Cybersecurity solutions can corre- cybersecurity.asp
industrial processes, such as what late individual anomalies into threat Dept. of Homeland Security, Industrial control systems
each PLC touches, whether these events and present to operators and cyber emergency response team (ICS-CERT). The site
includes mechanisms so interested parties can receive
be control valves, switches, actua- engineers perceived threat levels and alerts, advisories and reports.
tors or other. the context needed for appropriate https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/
A
process shuts down or already retired. Those taking their technology (IT) are converging. Tools
unexpectedly. A plant tech- places may know the latest software being used on plant floors today re-
nician is called to find and tools, but how good is their under- flect that. For traditional operations
fix the problem. No one witnessed standing when it comes to the best peoplemany of whom have been
exactly what happened. The techni- way to diagnose a failed or failing around for as many as 30 years
cian must therefore systematically motor or pump? the primary tools are the voltmeter,
inspect the equipment involved. He ammeter and oscilloscope. These
or she might restart the process, individuals have the skills and quali-
hoping to make it repeat the fault fications to enter a live panel and
condition. However, numerous Wireless and other work in it safely.
components are involved. Applying Those from an IT background, on
diagnostic tools to any one of them IIoT technologies can the other hand, have a modus ope-
is time-consuming, and the techni- randi that tends more to plugging in
cian typically can focus on only one
deliver real support to an Ethernet cable and going back to
process component at a time. the office, or using a smart phone,
troubleshooting efforts,
Todays Industrial Internet of Things to view the relevant data. Theyre
(IIoT), including wireless smart de- matching emerging probably not very comfortable get-
vices, can help rectify the situation. ting into live equipment, nor do they
The technologies involved do so by technologies with a have the experience with the tools
giving technicians quick access to the that the previous generations used
right information. They can quickly new generation of regularly. Yet trends indicate these
determine what equipment was not people will be be responsible for
involved, reducing troubleshooting technicians. maintenance in the future.
time. In addition, smart, connected Although wireless monitoring is
devices deliver real-time informa- useful, its most useful when inte-
tion during a process restart. These In these circumstances, wireless grated into an asset-management
valuable diagnostics were virtually and other IIoT technologies can system. However, at the same time,
unavailable or financially impractical deliver real support to troubleshoot- tethering a smart device to the
on factory floors until recently. ing efforts, matching emerging asset-management system can be a
What makes this an urgent topic technologies with a new generation challenge, because locating data for
is that maintenance budgets are of technicians. a given component or sensor requires
under pressure even as population going to a dedicated terminal. For
demographics indicate our most Purpose of convergence troubleshooting, its better to have
experienced and skilled technicians It has been widely remarked that access to the asset-management
and engineers are near retirement operations technology and information data from the plant floor, without
recourse to a dedicated workstation example, from the motor-protection through normal readings to find
being necessary. relay. Technicians also have access anomalies. This wastes time and is a
An example of a smart device that via a smartphone application to all negative incentive for any technician
can prove very useful, if not tethered associated information in the cloud, who wants to be productive. The
to the asset-management system including manuals, datasheets and service person needs data pertaining
workstation, is a motor-protection the like. to the exception, not the rule.
relay. A motor-protection relay moni- As an example, lets say in the past
tors for multiple faults, including Data needs context there was a power problem. To ad-
overloads, underloads, undercurrent, Like IIoT itself, Big Data is use- dress the situation the first step was
current imbalance, phase loss, phase ful as a concept because it reflects that someone from a utility company
reversal, overvoltage, under-voltage, the growing power of information hooked a logging meter up to the
voltage imbalance, rapid cycling/ technology in industrial-operations power system. Once a minute, it
jog, contactor failure, zero-sequence environments. As a term having a printed out a set of voltages. The
ground fault and motor overtemper- certain currency, it is part of the real- utility company left it logging for
ature. Most motor-protection relays ization that a lot of the process data days. Eventually, a representative
have a networking connection that we already have in hand or which would say, Well, everything looks
allows their use with Modbus, De- we can easily acquire will now cost- good to us; heres a stack of paper
viceNet, Profibus, Ethernet or some effectively be put to good use. that we just printed out; we didnt
other network standard. Data, however, is of little use to see anything wrong there.
