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Inside: Technologies and technicians p8 The signal processing perspective p12

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input #102 at www.controleng.com/information

MAY 2017

IIoT technologies can be seen as an alternative to the traditional automation triangle comprising control, execution and enterprise levels.

FEATURES

4 Cybersecurity risk spikes with mingling of operations and IT technologies

Resources available to learn about frameworks; receive alerts, advisories and reports

8 Smart devices make the difference

when determining shut-down causes Succeeding generations of technicians, and technologies, change plant-floor diagnostics

12 The IIoT opportunity seen

8

from a signal-processing perspective Address challenges involving real-time signals exchanged by many data-generating devices

NEWS

16 Connectivity server strengthened in core product offering

Enhanced drivers support IIoT connectivity, bridge operation and IT

16 COMPOSITE COVER DESIGN by Michael Smith, CFE Media.

E DITORIAL N OTE Cybersecurity is all about knowing things

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f nothing else, cybersecurity concerns remind

us of knowledge’s value. Quantitatively speaking, that value is only hinted at by all the money companies are spending for better cybersecurity, not to mention the bitcoin ransoms some already have paid to malefactors. According to SonicWall, by the end of 2016’s first quarter, companies had paid about $209 million in response to rapidly proliferating ransomware attacks.

Enterprise Strategy Group’s annual IT-spending intentions research based upon a global survey of nearly 650 IT and cybersecurity professionals found that just over www.controleng.com/IIoT

half of organizations plan on increasing IT spending overall this year. At the same time, 69% said they are increasing spending on cybersecurity. Further, 48% will make their most significant cybersecurity investment in cloud, 39% in network and 30% in endpoint security, as well as 29% in security analytics.

The cybersecurity strands knot at the intersection of human and computer knowledge. Networks handle millions of data points, but aren’t context-aware enough to always know to whom access shouldn’t be granted. Humans contextualize like mad, but then misread an email when rushed and click when they shouldn’t.

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Cybersecurity risk spikes with mingling of operations and IT technologies Resources available to learn about cybersecurity frameworks; receive alerts, advisories and reports

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connectivity will include a combinaincidents. Remote cybersecurity attacks s a technology concept, tion of wireline and wireless technolwere reportedly used to cause the the term Industrial Internet ogies—rather than being hardwired 2008 explosion of a pipeline in Turkey. of Things (IIoT) denotes, and linear. Increasing digitization of In December 2015, the first successful among other things, the ongoing operations technology delivers bendisruption of a public energy grid ocproliferation of intelligent sensors efits, Including improved productivity curred in Ukraine when attackers used and better means-toand more reliable energy supplies. a spear-phishing campaign to obtain connectivity. These devices and administrator credentials, then means are then used in the remotely accessed the SCADA control and management network and halted electricof a wide variety of indusResponsibility for U.S. federal govity distribution. The resulting trial assets throughout the blackouts affected more than energy sector, including in ernment functions related to indus230,000 customers. midstream oil and gas and trial cybersecurity is spread across Also in 2015, a major electricity transmission. reconnaissance and data IIoT-enabled technologies several departments and agencies. exfiltration attack targeted not only enhance the ability the American natural gas to monitor assetand geothermal electricity performance in real-time, Unfortunately, it also makes it eascompany Calpine Corp. Attackers they also enable management of ier for malicious actors to hack into operating from IP addresses in Iran SCADA from remote locations. In operational systems and remotely delivered a Trojan that established past, industrial-control systems (ICS) control, or cause catastrophic damwere separate from corporate IT remote access to the company’s age to, critical energy infrastructure. networks. Today, precursors to, and networks, including its operationsAlternatively, hackers can surreptithe growing prevalence of, IIoT blur technology environment. The hackers tiously access operations systems to the lines between at-the-process made off with more than 19,000 quietly gather data from within an technologies and IT, creating new files, including drawings that detailed ICS, which can later be shared with the energy company’s network archivectors of cybersecurity exposure “bad actors.” tecture; the devices used to manage and increased threat vulnerability gas turbines, boilers and other critical wherever PLCs, SCADA, and ICS are equipment; and a mapping of data installed.

The growing threat As these operations systems are The threat is not hypothetical. The flows between facilities around the country and Calpine Corp.’s cloud adapted to an open-standard, digital- global energy industry has already environment. age IT infrastructure, enhanced experienced a number of significant

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www.controleng.com/IIoT

Even more recently, in 2016, the U.S. Justice Department revealed that Iranian operatives used a cellular modem to compromise the command-and-control system of a dam in Rye, N.Y. Finally, in an alarming warning delivered in December 2016, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson spoke of the growing threat of potential hacking attacks targeting nuclear power plants.

While cybersecurity attacks in any industry can cause disruption or damage that costs money for businesses and individuals, a cybersecurity attack that compromises SCADA in the energy sector can be disastrous—and deadly. For this reason, the security measures developed in other industries—such as virtual private networks (VPN), firewalls and antivirus technologies—simply are not sophisticated enough to prevent advanced cyberattacks that specifically target industrial-control systems in the energy sector.

Securing today’s energy infrastructure requires a combination of sophisticated cybersecurity frameworks, training and software solutions specifically designed to address the unique threats our industries now face in the digital age.

Information sources As you might imagine, responsibility for U.S. federal government functions related to industrial cybersecurity is spread across several departments and agencies. Good places to start your a quest for more insight into energy-sector cybersecurity include the following: The “Cybersecurity framework implementation guidance” from the U.S. Department of Energy includes www.controleng.com/IIoT

standards, guidelines and practices to promote the protection of critical infrastructure. upervisory control and data The U.S. network of oil acquisition (SCADA) implies a and gas transportation highly configurable set of indusand distribution pipelines trial software applications that can is the purview of the same be used to support management of Transportation Security Adalmost any form of process producministration responsible for tion or discrete manufacturing, as security in the 440 airports well as processes in oil and gas, of the United States. Oil mining and other heavy industries. and gas pipeline managers’ SCADA is a platform technology can look to the cybersecuused to control and supervise many rity recommendations in types of industrial processes but also the Transportation Security to optimize complex coordination of Administration’s “Pipeline operations, including with business security guidelines.” partners.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is an independent agency that not create incentives for the continual improvement and adaptation regulates interstate transmission of needed to respond effectively to rapelectricity, natural gas and oil. The idly evolving threats.

