The OPC Foundation (Open Platform Communications, formerly Object Linking and Embedding for Process Control) is an

industry consortium A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources f ...

that creates and maintains standards for open connectivity of

industrial automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

devices and systems, such as

industrial control system An industrial control system (ICS) is an electronic control system and associated instrumentation used for industrial process control. Control systems can range in size from a few modular panel-mounted controllers to large interconnected and in ...

s and

process control An industrial process control in continuous production processes is a discipline that uses industrial control systems to achieve a production level of consistency, economy and safety which could not be achieved purely by human manual control. I ...

generally. The OPC

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

s specify the communication of industrial process data,

alarm An alarm device is a mechanism that gives an audible, visual or other kind of alarm signal to alert someone to a problem or condition that requires urgent attention. Alphabetical musical instruments Etymology The word ''alarm'' comes from th ...

s and events, historical data and batch process data between

sensor A sensor is a device that produces an output signal for the purpose of sensing a physical phenomenon. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem that detects events or changes in its environment and sends ...

s, instruments, controllers, software systems, and notification devices. The OPC Foundation started in 1994, as a task force comprising five industrial automation vendors ( Fisher-Rosemount, Rockwell Software,

Opto 22 {{Unreferenced, date=September 2009 Opto 22 is a manufacturing company specializing in hardware and software products for industrial automation, remote monitoring, and data acquisition. The company is based in Southern California and sells solid s ...

, Intellution, and Intuitive Technology), with the purpose of creating a basic

OLE for Process Control Open Platform Communications (OPC) is a series of standards and specifications for industrial telecommunication. They are based on Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) for process control. An industrial automation task force developed the original st ...

specification. OLE is a technology developed by

Microsoft Corporation Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...

for the MS Windows operating system. The task force released the OPC standard in August 1996. The OPC Foundation was chartered to continue development of interoperability specifications and includes manufacturers and users of devices instruments, controllers, software and enterprise systems. The OPC Foundation cooperates with other organizations, such as

MTConnect MTConnect is a manufacturing technical standard to retrieve process information from numerically controlled machine tools. As explained by a member of the team that developed it, "This standard specifies the open-source, royalty-free communicatio ...

, who share similar missions.

OPC standards and specification groups

;

OPC Data Access The OPC Data Access Specification is the first of a group of specifications known as the OPC Classic Specifications. OPC Data Access is a group of client–server standards that provides specifications for communicating real-time data from data ...

: This group of standards provides specifications for communicating real-time data from data acquisition devices such as PLCs to display and interface devices like

Human-Machine Interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fr ...

s (HMI). The specifications focus on the continuous communication of data ; OPC Alarms and Events : Standards for communicating alarm and event data on demand, as opposed to the continuous communications in the OPC Data Access group ; OPC Batch : Standards to address the needs of batch processes ; OPC Data eXchange : This group of standards addresses server to server communications across industrial networks. The standards also address remote configuration, diagnostics, monitoring and management communications ;

OPC Historical Data Access This group of standards, created by the OPC Foundation, provides COM specifications for communicating data from devices and applications that provide historical data, such as databases. The specifications provides for access to raw, interpolated an ...

: Standards for communicating stored data ; OPC Security : Standards for controlling client access to OPC compliant devices and systems ; OPC XML-DA : Builds on the OPC Data Access specifications to communicate data in XML. Incorporates

SOAP Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...

and Web services ; OPC Complex Data : Standards for specifying the communication of complex data types such as binary data and XML documents ; OPC Commands : Standards for communicating control commands to devices and systems ;

OPC Unified Architecture OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) is a cross-platform, open-source, IEC62541 standard for data exchange from sensors to cloud applications developed by the OPC Foundation. Distinguishing characteristics are: * Standardized data models freely a ...

: An entirely new set of standards that incorporates all of the functionality of the above standards (and more), but does so using cross platform web services and other modern technology. ; OPC Certification : The OPC Foundation has a well established Certification Process. The OPC Foundation calls this the OPC Enhanced Certification Program. The OPC Foundation enhanced the range for certification of OPC product to meet the increasing demand for reliable functionality and insured interoperability. The self-certification using the ComplianceTestTool (CTT) and the participation at an Interoperability Workshop (IOP) are now enhanced with a Certification in an independent test facility. According to the test specification here not only the OPC Data Access (DA2/3) interface is tested but also the overall behavior of the product in a real world environment is verified
OPC Certification

References

{{reflist

External links

OPC Foundation
Automation organizations

OPC standards and specification groups

See also

References

External links