Even short-range wireless con- a factory-floor technician unless its All the stack of paper proves is
nectivity allows a plant-floor tech- properly filtered and context pro- there were many long hours of
nician access to all appropriate vided. In todays world, a technician normal operation. The one or two
data, including the fault history, for might spend hours or days sifting bad readings in that paper stack that
www.controleng.com/IIoT IIoT For Engineers MAY 2017 | 9
CONNECTIVITY & COORDINATION: PLANT ASSET MANAGEMENT
it would be useful to know of, may Lacking a remote display, the elec-
take some time to uncover. trician gathers whatever diagnostic
Storing data in the cloud may be Like IIoT itself, Big equipment might be neededvolt-
more convenient and promise better meter, ammeter or other device.
productivity, but digital records are Data is useful as a con- He gears up with the appropriate
often just as poorly utilized as that personal-protective equipment,
stack of paper. We should be very cept because it reflects depending on the arc-flash-hazard
specific about what we store, and level indicated on the panels
not just store everything we can, the growing power of arc-flash warning label. Finally, he
even if we have the room to do it throws the disconnect on the panel
and its not expensive. There must
information technology to off and opens the panel.
be a purpose behind all of it, and The electrician then re-energizes
in industrial operations
we must be able to use it quickly the open panel and resets the relay.
and easily, to our advantage. environments. If the motor-protection relay has a
display, the electrician can push the
A closer look reset button to bring up the code
To see the difference that IIoT and for the last fault. If the relay has a
wireless can make, lets go back to When the electrician walks up to network port, its also possible to
our earlier example. A cooling pump this equipment, he or she really has plug in a laptop or tablet and get
quits. The operator calls the mainte- no way of knowing what just hap- the same information.
nance electrician and says, Ive had pened. They only know the equip- The electrician restarts the motor,
cooling pump number-two go down ment tripped off, was reset, and which runs for a couple of seconds
twice; I reset it and it went down tripped off again. It could be a power and trips right back off. He con-
again. You need to come down problem, blown fuse, damaged motor nects a single-phase ammeter to
here and figure out whats wrong starter, bad motor or pump bearings, the first phase and tries to restart.
with this thing. Weve stopped the failed motor or any of a host of other Finding the current normal, the
process. potential problems. electrician goes to the next phase,
The pump motor has some sort of and continues until finding a phase
electrical protectioneither a simple in which the current is not normal.
overload or, if He inspects the wiring and finds a
the electrician is conductor thats bad. Hes solved
lucky, a smart the puzzle, but it has all taken a fair
motor-protection amount of time.
relay. If the
motor-protection The difference IIoT makes
relay is equipped What would happen in the same
with a remote dis- situation, if the motor-protection
play, or if the cabi- relay were a smart unit connected
net has a window wirelessly? The narrative runs a bit
that allows looking at different. The electrician walks up to
the local display, there the panel but does not de-energize
may be some indication of it or open it. Instead he pulls out a
what went wrong. But few smartphone, bring up an applica-
A motor protection power panels have such win- tion and connects the smartphone
relay is an example of a dows and most motor-protection via Bluetooth to the pumps motor-
smart device that communicates to a relays are installed without remote protection relay. The fault history
technicians smartphone via a Bluetooth displays. A simple thermal-overload indicates the device has tripped
connection. device has no display at all. twice recently on what is considered
K
the information screen produces a ip Larson, a director of product technology at Littelfuse, says
contact-failure message, which Wi-Fi, the most-frequent choice for wireless Internet access, is
means the voltages are normal but
not as good a choice for plant-floor diagnostics as Bluetooth.
theres a single phase in the current.