In addition, The SANS Institute’s Machine learning enables “CIS critical security controls” provides guidance for implementing cyberseindustrial cybersecurity curity and risk management programs solutions to dynamically specifically for critical infrastructure.

The SANS Institute was established map the entire network in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization. It says and “learn” industrial it is the largest source in the world for information-security training and processes. security certification in the world.

Besides the adoption of frameworks, energy-asset owners and North American Electric Reliability operators should develop appropriate Corp. (NERC), which FERC has certisupporting management practices, fied as the nation’s “electric reliabilincluding employee training, perfority organization,” has developed mance tracking metrics and business critical infrastructure protection (CIP) intelligence related to their cybercybersecurity reliability standards for security program. electric smart grids.

Note that while these standards are a good place to begin, followCultural aspects of security ing their recommendations is in no Energy companies must develop way mandatory. Moreover, they do a risk-management culture that

SCADA defined

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focuses on identifying and preventing cybersecurity vulnerabilities. This can be done in much the same way a culture for identifying and eliminating threats to physical safety of individuals and infrastructure was developed in the U.S. and Europe in the past. The cultural aspects of

security are especially a matter of concern because employees are one of the weakest links in cybersecurity.

The cause of many, if not most, intrusions is that individuals unintentionally provide systems access to hackers by falling victim to spear-phishing campaigns in which malicious email

attachments are opened, or laptops or USB drives are inappropriately connected to networks.

Employees at every level of the organization, from the executive suite to engineers to operators, should receive ongoing cybersecurity training tailored to their job role. Those

Ransomware proliferation spurs increase in cybersecurity attacks

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recent Booz Allen Hamilton briefing confirmed that spearphishing remains the primary method of cybersecurity attack. It was the “initial attack vector for Operation Clandestine Wolf, one of the largest industrial control system (ICS) attack campaigns [of 2016], as well as attacks on a German steel mill and Ukrainian electricity distributors, the two most destructive attacks disclosed [in 2015],” stated the Booz Allen Hamilton Industrial Cybersecurity Threat Briefing.

For 2015 and 2016, even though many intrusions went unreported, it is known that at least 15 major industrial incidents occurred. While there as yet no reported ransomware attacks on ICS, vulnerability has been a well-known fact for more than a decade. The difference today is that the availability of bitcoin digital currency allows criminals to financially benefit from attacks. As businesses and other possible ransomware targets become more difficult to penetrate, attackers may turn to industrialcontrol systems as easier targets. Operators should install intrusion-monitoring systems to alert them if the digital forays of attackers penetrate processcontrol networks.

By way of enterprise The penetration of control networks by way of enterprise networks is also on the rise, Booz Allen confirmed, basing its conclusions on a study by the Department of Homeland Security.

While enterprise-intrusion remained low, at 12% of reported incidents in 2015, during that time the number of intrusions attempted by way of

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enterprise networks increased by 33%. The total number of incidents reported by control operators rose by 20% in 2015.

Attacks on control systems can lead to “tangible impacts,” said Booz Allen, making them choice targets for attack. Instead of simply encrypting files to make them inaccessible, as can happen when a business is attacked, ransomware attacks on ICS could disrupt operations or prevent access to an asset.

The incorporation of ransomware into exploit kits facilitates a profitable build-once, infect-many approach, Booz Allen said. It has led to a veritable army of attackers, ensuring massive infection rates. Infections for some variants were estimated at 90,000 machines per day in February 2016, according to Forbes magazine. In fact, per the Cryptothreat Alliance, between January and October 2015 an estimated $325 million in revenue was generated from just one variant, Cryptowall version 3.0.

The undocumented past The problem is only compounded, Booz Allen pointed out, when ICS are older and not restorable from backup. It also may be difficult to obtain a clean version of system software and configuration settings. Access to the system itself may be difficult, and there may be a shortage of trained personnel for the restoration.

“Frequency and severity of ransomware infections on ICS networks are likely to increase,” the report concluded. www.controleng.com/IIoT

responsible for operations technology, the operators and engineers, must be equipped with the knowledge needed to identify and address threat vectors. Energy companies must make these individuals their first line of cyberdefense.

Energy-asset owners and operators can leverage the SANS Institute’s global industrial cybersecurity professional certification program, which trains ICS operators how best to recognize and react to cyberattacks. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) also provides both in-person and online training courses.

For the energy sector Energy companies must architect their systems to minimize exposure to the possibility of bad actors accessing systems from a remote location. Threat-detection tools specifically for industrial networks in the energy sector are available.

Unlike general-purpose IT security solutions, technologies purposebuilt for the industrial energy sector can help identify security incidents, malfunctions or misuse in the industrial-process network, service disruptions, anomalies in the ICS and other relevant parameters.

Important features to look for in cybersecurity solutions include machine learning, the ability to be fully passive, and the ability to provide situational awareness. Machine learning enables industrial cybersecurity solutions to dynamically map the entire network and “learn” industrial processes, such as what each PLC “touches,” whether these be control valves, switches, actuators or other. www.controleng.com/IIoT

Armed with this knowledge, a cybersecurity solution can identify in real-time if something out of the ordinary is occurring during the normal industrial-process cycle. The ability to be fully passive means

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Simply creating an alert about an atomic event or anomaly without the proper situational context will not provide operators with the in-

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sight they need.

that a solution should be nonintrusive, requiring zero downtime and zero interruption to the existing industrial-control network to install, setup, learn and monitor the network.

Important for cybersecurity solutions in the energy sector is the ability to provide situational awareness to specific security incidents. With an increasing number of sensors and digital technologies throughout our energy infrastructure, operators can be overwhelmed by a deluge of data originating from multiple systems.

