For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in OPC 10000-1, OPC 10000-7, OPC 10000-12, OPC 10000-14, OPC 10000-15, OPC 10000-81, and OPC 10000-100 as well as the following, apply.

All used terms are italicised in this document as described in OPC 10000-1.

Physical or logical elements of an AutomationComponent

Note 1 to entry: See OPC 10000-81 for a description of Assets

entity that performs one or more automation functions and is modelled by an AutomationComponentType

Note 1 to entry: See OPC 10000-81 for a description of the AutomationComponentType

software application collecting data, running on a variety of hardware platforms

Note 1 to entry:Example Compute hardware platforms include edge gateways, Controllers, or blade servers in the cloud.

Note 2 to entry: Compute examples include SCADA, MES, ERP, and diagnostics.

industrial digital computer used in the control of manufacturing or process automation processes

Note 1 to entry: A Controller reads inputs, performs logic, and writes outputs in real-time.

Note 2 to entry: Modern Controllers can also produce alarms, send emails, communicate with SCADA and HMI systems, and amongst themselves.

entity that interacts with AutomationComponents to establish Connections between FunctionalEntities

Note 1 to entry: See OPC 10000-81 for a description of the ConnectionManagerType

interaction model involving Controllers exchanging data with Computes

interaction model involving Controllers exchanging data with one another

interaction model involving Controllers exchanging data with devices

logical communication relationship between FunctionalEntities for exchanging information and coordinating joint operations

multi-document file (zip package) containing information for using and configuring one or more AutomationComponents

Note 1 to entry: A Descriptor contains Information Model files and other artefacts.

Note 2 to entry: The primary purpose of a Descriptor is to provide and share information for OfflineEngineering.

interaction model involving devices exchanging data with Computes

interaction model involving devices exchanging data with one another

element of an AutomationComponent containing the data and methods needed to configure, control and manage functional behaviour

Note 1 to entry: See OPC 10000-81 for a description of the FunctionalEntityType.

design phase activity, where, based on data from the vendors of the AutomationComponents, the configuration for AutomationComponents is planned (typically without the hardware available), which gets deployed to the physical Controller, device, or Compute during the commissioning phase at a plant