This part of the OPC UA FX specification series defines the general networking requirements for UAFX. This release includes definitions for functional networking requirements, including Bridge Component, End Station Component, IA-station, and UAFX Station, and network services, including remote management, topology discovery, and time synchronisation for Ethernet networks. Future releases will add additional requirements, including additional definitions for End Station Components and NETCONF-based remote management. Definitions for additional physical layer protocols such as SPE/APL, WLAN, or cellular, e.g., 5G, may also be added as required for the interoperable operation of UAFX in these networks.

UAFX intends for all networking-related configuration of End Station and Bridge Components to be done through NETCONF. Towards this goal, this release selects the basic protocol layers, NETCONF over TLS for remote management (see 7.2), as a first step. Moreover, LLDP YANG modules are selected for use with topology discovery (see 7.3). Future releases are planned to expand these configuration capabilities with the additional selection of NETCONF capabilities and YANG modules. Consequently, this release requires vendor-specific mechanisms such as web interfaces, CLI, and engineering tools to configure networking-related mechanisms and services.

A UAFX Station may implement a subset of the requirements defined in this document. OPC 10000-84 defines the OPC UA profiles that dictate which networking features, services, and capabilities need to be implemented to be compliant with a particular UAFX profile.

Definitions included in this document that are also covered by the IEC/IEEE 60802 TSN Profile for Industrial Automation will be superseded by the IEC/IEEE 60802 specification after that standard's publication, and this document will be updated accordingly.