The reason for this is clear. Simply creating an alert about an atomic event or anomaly without the proper situational context will not provide operators with the insight they need to make decisions that allow a quick and appropriate response.

Cybersecurity solutions can correlate individual anomalies into threat events and present to operators and engineers perceived threat levels and the context needed for appropriate

action to avoid service disruption, damage or downtime.

Cybersecurity threats to ICS are increasing and evolving as the propagation of digital-driven IoT technologies in the energy sector continues to grow. By making our critical infrastructure more secure and resilient through the adoption of detailed cybersecurity protocols, educational programs and solutions designed specifically for the critical infrastructure in these energy sectors, companies can minimize cyber vulnerabilities and better protect industrial infrastructure against the new threats that come with ever-increasing industrial digitization. IIoT ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ken Hans is a vice president with Trellis Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Blackstone Technology Group, a technical and management consulting firm. Through Trellis Energy it provides technology solutions for midstream oil & gas, as well as for electricity grids.

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INFORMATION U.S. Department of Energy; Office of electricity delivery and energy reliability; Energy sector cybersecurity framework for implementation guidance www.energy.gov/oe/downloads/energy-sector-cybersecurity-framework-implementation-guidance Sans Institute; CIS critical security controls www.sans.org/critical-security-controls Transportation Security Administration (TSA); Pipeline security guidelines www.tsa.gov/sites/default/files/tsapipelinesecurityguidelines-2011.pdf Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and North American Reliability Corp. (NERC) www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/reliability/ cybersecurity.asp Dept. of Homeland Security, Industrial control systems cyber emergency response team (ICS-CERT). The site includes mechanisms so interested parties can receive alerts, advisories and reports. https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/ IIoT For Engineers

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CONNECTIVITY & COORDINATION: PLANT ASSET MANAGEMENT

Smart devices make the difference when determining shutdown causes Succeeding generations of technicians, and technologies, change plant-floor diagnostics

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process shuts down unexpectedly. A plant technician is called to find and fix the problem. No one witnessed exactly what happened. The technician must therefore systematically inspect the equipment involved. He or she might restart the process, hoping to make it repeat the fault condition. However, numerous components are involved. Applying diagnostic tools to any one of them is time-consuming, and the technician typically can focus on only one process component at a time.

Today’s Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), including wireless smart devices, can help rectify the situation.

The technologies involved do so by giving technicians quick access to the right information. They can quickly determine what equipment was not involved, reducing troubleshooting time. In addition, smart, connected devices deliver real-time information during a process restart. These valuable diagnostics were virtually unavailable or financially impractical on factory floors until recently.

What makes this an urgent topic is that maintenance budgets are under pressure even as population demographics indicate our most experienced and skilled technicians and engineers are near retirement

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or already retired. Those taking their places may know the latest software tools, but how good is their understanding when it comes to the best way to diagnose a failed or failing motor or pump?

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Wireless and other IIoT technologies can deliver real support to troubleshooting efforts, matching emerging technologies with a new generation of

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technicians.

In these circumstances, wireless and other IIoT technologies can deliver real support to troubleshooting efforts, matching emerging technologies with a new generation of technicians.

Purpose of convergence It has been widely remarked that operations technology and information

technology (IT) are converging. Tools being used on plant floors today reflect that. For traditional operations people—many of whom have been around for as many as 30 years— the primary tools are the voltmeter, ammeter and oscilloscope. These individuals have the skills and qualifications to enter a “live” panel and work in it safely.

Those from an IT background, on the other hand, have a modus operandi that tends more to plugging in an Ethernet cable and going back to the office, or using a smart phone, to view the relevant data. They’re probably not very comfortable getting into live equipment, nor do they have the experience with the tools that the previous generations used regularly. Yet trends indicate these people will be be responsible for maintenance in the future.

Although wireless monitoring is useful, it’s most useful when integrated into an asset-management system. However, at the same time, tethering a smart device to the asset-management system can be a challenge, because locating data for a given component or sensor requires going to a dedicated terminal. For troubleshooting, it’s better to have access to the asset-management data from the plant floor, without www.controleng.com/IIoT

When connected to a smart device, a smartphone becomes a diagnostic tool for the plant floor. All images courtesy: Littelfuse

recourse to a dedicated workstation being necessary.

An example of a smart device that can prove very useful, if not tethered to the asset-management system workstation, is a motor-protection relay. A motor-protection relay monitors for multiple faults, including overloads, underloads, undercurrent, current imbalance, phase loss, phase reversal, overvoltage, under-voltage, voltage imbalance, rapid cycling/ jog, contactor failure, zero-sequence ground fault and motor overtemperature. Most motor-protection relays have a networking connection that allows their use with Modbus, DeviceNet, Profibus, Ethernet or some other network standard.

Even short-range wireless connectivity allows a plant-floor technician access to all appropriate data, including the fault history, for www.controleng.com/IIoT

example, from the motor-protection relay. Technicians also have access via a smartphone application to all associated information in the cloud, including manuals, datasheets and the like.

Data needs context Like IIoT itself, “Big Data” is useful as a concept because it reflects the growing power of information technology in industrial-operations environments. As a term having a certain currency, it is part of the realization that a lot of the process data we already have in hand or which we can easily acquire will now costeffectively be put to good use.

Data, however, is of little use to a factory-floor technician unless it’s properly filtered and context provided. In today’s world, a technician might spend hours or days sifting

through normal readings to find anomalies. This wastes time and is a negative incentive for any technician who wants to be productive. The service person needs data pertaining to the exception, not the rule.

As an example, let’s say in the past there was a power problem. To address the situation the first step was that someone from a utility company hooked a logging meter up to the power system. Once a minute, it printed out a set of voltages. The utility company left it logging for days. Eventually, a representative would say, “Well, everything looks good to us; here’s a stack of paper that we just printed out; we didn’t see anything wrong there.”

