This Information Model provides a general model for Assets in an OPC UA FX system (illustrated in Figure 2). An Asset is defined as a component with a lifecycle, where the lifecycle includes version information. Fx AssetType (see 6.3) provides a base concept of the asset model defined in this document. The OPC UA FX Information Model supports the modelling of hard Assets and soft Assets. A hard Asset represents physical hardware like devices, controllers, modules, hardware components, or other hardware-based products. A soft Asset represents firmware, software, licenses, etc. The asset model can model an actual physical device or a virtual representation of the physical device. The asset model is capable of defining a simple Asset, such as a sensor or a complex Asset, such as a machine with multiple nested and/or related Assets.

Figure 2 – Asset overview

The asset model is designed to support the nesting of Assets into higher-level devices. The asset model may be used as a base model for plant-wide asset management systems.