Abstract: An enterprise engineering and configuration system includes a common configuration database and support services stored in and executed in a compute fabric of an enterprise. The configuration database and support services use and implement a common configuration data schema to support the configuration of hardware and software in the compute fabric and at multiple different sites or physical locations of the enterprise even when different control and automation systems are used at these different sites or physical locations. The configuration system enables implementing hardware or software configuration changes to various different sites or locations of an enterprise either centrally from a configuration device connected directly to the compute fabric of the enterprise or locally from any physical location or site of the enterprise, while maintaining a single integrated enterprise configuration database that stores configuration data for each of the multiple sites of the enterprise.

Abstract: An architecture supporting a process control or automation system may include an authentication service which determines whether an entity (e.g., a human, automated, virtual, or physical entity) is the party that/who the entity claims to be, and an authorization service which determines whether a request of the entity to access a resource is allowed or denied. The authentication service provides unique identities of entities and respective security credentials, which may include tokens utilized during authorization. The authorization service authorizes an entity to access a requested resource based on role-based permissions of a role to which the entity is assigned and resource access permissions protecting the requested resource. The role-based permissions and/or the resource access permissions may be respectively scoped to limit or restrict actions, activities, operations, and/or resource access based on specified criteria.

Abstract: A process plant and industrial control system architecture includes a generalized compute fabric that is agnostic or indifferent to the physical location at which the compute fabric is implemented, includes one or more physical control or field devices located at one or more specific sites at which a product or process is being manufactured and further includes a transport network that securely provides communications between the compute fabric and the pool of physical devices.