All the stack of paper proves is there were many long hours of normal operation. The one or two bad readings in that paper stack that IIoT For Engineers

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CONNECTIVITY & COORDINATION: PLANT ASSET MANAGEMENT

it would be useful to know of, may take some time to uncover.

Storing data in the cloud may be more convenient and promise better productivity, but digital records are often just as poorly utilized as that stack of paper. We should be very specific about what we store, and not just store everything we can, even if we have the room to do it and it’s not expensive. There must be a purpose behind all of it, and we must be able to use it quickly and easily, to our advantage.

A closer look To see the difference that IIoT and wireless can make, let’s go back to our earlier example. A cooling pump quits. The operator calls the maintenance electrician and says, “I’ve had cooling pump number-two go down twice; I reset it and it went down again. You need to come down here and figure out what’s wrong with this thing. We’ve stopped the process.”

A motor protection relay is an example of a smart device that communicates to a technician’s smartphone via a Bluetooth connection.

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Like IIoT itself, “Big Data” is useful as a concept because it reflects the growing power of information technology in industrial operations

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environments.

When the electrician walks up to this equipment, he or she really has no way of knowing what just happened. They only know the equipment tripped off, was reset, and tripped off again. It could be a power problem, blown fuse, damaged motor starter, bad motor or pump bearings, failed motor or any of a host of other potential problems.

The pump motor has some sort of electrical protection—either a simple overload or, if the electrician is lucky, a smart motor-protection relay. If the motor-protection relay is equipped with a remote display, or if the cabinet has a window that allows looking at the local display, there may be some indication of what went wrong. But few power panels have such windows and most motor-protection relays are installed without remote displays. A simple thermal-overload device has no display at all.

Lacking a remote display, the electrician gathers whatever diagnostic equipment might be needed—voltmeter, ammeter or other device.

He gears up with the appropriate personal-protective equipment, depending on the arc-flash-hazard level indicated on the panel’s arc-flash warning label. Finally, he throws the disconnect on the panel to “off” and opens the panel.

The electrician then re-energizes the open panel and resets the relay.

If the motor-protection relay has a display, the electrician can push the reset button to bring up the code for the last fault. If the relay has a network port, it’s also possible to plug in a laptop or tablet and get the same information.

The electrician restarts the motor, which runs for a couple of seconds and trips right back off. He connects a single-phase ammeter to the first phase and tries to restart.

Finding the current normal, the electrician goes to the next phase, and continues until finding a phase in which the current is not normal.

He inspects the wiring and finds a conductor that’s bad. He’s solved the puzzle, but it has all taken a fair amount of time.

The difference IIoT makes What would happen in the same situation, if the motor-protection relay were a smart unit connected wirelessly? The narrative runs a bit different. The electrician walks up to the panel but does not de-energize it or open it. Instead he pulls out a smartphone, bring up an application and connects the smartphone via Bluetooth to the pump’s motorprotection relay. The fault history indicates the device has tripped twice recently on what is considered www.controleng.com/IIoT

a contact failure. The electrician reviews other related information and sees that during the fault one of the currents on a three-phase motor is at zero amps. Clicking on the information screen produces a “contact-failure” message, which means the voltages are normal but there’s a single phase in the current.

The potential causes listed include a faulty contactor, motor starter or motor wiring.

At that point, the electrician turns off the panel disconnect. It’s unnecessary to put on any protective equipment because the electrician won’t be working on a live panel.

A quick inspection inside the panel doesn’t show anything obviously wrong, so the next step is to check the pump-motor wiring. Opening the junction box shows one of the motor terminations is discolored, indicating damage from heat. After repairing the bad terminal, the electrician closes the junction box and re-energizes the panel. Everything works and the problem is solved.

The motor-protection relay prevented damage to the motor. Use of diagnostic equipment or work in a live environment wasn’t required. The electrician found the solution to the problem quickly without any tools other than the smartphone in his pocket and perhaps using a screwdriver to open the terminal box.

An intelligent motor-protection relay with a Bluetooth connection to a smartphone eliminated most of the work and time required to solve the problem. It was unnecessary to look at the fuses because the fault record showed they weren’t a problem. Nor was there indication of an overload, such as from bad bearings or something wrong in the motor’s operation. The electrician didn’t www.controleng.com/IIoT

Bluetooth beats Wi-Fi on plant floors, due to range limitations

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ip Larson, a director of product technology at Littelfuse, says Wi-Fi, the most-frequent choice for wireless Internet access, is not as good a choice for plant-floor diagnostics as Bluetooth.

To start, Larson said, “It has too wide a range, posing security

concerns. A single Wi-Fi hotspot can have a range up to several hundred feet. Bluetooth has a shorter range. The smart overload relay used as an example in the article uses Bluetooth 4.0. Bluetooth Low Energy (aka BLE or Bluetooth Smart) Class 2, should have a range of about 20 meters in open air, and 5-10 meters when mounted inside a closed metal cabinet. This allows the electrician or technician to communicate with the relay while standing next to the motor, but it stymies more distant intruders. In addition, the relay and the smartphone appication that goes with it require a one-to-one pairing code, plus password security, for changes.” have to inspect the motor or pump for mechanical problems. The power system wasn’t to blame, so it wasn’t necessary to haul out the voltmeter and test the power system.

Three of five possible problems were eliminated by having direct access to plant-floor fault information.

The key was getting to it quickly.

Best of all, there was no need to haul out the manual for the relay because that information was readily accessible via a smartphone application that brought up the appropriate section of the user manual, including the fault description and its possible causes.

wireless technology such as Bluetooth, combined with data storage in the cloud, greatly simplifies electrical maintenance. It also fits in well with the way the next generation of technicians approach their work. IIoT ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kip Larson is director of product technology, electrical business unit, protection relays, Littelfuse. He has more than 30 years of industrial electronics product design and application experience. He received a B.S. in electrical engineering from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

Final words IIoT devices show great promise for plant maintenance but efforts will be limited if connections are via Ethernet or other wired networks, or if less-than-secure wireless systems are needed. Use of a short-range

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INFORMATION For more information, www.littelfuse.com IIoT For Engineers

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SENSING & CONTROLS: SIGNAL PROCESSING

The IIoT opportunity seen from a signal-processing perspective Address challenges involving real-time signals exchanged by many data-generating devices

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n future, the processproduction and discretemanufacturing industries increasingly will rely on the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to improve operations. While there are many definitions for IIoT, one of the more common is “a distributed network of smart sensors that enables precise control and monitoring of complex processes over arbitrary distances.”

