Abstract: A computer-implemented method for managing an installed base of multiple artificial intelligence (AI) modules, each AI module transforming input data into output data by an internal processing chain, the input data including data that characterize a state and/or the behavior, of at least one physical plant, apparatus, or system, the behavior of the internal processing chain being determined by a set of configuration parameters trainable based on training input data and corresponding reference data to which the internal processing chain is to map the training input data, the method including: obtaining, from multiple AI modules and/or domains in which the AI modules are applied, pairs of input data and corresponding output data, and/or pairs of training input data and corresponding reference data, and/or configuration parameters, the data and/or parameters relating to same or sufficiently similar operating situations of the AI modules according to a predetermined quantitative similarity criterion.

Abstract: A computer implemented method for optimizing a process automation network includes providing topology data of the process automation network that includes network devices to a network controller and providing connectivity requirement data representing intended communication of a process application between communication endpoints of the process to the network controller according to a process application design for creating a network configuration; receiving a network configuration response from the network controller; analyzing the network configuration response for verifying whether the network configuration meets optimization criteria; in dependence on the analysis results, updating the network topology design and/or the process application design and the connectivity requirements, or stopping the optimization of the process automation network.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method for providing a service-based control application for an industrial plant includes automatically segmenting an initial control code for the industrial plant into a plurality of code blocks and automatically creating a plurality of services, each service implementing the functionality of one or more of the plurality of code blocks. The automatically creating of the plurality of services is carried out considering a similarity of a criticality assigned to each of the plurality of code blocks, such that code blocks having more similar criticality are more likely to be implemented within the same service.

Abstract: A network system with a network core unit, a network-managing unit, a device-managing unit, and a network data-infrastructure, and a method for admitting an application device in this network system, are disclosed. The method includes authenticating the application device on network-level, notifying the network-managing unit about an authenticating result, configuring the network data-infrastructure to provide a connectivity between the network-managing unit and the device-managing unit, performing an authenticating action for the application device for authenticating the access device on application-level, notifying the network-managing unit about the authentication result, and configuring the network data-infrastructure to provide an isolated logical network connectivity between the application device and other equally authenticated application devices.

Abstract: A method for creating a configuration of a communication network, which includes networking and automation devices with embedded networking functions, the automation devices comprising communication endpoints providing and/or consuming application data of attached automation application functions running on the automation devices. The method includes communicating information about application functions and intents, receiving and resolving, by determining physical or virtual devices according to the network topology, to obtain identities and addresses of the communication endpoints; receiving timing information and further QoS requirements, and binding, taking into account the timing information and the further QoS requirements; creating qualified connectivity requests for the communication between the identifiable and addressable communication endpoints, and obtaining configuration information according to which the process network can be configured.

Abstract: A method for orchestrating use of a communications network for conveying a plurality of data streams transmitted by a plurality of applications includes attributing levels of importance to individual or groups of data streams, determining based at least in part on the levels of importance and on network capacity requirements of the data streams an ordered list of data streams to be curtailed or stopped in case of a shortage of bandwidth in the communications network, providing the list to a management entity that monitors available bandwidth, compares available bandwidth to a combined bandwidth requirement and, in response to determining that the available bandwidth is, or is imminent to become, less than the combined bandwidth requirement, curtails or stops data streams in the order given by the list so as to bring the combined bandwidth requirement back to or below the available bandwidth.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method includes obtaining an amount of a resource and/or capability of a process module, and dividing this amount by the maximum amount of the respective resource and/or capability to obtain a theoretical utilization of the resource and/or capability as the theoretical utilization of the process module. A pool of available process modules is searched to identify candidate process modules to replace the process module. The theoretical utilization for each candidate module is determined and an optimized topology of the plant is generated by replacing the process module with a candidate process module that has a same or a higher theoretical utilization than process module.

Abstract: A method for securely supplying data to be used in parameterizing a device for an industrial automation system includes a first party supplying a second party with a machine-readable standardized container for the exchange of device parameters in industrial automation systems, wherein the supplying comprises writing into the container an encrypted primary security credential to be used by the device for establishing trust with the industrial automation system. In another aspect, a method for securely obtaining data to be used in parameterizing a device for an industrial automation system includes obtaining, from a first party, by a second party, a machine-readable standardized container for the exchange of device parameters in industrial automation systems, the container comprising an encrypted primary security credential to be used by the device for establishing trust with the industrial automation system.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method (100) for operating a plurality of devices (21-25) in an industrial plant (1), comprising the steps of: —obtaining (110) at least the location (21a) of a to-be-controlled device (21) within the industrial plant (1); —obtaining (120) at least the locations (22a-25a) of other devices (22-25) in the vicinity of the to-be-controlled device (21); —determining (130), based at least in part on a ruleset (3) with rules that are dependent at least on the locations (22a-25a) of the other devices (22-25), at least one action (4) that may be performed by the to-be-controlled device (21); and —causing (140) the to-be-controlled device (21) to perform the at least one action (4).

