The asset model provides a means for representing the relationships between Assets. It also supports the concept that there might be multiple types of relationships between various Assets. These types of relationships might be used to provide multiple views of the asset model. For example:
- Asset management view
- Physical hierarchy view
- Maintenance view
- Interconnected view (network, electrical, hydraulic)
Vendors or end-users are free to create their own view of the Asset relationships. The asset model makes use of specific ReferenceTypes to represent these relationships. OPC 10000-5 and OPC 10000-23 define some base ReferenceTypes, but this document further extends the available list of ReferenceTypes (see 11.1). Figure 4 illustrates some possible views that an asset model can include. Some Assets may contain other Assets (blue speech bubble), while some are just related to each other (orange lightning bolts). There may be network views showing the network topology (yellow dashed lines), which can be derived from LLDP or other input (see OPC 10000-82). There may be a list of sensors or other devices that require routine maintenance (solid red line). There might be a list of all software Assets that an engineer is responsible for (purple dash-dot lines), and the software Asset might be related to the hardware in which it is executed (green dash-dot-dot lines). All of these Assets might be part of a single plant.
The asset model may be as complex or simple as a specific installation requires. This basic asset model may be part of a plant-wide asset management system or might be a simple asset model used for identity verification. OPC UA FX expects that this model will be extended and that it can operate with other higher-level asset management systems. The asset model might be dynamic during operation.
OPC UA FX defines a minimum asset model that all AutomationComponents are required to support.