A 2016 survey by PriceWaterhouseCoopers revealed that 33% of leading industrial and manufacturing companies with current high levels of digitization are projected to increase their digitization efforts to 72% by 2020. The survey of more than 2,000 participants from 26 countries showed that leading investment areas include vertical value-chain integration (72%), product development and engineering (71%) and customer access, including within sales channels and for marketing efforts (68%).

Almost 72% of manufacturing enterprises surveyed predicted their use of data analytics would improve customer relationships, and 35% of companies adopting the European variant of IIoT, Industrie 4.0, expected revenue gains higher than 20% over the next five years. These results illustrate the growing expectation

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that IIoT will be the driver for third industrial-innovation wave.

But what does IIoT mean from a signal-processing perspective?

Signal processing’s role The IIoT concept includes all the main characterizing features of the IoT computing paradigm, including ubiquitous sensing, data interaction

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Even multimedia signal processing contributes to IIoT development, despite appearing to be a technology quite far

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from this domain.

and collection and data analysis.

These functions are enabled by machines that talk to each other as they complete tasks—in a smarter and more efficient way than possible by humans acting alone. Machineto-machine communication supports autonomous communications among devices. It enables collaborative automation between machines and intelligent optimization of

industrial processes. Autonomous machine capabilities enabled by IIoT culminate in cyber-physical production systems (CPPS). In other words, systems for which the boundary between what is physical and what is digital becomes increasingly indistinguishable.

Signal processing plays a critical role as an IIoT enabler, despite being overshadowed by other aspects of IIoT, including the communication architectures, sensing technologies and power management involved.

Advanced machine-learning approaches will support predictive and prescriptive analytic solutions by connecting previously stranded data from smart sensors, equipment and other assets.

This eases the means to enable condition monitoring, failure diagnostics, efficiency improvement and downtime reduction. By anticipating failures, these approaches assist with continuous improvement at design and manufacturing levels.

The IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) IoT Special Interest Group (SIG) promotes the development, standardization and application of signal- and information-processing technologies targeting unique challenges from emerging IIoT scenarios.

These challenges, among others, include: analyzing, summarizing www.controleng.com/IIoT

and protecting real-time signals and information exchanged by many data-generating devices—including sensors, machines and robots—and their corresponding data-processing nodes.

Focus on the industrial Significant industrial sectors impacted by IIoT include process production, discrete manufacturing, utilities and oil and gas. However, these “industrial” applications also have relevance in areas such as “smart cities” or “smart agriculture” domains. The common foundation of these sectors relies on the basic integration between information technology (IT) and operation technology (OT), enabled by the IIoT. The IIoT market is estimated to reach near $124 billion by 2021.

According to Ovum, the more remarkable investments today are taking place in industrial settings such as manufacturing, transportation and utilities. Automotive and consumer IoT, as well as ad hoc IoT-enabled smart-city projects are emerging. Typical cross-industry IoT use cases include smart lighting and smart traffic solutions in cities, intelligent machine applications, condition monitoring, smart agriculture, and healthcare. These cases are on the rise and expected to grow even more in 2017 under the IIoT umbrella.

As IT and OT converge, IIoT technology enables more innovative, on-demand approaches to customer out-reach. As a result, new—and sometimes unexpected—revenue and business models emerge.

Yet despite innovation and increasing awareness about IIoT opportunities, the industrial sector lags in fully embracing IoT for reasons as follows: www.controleng.com/IIoT

Signal-processing techniques—aimed at more efficient radio transmission, communication protocols and use of the shared radio are important to the success of IIoT technologies.

Courtesy IEEE SPS

Because long-lifecycle legacy field devices won’t be upgraded anytime soon, to achieve ubiquitous IIoT the solutions must be “appendages” to in-service products.

The scaling of vertical IIoT solutions presents challenges.

Engineering managers resist deploying unproven technologies.

Energy consumption Even In its early stages, IIoT has been used to reduce resource consumption and carbon emissions by industrial systems. Nevertheless, IIoT systems—including a diversity of devices with sensing, processing and communications capabilities—consume substantial amounts of energy, which can contribute to a larger carbon footprint. On the other hand, IIoT systems typically consist of low-

power devices supported by batteries, which constrain the continuous operations of IIoT systems.

In the IIoT domain, data collection relies heavily on massive numbers of sensor nodes and smart devices.

Thus, optimized IIoT sensing, processing and communications may effectively reduce energy consumption.

Acting as the backbone of IIoT systems, wireless sensor networks are the main source of energy consumption. Therefore, signal-processing techniques—aimed at more efficient radio transmission, communication protocols and use of the shared radio resource—become critical and have a practical impact. Similarly, the design of efficient power management algorithms for systems and nodes supplied by batteries is essential to ensuring a long lifetime for the industrial infrastructure.

Even multimedia signal processing contributes to IIoT development, IIoT For Engineers

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SENSING & CONTROLS: SIGNAL PROCESSING

despite appearing to be a technology quite far from this domain.

Multimedia signal processing leverages new technologies, including gaming, augmented and virtual reality, 3-D displays and wearable devices for new workers who must be trained or those who are already employed within the production plant. High-fidelity simulation-based applications for training, or for real operation on the plants and their assets, require extremely efficient

algorithms to process multimedia signals.

They must perform at high speeds due to the real-time operational constraints involved; with high precision in terms of synthetically localizing the user into a virtual scenario reproducing the plant; and with high responsiveness, due to the very short delay between the action performed by the user in the virtual domain and its effect on the real, physical plant.

