Abstract: In order to provide functions in an industrial automation system having control units which are coupled via a communication network, functions of the automation system are made available by services. Components of a service are subdivided into service-specific components and into components which can be reused by a plurality of different services. Service-specific components and reusable components have a standard configuration interface. Service components are linked to a service by a service configuration unit via the standard configuration interface. Functions for monitoring and/or controlling a defined quality of service are assigned to the reusable components.

Abstract: In order to provide functions in an industrial automation system having control units which are coupled via a communication network, functions of the automation system are made available by services. Components of a service are subdivided into service-specific components and into components which can be reused by a plurality of different services. Service-specific components and reusable components have a standard configuration interface. Service components are linked to a service by a service configuration unit via the standard configuration interface. Functions for monitoring and/or controlling a defined quality of service are assigned to the reusable components.

Abstract: In order to grant authorization to use a function in an industrial automation system comprising a plurality of networked control units, functions of the automation system are provided by services of the control units. Service interfaces are separated inside a client/service architecture, on the service side, into interfaces which provide either security-critical functions or functions which are not critical to security. The separated service-side interfaces are hidden from client applications by a client-side interface in which the service-side interfaces are recorded. Functions provided by services can be called solely via the client-side interface.