An OPC UA Client can use standard OPC UA Services to browse and access POWERLINK Objects defined in this document.

Possible use cases for this access are diagnostics, condition monitoring, configuration management, visualisation etc.

Figure 6 shows logical links between an OPC UA Client and a POWERLINK Object Dictionary.

Figure 6 – Logical links between OPC UA Client and POWERLINK Object Dictionary

Since OPC UA Clients are typically operating in standard Ethernet networks using CSMA/CD and the POWERLINK network uses SCNM the physical connection will be established through standard TCP/IP routing mechanisms which may be implemented on the POWERLINK Managing Node (Figure 7) or on a POWERLINK Controlled Node (Figure 8).

Figure 7 – Connection through bridge on POWERLINK Managing Node

Figure 8 – Connection through bridge on a POWERLINK Controlled Node

Another option to access POWERLINK Objects is an OPC UA Server that represents a group of POWERLINK Devices within one Information Mode l as shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9 – Connection to aggregated Information Model