Running these immersive simulations

The role of the IEEE Signal Processing Society IEEE’s

Signal Processing Society (SPS) is the world’s premier association for signal-processing engineers and industry professionals.

Engineers around the world look to the society for information on the latest developments in the signal-processing field.

The society’s deeply rooted history spans almost 70 years, featuring a membership base of more than 19,000 involved signal-processing engineers, academics, industry professionals and students.

The purpose of SPS’ Internet of Things Special Interest Group is to promote the development, standardization and application of signal- and information-processing technologies targeting unique challenges from emerging IoT scenarios that require

Signal-processing perspectives

analyzing, summarizing and protecting of real-time signals and

Unique signal-processing needs arise from the IoT ecosystem. These include: robust information sensing from complex and adverse environments using massive connected sensors and distributed signal processing; low-power situation-aware data-transmission and processing; and the privacy-preserving processing of information that is shared by connected things.

In IIoT systems, data-transmission and its sharing among machines is critical to the performance of the

information exchanged or shared by massive data-generating devices such as sensors, machines, robots, cars, etc., and their corresponding data-processing nodes.

Examples of unique signal-processing challenges from IoT include: robust information-sensing from complex and adverse environments using massive numbers of connected sensors and distributed signal processing, low-power situation-aware datatransmission and processing and privacy-preserved processing of information shared by connected things.

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improves learning and aids in developing skills to deal with unanticipated plant situations. Workers increase their confidence in performing the job functions assigned to them as well as in dealing with emergencies.

Other simulation applications include testing and validating new software and supporting system migration.

Raw and real-time data from sensors and end nodes—and aggregated data from information sources like intermediate systems and devices, which can be queried via built-in capabilities—fuel the development of robots capable of taking specific actions. IIoT becomes a driver of autonomous decisionmaking devices. Such an Internet of “robotic things,” already in place in big warehouses, requires development of extreme machine-learning algorithms to support intelligent robots that can self-assign tasks and operations and make decisions.

Use of IIoT, within a broader context, will ultimately lead to connected ecosystems that encompasses supply chains, factories and all manner of industrial and commercial facilities, thus giving the extended enterprise concept a new meaning.

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IIoT For Engineers

www.controleng.com/IIoT

whole system. Therefore, research and investigations in this area are gaining interest as new machineto-machine standards and protocols emerge, combined with affordable sensing and communication modules. However, due to the complex system structure and heterogeneity of hardware and software platforms, ubiquitous access and interoperable sharing of the machine-generated data are still open issues. An underlying standard messaging mechanism—based on cross-platform technologies to support the communication between machines—is a significant factor in the success of autonomous industrial systems to ensure proper quality of the collected data and information.

In April 2016, Morgan Stanley published the results of a survey from which data security and cybersecurity emerged as growing concerns for organizations relying on universal connectivity, as is the case for industrial applications enabled by IIoT. These environments typically feature hybrid- and mixed-connectivity solutions that range from cellular and low-power wide-area networks to industrialconnectivity solutions that require innovative approaches to data and communication security, far beyond the traditional firewall-based solutions used in legacy network infrastructures. In this context, signal processing helps companies design new security tools that are IIoT-compatible, based on the distributedledger concept at the foundation of blockchain, or exploiting efficient and robust mathematical primitives, such as elliptic curves.

Signal-processing aspects of IIoT will see increasing adoption in 2017 and beyond. These new manifestawww.controleng.com/IIoT

tions might include mobile robots able to collaborate with humans to perform complex tasks; wearable computing platforms for industrial environments; additive manufacturing; and IIoT technologies that drive

‘

The design of efficient power management algorithms for systems and nodes supplied by

’

batteries is essential.

increased supply-chain visibility. In their turn, IIoT solutions will support a set of flourishing applications, like asset-monitoring and tracking, smart grids, digital oil fields and smart buildings, with an initial focus on energy management.

Edge-device evolution Edge devices or intelligent gateways also play a prominent role in the growing IIoT infrastructure and these network devices will be used to collect, aggregate, filter and relay data close to industrial processes or production assets. By running analytics and advanced machine learning algorithms, they detect anomalies in real time and communicate to operators. Therefore, the emerging trend is to move intelligence to the network edge, closer to the data sources. This is also a viable option when it is not feasible to run analytics on a cloud platform or when a cloud-based solution is unavailable.

In IIoT, the edge of the network is being populated by devices, including

in embedded systems, and by heterogeneous communication technologies that range from Ethernet connections to wireless and cellular gateways. Protocol conversion gateways can interface disparate networks in the framework of the emerging device-to-cloud integration trend. Fog computing and streaming data analytics will leverage IIoT to feed any sort of artificialintelligence application.

IIoT is going to dominate the evolution of manufacturing and industry in the coming years. It will be driven by the increasingly vanishing boundary between the physical and the digital worlds. New approaches in will tackle the many challenges and opportunities: from data curation and processing, to advanced and efficient communication technologies, to extreme machine-learning algorithms. It is important now for the engineering community to foster research and innovation in this exciting field by supporting actions that highlight the importance of signal processing, in its many manifold flavors, for improved productivity in industrial environments. IIoT ABOUT THE AUTHOR Susanna Spinsante, PhD, is senior member of the IEEE and member of Signal Processing Society’s Special Interest Group on IoT. She’s also an RTDA (temporary researcher) at the Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona in Italy. You can reach Susanna at s.spinsante@univpm.it.

MORE

INFORMATION For more information, please go to www.signalprocessingsociety.com IIoT For Engineers

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IIoT IN THE NEWS

Connectivity server strengthened in core product offering Enhanced drivers support IIoT connectivity, bridge operations and IT

K

epware announced the release of KEPServerEX Version 6.1 connectivity software.

The release strengthens the connectivity platform’s core server functionalities that support operational intelligence and rapid deployment of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions. Key updates include an enhanced OPC UA client driver, expanded API-configuration capabilities and new connectivitymapping features.