The potential causes listed include To start, Larson said, It has too wide a range, posing security
a faulty contactor, motor starter or concerns. A single Wi-Fi hotspot can have a range up to several
motor wiring. hundred feet. Bluetooth has a shorter range. The smart overload
At that point, the electrician turns relay used as an example in the article uses Bluetooth 4.0. Blue-
off the panel disconnect. Its un-
tooth Low Energy (aka BLE or Bluetooth Smart) Class 2, should
necessary to put on any protective
equipment because the electrician have a range of about 20 meters in open air, and 5-10 meters when
wont be working on a live panel. mounted inside a closed metal cabinet. This allows the electrician
A quick inspection inside the panel or technician to communicate with the relay while standing next
doesnt show anything obviously to the motor, but it stymies more distant intruders. In addition, the
wrong, so the next step is to check
relay and the smartphone appication that goes with it require a
the pump-motor wiring. Opening
one-to-one pairing code, plus password security, for changes.
the junction box shows one of the
motor terminations is discolored,
indicating damage from heat. After have to inspect the motor or pump wireless technology such as Blue-
repairing the bad terminal, the elec- for mechanical problems. The power tooth, combined with data storage
trician closes the junction box and system wasnt to blame, so it wasnt in the cloud, greatly simplifies elec-
re-energizes the panel. Everything necessary to haul out the voltmeter trical maintenance. It also fits in well
works and the problem is solved. and test the power system. with the way the next generation of
The motor-protection relay pre- Three of five possible problems technicians approach their work. IIoT
vented damage to the motor. Use of were eliminated by having direct ac-
diagnostic equipment or work in a cess to plant-floor fault information. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
live environment wasnt required. The The key was getting to it quickly.
electrician found the solution to the Best of all, there was no need to Kip Larson is director of product
problem quickly without any tools haul out the manual for the relay technology, electrical business unit,
other than the smartphone in his because that information was readily protection relays, Littelfuse. He has
pocket and perhaps using a screw- accessible via a smartphone applica- more than 30 years of industrial
driver to open the terminal box. tion that brought up the appropriate electronics product design and ap-
An intelligent motor-protection section of the user manual, includ- plication experience. He received a
relay with a Bluetooth connection ing the fault description and its pos- B.S. in electrical engineering from
to a smartphone eliminated most of sible causes. South Dakota School of Mines and
the work and time required to solve Technology.
the problem. It was unnecessary to Final words
look at the fuses because the fault IIoT devices show great promise
record showed they werent a prob- for plant maintenance but efforts
lem. Nor was there indication of an will be limited if connections are via
overload, such as from bad bearings Ethernet or other wired networks, or MORE
or something wrong in the motors if less-than-secure wireless systems INFORMATION
operation. The electrician didnt are needed. Use of a short-range For more information, www.littelfuse.com
I
n future, the process- that IIoT will be the driver for third industrial processes. Autonomous
production and discrete- industrial-innovation wave. machine capabilities enabled by IIoT
manufacturing industries But what does IIoT mean from a culminate in cyber-physical produc-
increasingly will rely on the Indus- signal-processing perspective? tion systems (CPPS). In other words,
trial Internet of Things (IIoT) to systems for which the boundary
improve operations. While there are Signal processings role between what is physical and what
many definitions for IIoT, one of the The IIoT concept includes all the is digital becomes increasingly indis-
more common is a distributed net- main characterizing features of the tinguishable.
work of smart sensors that enables IoT computing paradigm, including Signal processing plays a critical
precise control and monitoring of ubiquitous sensing, data interaction role as an IIoT enabler, despite being
complex processes over arbitrary overshadowed by other aspects of
distances. IIoT, including the communication
A 2016 survey by PriceWater- architectures, sensing technologies
houseCoopers revealed that 33% of
Even multimedia signal and power management involved.
leading industrial and manufactur- Advanced machine-learning ap-
ing companies with current high
processing contributes proaches will support predictive and
levels of digitization are projected to IIoT development, prescriptive analytic solutions by
to increase their digitization efforts connecting previously stranded data
to 72% by 2020. The survey of despite appearing to be from smart sensors, equipment and
more than 2,000 participants from other assets.
