Open Platform Communications (OPC) dates back to the late 1980s when a consortium of industrial automation businesses saw the need for a common method of exchanging data between equipment from different manufacturers.
Prior to OPC, each firm had its own communication protocols, which made it difficult for devices from multiple manufacturers to communicate without friction. OPC was established as a solution to this issue, giving a standard set of protocols and interfaces that any device maker could adopt to enable their devices to communicate with one another.
OPC Classic, the first version of OPC, was published in 1996 and soon acquired significant acceptance in the industrial automation sector. OPC’s capacity to facilitate real-time data sharing between devices is one of its most significant advantages. In industries such as manufacturing, where timely and accurate data is essential for effective operations, this is crucial. OPC also permits the integration of data from numerous sources, facilitating the collection and analysis of data from a variety of devices and systems.
OPC has evolved throughout time to accommodate the evolving needs of the industrial automation industry. The second version of OPC, referred to as OPC Unified Architecture (UA), was launched in 2008 with considerable enhancements over the original OPC Classic specification.
OPC UA offered support for internet protocols, making it simpler to link devices over the internet, as well as a more flexible data model that enabled the interchange of complex data structures.
In addition to its application in the industrial automation sector, OPC has also been embraced in the energy, transportation, and building automation industries.
The OPC Foundation, the organization responsible for the creation and maintenance of the OPC standard, includes members from a wide variety of industries and continues to improve and evolve the OPC specification to satisfy the requirements of these various sectors.
In recent years, the increasing adoption of IoT (Internet of Things) technology, which has led to a proliferation of communication devices and protocols, has been one of OPC’s greatest problems.
To solve this issue, the OPC Foundation has been developing OPC-IoT, a new specification that intends to provide a common set of protocols for communication between OPC and IoT devices.
OPC has played a vital role in the industrial automation sector for over 25 years, offering a standard set of protocols and interfaces for the interchange of real-time data between devices from various manufacturers.
While the introduction of IoT technologies has caused obstacles, the OPC Foundation continues to update the OPC definition to meet the industry’s shifting requirements.
Here are some highlights of OPC’s evolution over time:
OPC Classic, the initial version of OPC, was released in 1996. This provides a standardized set of protocols and interfaces for the sharing of real-time data between devices manufactured by different companies.
2008 marks the release of OPC Unified Architecture (UA). This adds support for internet protocols, making it easier to link devices over the internet, as well as a more flexible data model that enables the transmission of complicated data structures.
The rising usage of IoT (Internet of Things) technologies has led to a profusion of communication devices and protocols in recent years. In response, the OPC Foundation is developing the OPC-IoT specification, which seeks to establish a common set of protocols for communication between OPC and IoT devices.
Continually, the OPC Foundation improves and evolves the OPC specification to satisfy the changing needs of the industrial automation industry and other OPC-using industries.
OPC UA Background
OPC UA (Unified Architecture) is the 2008 release of the second generation of OPC. It is based on the original OPC Classic specification but offers a number of important enhancements and additional capabilities.
One of the primary objectives of OPC UA was to provide a more flexible and extensible data model capable of facilitating the interchange of complex data structures.
To accomplish this, OPC UA established the “Information Model” idea, which defines the structure and meaning of the shared data. This enables OPC UA to support various data types, including numeric numbers, text strings, and even complicated data structures such as arrays and structures.
Adding functionality for internet protocols such as TCP/IP and HTTP is an additional significant enhancement to OPC UA. This has helped to expand the reach of OPC outside the conventional industrial automation sector by making it much simpler to link OPC UA devices over the internet.
Since its release, OPC UA has become the leading communication standard in the industrial automation industry, as well as gaining extensive acceptance in other industries, including energy, transportation, and building automation.
The OPC Foundation, the organization responsible for the development and maintenance of the OPC standard, has continued to evolve OPC UA over the years, issuing new versions and extensions in response to the industry’s evolving requirements.
In conclusion, the history of OPC (Open Platform Communications) dates back to the late 1980s, when a group of industrial automation businesses identified the need for a standardized method of data sharing across devices from different manufacturers.
The original version of OPC, known as OPC Classic, was published in 1996 and soon received industry-wide acceptance.
OPC UA (Unified Architecture) was launched in 2008, including substantial enhancements to the original OPC Classic specification, such as a more flexible data format and support for internet protocols.
OPC has evolved throughout time to accommodate the evolving needs of the industry, and it is now the main communication standard in the industrial automation business, with extensive use in other industries.
Despite the obstacles provided by the proliferation of IoT technologies, the OPC Foundation continues to improve and evolve the OPC specification to satisfy the requirements of a wide variety of sectors.