The release “puts a bow on the IoT-friendly and enterprise-ready connectivity solutions of Version 6.0,” said Tony Paine, platform president, Kepware. “Our goal was to balance the productivity demands of our traditional industrial-operations customers while developing new features and functionalities that enable customers to bridge the gap between operations and IT—and prepare them for emerging industry needs and opportunities.”

The release addresses the industry’s need to produce and analyze diverse types of data to supply a wider, more diverse set of client applications, the company also said.

The newly released version includes the following: OPC UA client driver updates and new Siemens Plus suite: Users will have full access to controllers with embedded OPC UA Servers. Updates to the OPC UA client driver include support for OPC UA Nano profile servers as

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IIoT For Engineers

well as complex data types. Packaged with the Siemens Plus suite, the enhancements provide the only Siemens-approved method for third-party communication to S7-1500 PLCs using optimized data blocks.

Configuration API updates: Customers using the API to remotely create, read, update and delete (CRUD) configuration objects in the server can now perform these actions on the IoT Gateway advanced plug-in.

Configuration API has also been enhanced to support access to event-log messages without the configuration client.

Enhanced KEPServerEX integration with the ThingWorx industrial IoT platform: Enables users with smart, connected manufacturing applications or products that leverage industrial controllers to seamlessly map tags within the server to properties on devices connected to ThingWorx.

In addition, the release introduces the new CODESYS Ethernet driver for connectivity to devices running CODESYS V2.3. It also features enhancements to 34 key drivers. IIoT

MORE

INFORMATION For more information: www.kepware.com

Enhanced SCADA addresses global developments Schneider Electric announced availability of ClearSCADA 2017, with location services and integrated-mapping functionalities. The driving force behind this product upgrade was to enhance insight and control for customers managing geographically dispersed infrastructure; particularly those within the upstream oil and gas, mining, water and wastewater and power and utility sectors.

Industrie 4.0 adoption coupled with broader economic, political and environmental developments are rapidly redefining global operations, driving a need to better standardize technology adoption, enhance security protocols and improve predictive-analytic capabilities. These forces impact the management of remote assets, critical infrastructure and operations personnel spread over vast geographical areas.

The upgrade addresses these challenges with embedded location-based alarming and filtering, overlaid with real-time weatherdata and GPS mapping. This allows insight into asset performance, with alarming and graphical interfaces consolidating and transwww.controleng.com/IIoT

forming real-time process data into business-critical information, heralding a new era of control in telemetry and remote SCADA applications.

Location support improves clarity of asset position and status via location-based alarming and filtering, with asset locations displayed on integrated maps. These maps facilitate selection of online map sources, ArcGIS map information or web-map service information.

Active-directory user access allows central management and permissions through the active directory, with new user accounts created automatically on logon. IIoT

robots to read and respond to HMI screens, perform quality inspections and monitor part status. Analytic dashboards deliver a real-time view into the status of robots, machines and specific jobs. IIoT

MORE

INFORMATION For more information: www.tend.ai

MORE

INFORMATION For more information: http://software.schneiderelectric.com/clearscada/.

Cloud platform for robotics released The company Tend announced what it said is the first hardwareagnostic, smart-cloud robotics software platform that allows manufacturers to remotely control, monitor and analyze robot and production equipment performance from mobile devices. The Tend product “in. control� makes smart manufacturing simpler and accessible for companies of all sizes, allowing control of any robot, tending any machine, from any location, the company said.

Through a secure application, the product allows users to monitor their production lines remotely, from a simple mobile interface. The solution allows customers to extend the flexibility of their existing automation equipment by enabling IIoT For Engineers

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input #103 at www.controleng.com/information

CFE Media’s

Global System Integrator Database CFE Media’s Global System Integrator Database is an interactive community of global end-users and system integrators hosted by Control Engineering, Plant Engineering, and our global partners in Asia and Europe.

The newest version of the online database is even easier to use.

Features and updates:

• Relevancy score indicates how closely

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an integrator’s qualifications match a user’s search criteria

pertinent data of a System Integrator before clicking to view the full corporate profile

“

request a quote for a project directly from the database site

integrator’s engineering services appear on one page on their corporate profile – other details are organized by tabs.

As a Systems Integrator there are quite a few options available for online advertising. They vary in functionality and design, but the Global System Integrator Database has been our go to.

It is easy to use, professionally designed, and has given us a great deal of exposure to clients we wouldn’t normally be able to reach.

We have had more clients contact us with this solution than any other System Integrator database combined. We not only going to renew our profile this year, we plan on upgrading.

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Find and connect with the most suitable service provider for your unique application.

www.controleng.com/global-si-database

IIoT IN THE NEWS

Oji Group implements next-generation plant network solution Yokogawa Electric Corp. announced that its subsidiary, Yokogawa Solution Service Corp., completed installation of a softwaredefined networking (SDN) solution at four paper plants in Japan that are operated by group companies of Oji Holdings Corp. This is the first-ever plantwide implementation in Japan of SDN, software-based technology that enables creation of virtual-network environments.

With conventional plant networks, network devices such as routers and firewalls must be installed and configured for each individual application, location and facility.

SDN technology enables flexible implementation of virtual networks for each individual application, linking network devices using the same physical network. This facilitates the integrated management, implementation and reconfiguration of networks. It also reduces the required number of network devices and the amount of wiring to be performed, saving both operating and management costs. Further, the visualization of network status leads to enhanced security. Problems can be identified, and network operators can shut down specific segments of the plant network in the event of an emergency.

Yokogawa also is providing on a trial basis a security-management service that monitors the status and health of the networks throughout these plants. While enabling timely preventive measures that help to maintain network health, this service www.controleng.com/IIoT

also ensures prompt actions are taken in the event of an emergency.

Networks help to create new value by connecting various types of devices, but it is essential to be able to flexibly change their configuration, quickly respond to surges in data volume and ensure secure operations.

For the optimal implementation of IIoT technology, attention is now increasingly turning to the use of SDN technology in plant IT infrastructure.