26 countries showed that leading a technology quite far This eases the means to enable
investment areas include vertical condition monitoring, failure diag-
value-chain integration (72%), prod- from this domain. nostics, efficiency improvement and
uct development and engineering downtime reduction. By anticipat-
(71%) and customer access, includ- ing failures, these approaches assist
ing within sales channels and for and collection and data analysis. with continuous improvement at
marketing efforts (68%). These functions are enabled by design and manufacturing levels.
Almost 72% of manufacturing machines that talk to each other as The IEEE Signal Processing Society
enterprises surveyed predicted their they complete tasksin a smarter (SPS) IoT Special Interest Group
use of data analytics would improve and more efficient way than possible (SIG) promotes the development,
customer relationships, and 35% of by humans acting alone. Machine- standardization and application of
companies adopting the European to-machine communication sup- signal- and information-processing
variant of IIoT, Industrie 4.0, expected ports autonomous communications technologies targeting unique chal-
revenue gains higher than 20% over among devices. It enables collabora- lenges from emerging IIoT scenarios.
the next five years. These results tive automation between machines These challenges, among others,
illustrate the growing expectation and intelligent optimization of include: analyzing, summarizing
despite appearing to be a technol- algorithms to process multimedia improves learning and aids in devel-
ogy quite far from this domain. signals. oping skills to deal with unanticipat-
Multimedia signal processing lever- They must perform at high speeds ed plant situations. Workers increase
ages new technologies, including due to the real-time operational their confidence in performing the
gaming, augmented and virtual constraints involved; with high preci- job functions assigned to them as
reality, 3-D displays and wearable sion in terms of synthetically local- well as in dealing with emergencies.
devices for new workers who must izing the user into a virtual scenario Other simulation applications include
be trained or those who are already reproducing the plant; and with high testing and validating new software
employed within the production responsiveness, due to the very short and supporting system migration.
plant. High-fidelity simulation-based delay between the action performed Raw and real-time data from
applications for training, or for real by the user in the virtual domain and sensors and end nodesand ag-
operation on the plants and their its effect on the real, physical plant. gregated data from information
assets, require extremely efficient Running these immersive simulations sources like intermediate systems
and devices, which can be queried
via built-in capabilitiesfuel the
The role of the development of robots capable of
of hardware and software platforms, tion trend. Fog computing and
ubiquitous access and interoperable
The design of efficient streaming data analytics will lever-
sharing of the machine-generated age IIoT to feed any sort of artificial-
data are still open issues. An under-
power management intelligence application.
lying standard messaging mecha- IIoT is going to dominate the evolu-
nismbased on cross-platform
algorithms for systems tion of manufacturing and industry
technologies to support the com- in the coming years. It will be driven
munication between machinesis
and nodes supplied by by the increasingly vanishing bound-
a significant factor in the success of ary between the physical and the
autonomous industrial systems to
batteries is essential. digital worlds. New approaches in
ensure proper quality of the col- will tackle the many challenges and
lected data and information. opportunities: from data curation and
In April 2016, Morgan Stanley increased supply-chain visibility. In processing, to advanced and efficient
published the results of a survey their turn, IIoT solutions will support communication technologies, to ex-
from which data security and a set of flourishing applications, like treme machine-learning algorithms. It
cybersecurity emerged as growing asset-monitoring and tracking, smart is important now for the engineering
concerns for organizations rely- grids, digital oil fields and smart community to foster research and
ing on universal connectivity, as is buildings, with an initial focus on innovation in this exciting field by
the case for industrial applications energy management. supporting actions that highlight the
enabled by IIoT. These environ- importance of signal processing, in its
ments typically feature hybrid- and Edge-device evolution many manifold flavors, for improved
mixed-connectivity solutions that Edge devices or intelligent gate- productivity in industrial environ-
range from cellular and low-power ways also play a prominent role in ments. IIoT
wide-area networks to industrial- the growing IIoT infrastructure and
connectivity solutions that require these network devices will be used ABOUT THE AUTHOR
innovative approaches to data and to collect, aggregate, filter and relay
communication security, far be- data close to industrial processes or Susanna Spinsante, PhD, is senior
yond the traditional firewall-based production assets. By running analyt- member of the IEEE and member of
solutions used in legacy network ics and advanced machine learning Signal Processing Societys Special
infrastructures. In this context, signal algorithms, they detect anomalies Interest Group on IoT. Shes also an
processing helps companies design in real time and communicate to RTDA (temporary researcher) at the
new security tools that are IIoT-com- operators. Therefore, the emerging Universit Politecnica delle Marche,
patible, based on the distributed- trend is to move intelligence to the Ancona in Italy. You can reach
ledger concept at the foundation of network edge, closer to the data Susanna at s.spinsante@univpm.it.
