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Documentos de Profesional
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En realidad OPC es un conjunto de protocolos entre los que podemos destacar los
siguientes:
OPC-DA (Data Access).- El original, sirve para el intercambio de datos a tiempo real
entre servidores y clientes.
OPC S (Security).- Especifica cómo controlar el acceso de los clientes a los servidores.
OPC XML-DA (XML Data Access).- Sirve para el intercambio de datos entre
servidores y clientes como OPC-DA pero en vez de utilizar tecnología COM/DCOM
utiliza mensajes SOAP (sobre HTTP) con documentos en XML.
OPC CD (Complex Data).- Permite a los servidores exponer y describir tipos de datos
más complicados en forma de estructuras binarias y documentos XML.
OLE for Process Control (OPC) which stands for Object-Linking and Embedding
(OLE) for Process Control, is the original name for an open standards specification
developed in 1996 by an industrial automation industry task force. The standard
specifies the communication of real-time plant data between control devices from
different manufacturers.
After the initial release, the OPC Foundation was created to maintain the standard.
Since then, standards have been added and names have been changed. Currently (June,
2006), "OPC is a series of standards specifications". (Seven current standards and two
emerging standards.) "The first standard (originally called simply the OPC
Specification"), is "now called the Data Access Specification", or (later on the same
page) "OPC Data Access", or OPC Data Access Specification.
While OPC originally stood for "OLE for Process Control", the official stance of the
OPC Foundation is that OPC is no longer an acronym and the technology is simply
known as "OPC". One of the reasons behind this is while OPC is heavily used within
the process industries, it can be, and is, widely used in discrete manufacturing as well.
Hence, OPC is known for more than just its applications within process control.
The OPC Specification was based on the OLE, COM, and DCOM technologies
developed by Microsoft for the Microsoft Windows operating system family. The
specification defined a standard set of objects, interfaces and methods for use in process
control and manufacturing automation applications to facilitate interoperability.
OPC was designed to bridge Windows based applications and process control hardware
and software applications. It is an open standard that permits a consistent method of
accessing field data from plant floor devices. This method remains the same regardless
of the type and source of data.
OPC servers provide a method for many different software packages to access data from
a process control device, such as a PLC or DCS. Traditionally, any time a package
needed access to data from a device, a custom interface, or driver, had to be written. The
purpose of OPC is to define a common interface that is written once and then reused by
any business, SCADA, HMI, or custom software packages.
Once an OPC server is written for a particular device, it can be reused by any
application that is able to act as an OPC client. OPC servers use Microsoft’s OLE
technology (also known as the Component Object Model, or COM) to communicate
with clients. COM technology permits a standard for real-time information exchange
between software applications and process hardware to be defined.
Future
The OPC Unified Architecture (UA) has been specified and is being tested and
implemented through its Early Adopters program. It can be implemented with Java,
Microsoft .NET, or C, eliminating the need to use a Microsoft Windows based platform
of earlier OPC versions. UA combines the functionality of the existing OPC interfaces
with new technologies such as XML and Web Services to deliver higher level MES and
ERP support. It looks to become the standard for exchanging industrial data, replacing
FactoryTalk, Archestra, some Modbus applications, and OPCDA.
OPC
OLE for Process Control
From http://www.automatas.org/redes/opc.htm
Hay muchas aplicaciones cliente que requieren datos de dispositivos y acceden a ellos
desarrollando controladores o drivers de forma independiente. Esto implica:
- Falta de consistencia entre drivers: hay características del hardware no soportadas por
todos los drivers.
Esta es la tecnología que permite que componentes de software (escritos en C y C++ por
expertos en un sector) sean utilizados por una aplicación (escrita en Delphi o
VisualBasic para otro sector).
- El objeto grupo: sirve para organizar los datos que leen y escriben los clientes (ej.:
valores en una pantalla MMI o en un informe de producción). Se pueden establecer
conexiones por excepción entre los clientes y los elementos de un grupo. Un grupo
puede ser público, es decir, compartido por varios clientes OPC.
- El objeto item: representa conexiones a fuentes de datos en el servidor (no son las
fuentes de datos en sí). Tiene asociados los atributos Value, Quality y Time Stamp. Los
accesos a los items OPC se hacen a través de los grupos OPC y los clientes pueden
definir el ritmo al cual el servidor les informa sobre cambios en los datos.
El acceso a los objetos COM se hace a través de interfases, que son lo único que ven los
clientes OPC. Los objetos descritos son representaciones lógicas que no tienen porqué
coincidir con la implementación que se haga del servidor OPC.