This also will help company IT departments manage the infrastructure in a more integrated manner.

Capitalizing on its production site know-how, Yokogawa says it will continue in its endeavors to introduce SDN and other cutting-edge technologies that enable realization of smarter plant IT infrastructure. IIoT

MORE

INFORMATION For more information: www.yokogawa.com

Mesh wireless network chosen for unmanned vehicle Rajant announced that Sharp Electronics Corp. will use its kineticmesh technology as the wireless communications infrastructure for the Sharp INTELLOS automated unmanned ground vehicle (A-UGV).

The mobility, reliability and scalability of Rajant’s network were key reasons for the company’s selection.

Its radios, networking software, military-grade security and cryptography support the autonomous applications and network infrastructures of large companies, the company said.

“The outdoor security robot is a strategic investment for companies

that desire a visible deterrent to potential intruders, as well as an A-UGV capable of managing repetitive tasks in dangerous environments,” said Cliff Quiroga, vice president of Sharp Robotics Business Development.

“Capturing video, audio and environmental data, and communicating that to a command-and-control center, requires an advanced network.”

As a mobile platform capable of traversing terrain, the A-UGV can perform outdoor surveillance, security, safety and maintenance inspection patrols. Optional features detect toxicity levels, capture images and sounds and use so-called “light detection and ranging” to measure variable distances.

“The Sharp A-UGV extends the impact of traditional security forces, so it stands to reason that it would require a network infrastructure capable of supporting continuous connectivity and real-time communications of sensor and monitoring data,” said Bob Schena, Rajant chairman and CEO. IIoT

MORE

INFORMATION For more information: www.rajant.com

Solution released for the secure use of USB devices Honeywell Process Solutions announced a solution for industrial sites balancing productivity and cybersecurity demands. Honeywell’s Secure Media Exchange (SMX) protects facilities against USB-borne threats, without complex procedures or restrictions.

Malware spread through USB devices used by employees and contractors to patch, update and exchange data IIoT For Engineers

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IIoT IN THE NEWS

USBs are too convenient to abandon, but their use needs to be managed. Courtesy: Honeywell Process Solutions

with onsite control systems is a big threat. It was the second leading threat to these systems in 2016, according to surveys. Uncontrolled USBs have taken power plants offline, downed turbine-control workstations, and caused raw sewage floods, among other industrial accidents.

“Industrial operators often have hundreds or thousands of employees and dozens of contractors on sites every day,” said Eric Knapp, chief engineer for cybersecurity with Honeywell Process Solutions. “Many, if not most,

rely on USB-removable media to get their jobs done. Plants need solutions that let people work efficiently, but also don’t compromise cybersecurity and, with it, industrial safety.”

Many plants ban USBs, but bans can be difficult to enforce and one that significantly reduces productivity.

Others rely on traditional IT malware scanning solutions, which are difficult to maintain in an industrial-control facility and provide limited protection.

Neither way protects process-control networks against the latest threats, nor offers a means to address targeted or zero-day attacks.

“SMX is a great example of Honeywell’s major investments in new industrial cybersecurity technologies, products, services and research which further strengthen our ability to secure and protect industrial assets, operations and people,” said Jeff Zindel, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Industrial Cyber Security.

“With the continued increase in cyberthreats around the world, Honeywell’s industrial cybersecurity expertise and innovation are needed more than

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ever for smart industry, IIoT and critical infrastructure protection.”

The solution provides hassle-free, multi-layered protection for managing USB security, letting users simply plugin and check devices for approved use in the facility. Contractors “check-in” their USB drive by plugging them into an SMX Intelligence gateway. The ruggedized industrial device analyzes files using a variety of techniques included with Honeywell’s advanced threat intelligence exchange (ATIX), a hybrid-cloud threat analysis service.

SMX client software installed on plant Microsoft Windows devices provides another layer of protection, controlling which USB devices connect, preventing unverified USB removable media drives from being mounted and stopping unverified files from being accessed. SMX also logs USB-device connectivity and file access, providing a valuable audit capability.

“The proliferation of removable media and USB devices is unavoidable,” said Knapp. “Our customers have limited resources to maintain another system, so Honeywell manages SMX for them. SMX never connects to our customers’ process control networks. From a system administration perspective, it’s like it’s not even there.”

The solution helps prevent spread of malware through removable media and stops unverified files being read

by Windows hosts. Through the private ATIX connection, continually updated threat information and advanced analytics to help detect advanced, targeted and zero-day malware are available. IIoT

MORE

INFORMATION For more information: www.becybersecure.com.

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WEBCAST SERIES

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is a transformational strategy that is revolutionizing manufacturing operations across the world.

CFE Media publications take an in-depth look at IIoT-related issues, strategies, and opportunities in the 2017 IIoT Webcast series.

The 2017 Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Webcast Series: Webcast One: Get your head into the cloud Available On-Demand This Webcast focuses on how emergent IIoT technologies change the way process and automation engineers execute projects and sustain productivity in today’s, and tomorrow’s, cyber-physical world.

Sponsored by:

Webcast Two: Take sensing and control to the edge Thursday, June 8, 2017 This Webcast will focus on how better sensing leads to big data, and how in future, process control will be found—at the process.

Sponsored by:

Webcast Three: IIoT transforms predictive maintenance Thursday, August 24, 2017 Connecting complex machinery and equipment to operations and enterprise systems enables machine learning, predictive maintenance and secure monitor and alarm. IIoT addresses significant integration challenges posed by the unique data types generated by the many kinds of machinery and equipment found in plant environments, from CNC machines to robotics.

Sponsored by: Bosch Rexroth, Deublin, GTI, Rittal

Webcast Four: How IIoT helps cybersecurity efforts Thursday, October 19, 2017 Cybersecurity is a threat to enterprises large and small, at risk of being attacked from unexpected sources both inside and outside the enterprise. IIoT can reduce the cybersecurity risks inherent in legacy automation, instrumentation, equipment, and devices.

Register for the IIoT series today at www.plantengineering.com/lloT

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