blockchain, or exploiting efficient sources. This is also a viable option
and robust mathematical primitives, when it is not feasible to run analyt-
such as elliptic curves. ics on a cloud platform or when a MORE
Signal-processing aspects of IIoT cloud-based solution is unavailable. INFORMATION
will see increasing adoption in 2017 In IIoT, the edge of the network is For more information, please go to
and beyond. These new manifesta- being populated by devices, including www.signalprocessingsociety.com
MORE
INFORMATION
For more information: http://software.schneider-
electric.com/clearscada/.
Users can now preview the most The most relevant data about an
pertinent data of a System Integrator integrators engineering services appear
before clicking to view the full on one page on their corporate profile
corporate profile other details are organized by tabs.
other System Integrator database combined. We not only going
to renew our profile this year, we plan on upgrading.
William Aja, Panacea Technologies
www.controleng.com/global-si-database
IIoT IN THE NEWS
also ensures prompt actions are taken that desire a visible deterrent to po-
in the event of an emergency. tential intruders, as well as an A-UGV
Oji Group implements Networks help to create new capable of managing repetitive tasks
next-generation plant value by connecting various types of in dangerous environments, said
network solution devices, but it is essential to be able Cliff Quiroga, vice president of Sharp
to flexibly change their configuration, Robotics Business Development.
Yokogawa Electric Corp. an- quickly respond to surges in data vol- Capturing video, audio and envi-
nounced that its subsidiary, Yok- ume and ensure secure operations. ronmental data, and communicating
ogawa Solution Service Corp., For the optimal implementation of that to a command-and-control cen-
completed installation of a software- IIoT technology, attention is now in- ter, requires an advanced network.
defined networking (SDN) solution creasingly turning to the use of SDN As a mobile platform capable
at four paper plants in Japan that technology in plant IT infrastructure. of traversing terrain, the A-UGV
are operated by group companies This also will help company IT depart- can perform outdoor surveillance,
of Oji Holdings Corp. This is the ments manage the infrastructure in a security, safety and maintenance
first-ever plantwide implementation more integrated manner. inspection patrols. Optional features
in Japan of SDN, software-based Capitalizing on its production site detect toxicity levels, capture images
technology that enables creation of know-how, Yokogawa says it will and sounds and use so-called light
virtual-network environments. continue in its endeavors to introduce detection and ranging to measure
With conventional plant networks, SDN and other cutting-edge tech- variable distances.
