A generic synchronized data acquisition solution for distributed automation systems

This paper presents a novel approach for data acquisition in distributed, heterogeneous automation systems as a basis for new condition monitoring, anomaly detection and visualization applications. The described solution enables process data acquisition in real time Ethernet systems, using the Precision Time Protocol (PTP) from IEEE 1588 for synchronization and the OPC Unified Architecture for data presentation. As a proof of concept the architecture is implemented using standard hardware components and a x86/x64 architecture without any special operating system. As verified later this setup already achieves a synchronization accuracy of <10ms, sufficient for the majority of production processes to be monitored.