The main use case for OPC classic specifications is the online data exchange between devices and HMI or SCADA systems using Data Access functionality. In this use case the device data is provided by an OPC server and is consumed by an OPC client integrated into the HMI or SCADA system. OPC DA provides functionality to browse through a hierarchical namespaces containing data items and to read, write and to monitor these items for data changes. The OPC classic specifications are based on Microsoft COM/DCOM technology for the communication between software components from different vendors. Therefore OPC classic server and clients are restricted to Windows PC based automation systems.

OPC UA incorporates all features of OPC classic specifications like OPC DA, A&E and HDA but defines platform independent and secure communication mechanisms and generic, extensible and object-oriented modelling capabilities for the information a system wants to expose. OPC UA is directly integrated into devices and is used for configuration, diagnostic and maintenance use cases in addition to online data exchange. OPC UA is an integrated communication interface used from sensor level devices up to enterprise applications.

The OPC 10000-6 defines different transport mechanisms optimized for different use cases. The first version of OPC UA is defining an optimized binary TCP protocol for high performance intranet communication as well as a mapping to accepted internet standards like Web Services. The abstract communication model does not depend on a specific protocol mapping and allows adding new protocols in the future. Features like security and reliability are directly built into the transport mechanisms. Based on the platform independence of the protocols, OPC UA servers and clients can be directly integrated into devices and controllers.

The OPC UA Information Model provides a standard way for Servers to expose Objects to Clients. Objects in OPC UA terms are composed of other Objects, Variables and Methods. OPC UA also allows relationships to other Objects to be expressed.

The set of Objects and related information that an OPC UA Server makes available to Clients is referred to as its AddressSpace. The elements of the OPC UA Object Model are represented in the AddressSpace as a set of Nodes described by Attributes and interconnected by References. OPC UA defines eight classes of Nodes to represent AddressSpace components. The classes are Object, Variable, Method, ObjectType, DataType, ReferenceType and View. Each NodeClass has a defined set of Attributes.

This specification defines Nodes of the OPC UA NodeClasses Object, Method, Variable, ObjectType and DataType.

Objects are used to represent components of a system. An Object is associated to a corresponding ObjectType that provides definitions for that Object.

Methods are used to represent commands or services of a system.

Variables are used to represent values. Two categories of Variables are defined, Properties and DataVariables.

Properties are Server-defined characteristics of Objects, DataVariables and other Nodes. Properties are not allowed to have Properties defined for them. An example for Properties of Objects is the DeviceLocation Property of an AutoIdDeviceType ObjectType.

DataVariables represent the data contents of an Object.