network devices such as routers and nologies that enable realization of The Sharp A-UGV extends the
firewalls must be installed and con- smarter plant IT infrastructure. IIoT impact of traditional security forces,
figured for each individual applica- so it stands to reason that it would
MORE
tion, location and facility. require a network infrastructure
SDN technology enables flexible
INFORMATION capable of supporting continuous
For more information: www.yokogawa.com
implementation of virtual networks connectivity and real-time com-
for each individual application, munications of sensor and monitor-
linking network devices using the ing data, said Bob Schena, Rajant
same physical network. This facili- Mesh wireless network chairman and CEO. IIoT
tates the integrated management, chosen for unmanned MORE
implementation and reconfigura-
vehicle INFORMATION
tion of networks. It also reduces the
For more information: www.rajant.com
required number of network devices Rajant announced that Sharp
and the amount of wiring to be Electronics Corp. will use its kinetic-
performed, saving both operating mesh technology as the wireless
and management costs. Further, the communications infrastructure for Solution released
visualization of network status leads the Sharp INTELLOS automated un- for the secure use of
to enhanced security. Problems can manned ground vehicle (A-UGV).
USB devices
be identified, and network operators The mobility, reliability and scal-
can shut down specific segments of ability of Rajants network were key Honeywell Process Solutions an-
the plant network in the event of an reasons for the companys selection. nounced a solution for industrial sites
emergency. Its radios, networking software, balancing productivity and cybersecu-
Yokogawa also is providing on a military-grade security and cryp- rity demands. Honeywells Secure Me-
trial basis a security-management tography support the autonomous dia Exchange (SMX) protects facilities
service that monitors the status and applications and network infra- against USB-borne threats, without
health of the networks throughout structures of large companies, the complex procedures or restrictions.
these plants. While enabling timely company said. Malware spread through USB devices
preventive measures that help to The outdoor security robot is a used by employees and contractors
maintain network health, this service strategic investment for companies to patch, update and exchange data
www.controleng.com/IIoT IIoT For Engineers MAY 2017 | 19
IIoT IN THE NEWS
rely on USB-removable media to get ever for smart industry, IIoT and criti-
their jobs done. Plants need solutions cal infrastructure protection.
that let people work efficiently, but The solution provides hassle-free,
also dont compromise cybersecurity multi-layered protection for managing
and, with it, industrial safety. USB security, letting users simply plug-
Many plants ban USBs, but bans in and check devices for approved use
can be difficult to enforce and one in the facility. Contractors check-in
that significantly reduces productivity. their USB drive by plugging them into
Others rely on traditional IT malware an SMX Intelligence gateway. The
scanning solutions, which are difficult ruggedized industrial device analyzes
to maintain in an industrial-control files using a variety of techniques
USBs are too convenient to abandon, but facility and provide limited protection. included with Honeywells advanced
their use needs to be managed. Courtesy: Neither way protects process-control threat intelligence exchange (ATIX), a
Honeywell Process Solutions networks against the latest threats, hybrid-cloud threat analysis service.
nor offers a means to address tar- SMX client software installed on
with onsite control systems is a big geted or zero-day attacks. plant Microsoft Windows devices
threat. It was the second leading SMX is a great example of Hon- provides another layer of protec-
threat to these systems in 2016, eywells major investments in new tion, controlling which USB devices
according to surveys. Uncontrolled industrial cybersecurity technologies, connect, preventing unverified USB
USBs have taken power plants offline, products, services and research which removable media drives from being
downed turbine-control worksta- further strengthen our ability to se- mounted and stopping unverified
tions, and caused raw sewage floods, cure and protect industrial assets, op- files from being accessed. SMX also
among other industrial accidents. erations and people, said Jeff Zindel, logs USB-device connectivity and file
Industrial operators often have vice president and general manager, access, providing a valuable audit
hundreds or thousands of employees Honeywell Industrial Cyber Security. capability.
and dozens of contractors on sites ev- With the continued increase in cy- The proliferation of removable
ery day, said Eric Knapp, chief engi- berthreats around the world, Honey- media and USB devices is unavoid-
neer for cybersecurity with Honeywell wells industrial cybersecurity expertise able, said Knapp. Our customers
Process Solutions. Many, if not most, and innovation are needed more than have limited resources to maintain
another system, so Honeywell man-
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