Industrial edge scenario
This scenario was briefly discussed in Chapter 4. Many enterprises continue to use 4G or Wi-Fi connectivity within their premises, but many devices rely on wired connectivity. For example, industrial systems continue to use PLCs because they are ruggedized, reliable, and cost-effective. PLCs and human-machine interfaces (HMIs) are being combined with edge computing technologies to provide better control and analytics. Nowadays, edge controllers, as shown in Figure 5.3, are providing PLC functions and more by way of monitoring applications and optimizing energy usage:
Figure 5.3 – Example edge controller augmenting PLC system
Figure 5.3 shows the components of an edge controller. The traditional control logic engine continues to run on a real-time operating system (RTOS) because they are very efficient and provide predictable latencies, meaning function calls are guaranteed to return within a specific timeframe. Both RTOS...
