OPC UA Field eXchange Prototyping : Enabling decentralized communication using Publish/Subscribe

Sammanfattning: Open Platform Communication Unified Architecture, or OPC UA, is a world-leading communication protocol specializing in unifying and automating production systems communication. In 2018 the OPC Foundation, an industrial consortium, started the OPC UA Field eXchange initiative to develop the current protocol to extend the reach of the communication down to field level devices like sensors and actuators. This paper explores whether OPC UA FX software can be implemented and integrated with HMS Networks’ product AnyBus CompactCom M40.  The problem formulation stems from the future need for factory communication. For factories to compete, they need to adapt and keep up with the technological progression. OPC UA FX is based on decentralized communication where devices transmit data to each other by distributing the load over the entire system.   The purpose of this report is to, based on the Open62541 implementation, develop software that extends OPC UA with PubSub functionality and methods that enable two or more instances to run as an FX application, meaning that the program publishes and subscribes data simultaneously. Once the software is developed, we integrate it on an AnyBus CompactCom 40 module. This will work as a communication prototype that proves that it is possible to extend OPC UA with FX into HMS Networks’ products.  Open62541 is used to gather libraries and methods needed for OPC UA development. The software is developed using C in Visual Studios and integrated into the hardware using Eclipse.  The result in the form of software was a connection-oriented data exchange, based on the OPC UA information model, where two or more instances can publish and subscribe to information simultaneously. HMS Networks can use the result on their way to implementing OPC UA FX in their products.  In conclusion, the Open62541 implementation is beneficial when developing the OPC UA protocol. The software is complete, but it could not be fully integrated into the CompactCom module. The achieved application is still useful for the development of HMS Network’s products that might use the protocol.