Abstract: A method for generating a dynamic model of an industrial plant having: a plurality of physical processes that are dependent such that an outcome of at least one first process is fed into at least one second process; a plurality of low-level controllers, each controller acting upon at least one physical process such that at least one process variable of the at least one physical process is controlled to match a set-point of the low-level controller; and a plurality of sensors, each sensor measuring at least one process variable of one of the physical processes, and/or of the plant as a whole, the set-points of the low-level controllers and current values of the process variables measured by the sensors being the inputs of the model, and predicted future values of the process variables that are likely to result from applying the set-points to the low-level controllers being the outputs.

Abstract: An intent-based automation engineering method for automation of a production process includes: receiving an intent model, correlating to process intent, including production process functions, constraints on measurable properties on the production process functions, and/or production process function sequences required for the production process, as a received intent model; receiving a process model, correlating to process knowledge including a production process behavior, as a received process model; determining a machine-readable production model linking the received intent model to the received process model as a provided production model; and determining a control strategy for controlling the production process dependent on the provided production model as a determined control strategy.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method and system to generate control logic for performing industrial processes with a controller in a process plant. The method includes receiving a control narrative comprising one or more control requirements of the industrial process, and extracting a plurality of control entities and a plurality of set points, from the control narrative using one or more sets of predetermined regular expressions and one or more models. The method further includes identifying a set of inputs, outputs and control elements from the plurality of control entities using a domain dictionary, detecting a plurality of actions from the control narrative using an intent classifier, identifying a relationship between the set of inputs, outputs and control elements, the plurality of set points, and the plurality of actions, and generating based on the relationship identified the control logic for the controller to perform the process.

Abstract: A method for creating a configuration of a communication network, which includes networking and automation devices with embedded networking functions, the automation devices comprising communication endpoints providing and/or consuming application data of attached automation application functions running on the automation devices. The method includes communicating information about application functions and intents, receiving and resolving, by determining physical or virtual devices according to the network topology, to obtain identities and addresses of the communication endpoints; receiving timing information and further QoS requirements, and binding, taking into account the timing information and the further QoS requirements; creating qualified connectivity requests for the communication between the identifiable and addressable communication endpoints, and obtaining configuration information according to which the process network can be configured.

Abstract: A computer implemented method for creating a test setup for automatically testing a topology and/or configuration of a process automation network includes communicating intents containing a definition of communication connections between communication endpoints and connection specifications between the communication endpoints are received. Topology information of the network to be tested is received and analyzed. Test cases for each of the at least one communication intents are generated by generating a configuration for at least one traffic generator and a configuration for at least one traffic analyzer using the selected communication intents and the topology information. The at least one test case is deployed to test facilities on which test functions are to be run using the traffic generator and traffic analyzer, and the test functions are configured. The process automation network is configured to receive data from traffic generator and provide data to the traffic analyzer.

Abstract: A computer implemented method for optimizing a process automation network includes providing topology data of the process automation network that includes network devices to a network controller and providing connectivity requirement data representing intended communication of a process application between communication endpoints of the process to the network controller according to a process application design for creating a network configuration; receiving a network configuration response from the network controller; analyzing the network configuration response for verifying whether the network configuration meets optimization criteria; in dependence on the analysis results, updating the network topology design and/or the process application design and the connectivity requirements, or stopping the optimization of the process automation network.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method automatically configures multicast forwarding between network participants of an industrial network on a need-to-know basis, the method comprising automatically generating one or more directed multicast trees.

Abstract: A network system with a network core unit, a network-managing unit, a device-managing unit, and a network data-infrastructure, and a method for admitting an application device in this network system, are disclosed. The method includes authenticating the application device on network-level, notifying the network-managing unit about an authenticating result, configuring the network data-infrastructure to provide a connectivity between the network-managing unit and the device-managing unit, performing an authenticating action for the application device for authenticating the access device on application-level, notifying the network-managing unit about the authentication result, and configuring the network data-infrastructure to provide an isolated logical network connectivity between the application device and other equally authenticated application devices.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method for determining an operational state of an industrial plant includes acquiring alarms raised within the plant and adding them to a pool of important alarms, determining whether a physical state of the plant indicated by a first alarm causes a second alarm or meets a predetermined state-dependent condition and, if so, moving the first alarm to a pool of informative alarms; and determining the operational state of the plant and/or a corrective action for improving this operational state based on the alarms in the pool of important alarms.

Abstract: A computer-implemented broker entity receives from a requesting device a request for one or more target values of state information that have sought target semantic meanings; obtains one or more source values of state information that are associated with given source semantic meanings; obtains at least in part from a transformation library one or more transformations, wherein each transformation maps one or more first values that are associated with first semantic meanings to one or more second values that are associated with second semantic meanings; applies the one or more transformations or a new transformation obtained based on the one or more transformations to the source values of state information, thereby obtaining the one or more target values of state information; and transmits the one or more target values to the requesting device.

Abstract: A method of commissioning a field device in an industrial system network includes: a) connecting a field device to an industrial system network; c) providing information about the field device, the information including functional information for the field device; d) utilizing the functional information for the field device to retrieve information relating to a role of the field device in an automation application; f) utilizing capability information relating to a field device type of the field device and the information relating to the role of the field device in the automation application to retrieve a parameter set for the field device for operation in the automation application; and g) downloading the parameter set to the field device.