Patent Description:
Industrial automation systems are managed and operated using automation control and monitoring systems (e.g., industrial control system), particularly in industrial automation environments. Such applications may include controlling a wide range of components, such as valves, electric motors, and so forth, and the collection of data via sensors. Typical industrial control systems may include one or more components, such as programming terminals, automation controllers, input/output (I/O) modules, communication networks, human-machine interface (HMI) terminals, and the like.

Generally, industrial control systems operate in the OT environment are used to control industrial devices accessible via an OT network. Although the industrial control systems may be used to manage the operations of the devices within the OT network, improved systems and methods for operating devices within the OT network are desirable. For example, certain technologies available in the information technology (IT) environment may provide certain industrial control system users additional management tools that they employ for operating their IT assets.

<CIT> discloses a sensor information processing system using container orchestration technique. <CIT> discloses a software defined automation system that provides a reference architecture for designing, managing and maintaining a scalable and flexible automation system. It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved container orchestration system.

In one embodiment, a system may include a plurality of control systems for controlling a plurality of operations of a plurality of operational technology (OT) devices. The system may also include a first computing node of a cluster of computing nodes that are part of a container orchestration system. The first computing node may receive update data for a first control system of the plurality of control systems, a first OT device of the plurality of OT devices, or both. The first control system, the first OT device, or both are configured to perform one or more operations. The update data may update one or more software components being executed by the first control system, the first OT device, or both. The first computing node may retrieve a plurality of machine state datasets from the plurality of control systems via a portion of the cluster of computing nodes, such that each of the plurality of machine state datasets correspond to an operational state associated with each of the plurality of control systems, each of the plurality of OT devices, or both. The first computing node may also identify a second control system as a suitable host to perform the one or more operations in place of the first control system based on the plurality of machine state datasets and store a first pod in a first filesystem accessible to the second computing node. The first pod may cause the second computing node to halt the one or more operations. The first computing node may then store a second pod in a second filesystem accessible to a third computing node associated with the second control system, such that the second pod may cause the third computing node to perform the one or more operations via the second control system, a second OT device associated with the second control system, or both.

In another embodiment, a method may include receiving, via a first computing node of a cluster of computing nodes in a container orchestration system, a first pod from a second computing node in the cluster of computing nodes. The method may also include retrieving a first image file that may include a first set of containers from a registry based on the first pod, such that the first pod may include an indication of a location of the first image file in the registry. The first set of containers may cause a control system of a plurality of control systems to halt one or more operations. The method may then involve generating a first package based on the first set of containers and storing the first package in a filesystem shared with the control system, receiving a second pod from the second computing node, and retrieving a second image file that may include a second set of containers from the registry based on the second pod. The second pod may include a second indication of a second location of the second image file in the registry, such that the second set of containers may cause the control system to update one or more software components. The method may also involve generating a second package based on the second set of containers and storing the second package in the filesystem.

In yet another embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may include computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to receive update data for a first control system of a plurality of control systems, a first OT device of a plurality of OT devices, or both. The first control system, the first OT device, or both are configured to perform one or more operations, such that the update data may update one or more software components being executed by the first control system, the first OT device, or both. The processor may then retrieve a plurality of machine state datasets from the plurality of control systems via a portion of a cluster of computing nodes that are part of a container orchestration system, such that each of the plurality of machine state datasets correspond to an operational state associated with each of the plurality of control systems, each of the plurality of OT devices, or both. The processor may then identify a second control system of the plurality of control systems as a suitable host to perform the one or more operations in place of the first control system based on the plurality of machine state datasets. The processor may then generate and store a first pod in a first filesystem accessible to a first computing node of the cluster of nodes, such that the first pod may cause the first computing node to halt the one or more operations. The processor may also generate and store a second pod in a second filesystem accessible to a second computing node of the cluster of nodes, such that the second computing node is associated with the second control system. The second pod may cause the second computing node to perform the one or more operations via the second control system, a second OT device associated with the second control system, or both.

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present embodiments will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:.

The present disclosure is generally directed to coordinating operations of devices that are part of an operation technology (OT) system using information technology (IT) systems. As mentioned above, industrial control systems may be used to control and manage operations of devices that are part of the OT system. However, operators of these industrial automation systems may benefit from managing assets, such as programmable logic controllers (PLCs), that are part of the OT network using similar processes provided by information technology systems. By way of example, container orchestration systems may be used in IT systems to manage IT assets. That is, certain IT systems may leverage software containers (e.g., operating system level virtualization) in conjunction with container orchestration systems (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes) to coordinate the construction and deployment of various containers across a number of computing resources. Indeed, containers may include standard units of software that packages code and its dependencies, such that a container node may execute the application stored in the container regardless of the computing environment or infrastructure. As a result, multiple containers can run on the same machine and share an operating system kernel with other containers, such that each container is running as an isolated process in the respective machine. In this way, container orchestration systems that operate in the IT environment build application services operate across multiple computing resources, such that certain applications (e.g., packaged as software containers) may be automatically deployed, scaled, and managed in the same machine or across multiple machines in disparate computing environments.

With this in mind, using container orchestration systems to manage the operations of OT assets may realize many advantages including large scale application deployment, providing updates from managed registries, providing high availability using standby and backup container replicas in different OT assets, and the like. However, OT assets may not be accessible to container orchestration systems, which rely on certain operating systems that are distinct from the operating systems that control the OT assets. Instead, OT assets may be individually programmed and managed by a respective design tool operating in the OT space. For many industrial applications, particularly in the process automation space, a distributed industrial control system may provide multiple remote-control nodes that may access or interface with these OT assets via an OT network. However, the container orchestration systems are not capable to access the remote-control nodes via this OT network to manage these distributed OT assets in the same way they manage their networked IT assets in terms of provisioning, deploying, operating and maintaining the assets throughout their respective lifecycles.

Keeping the foregoing in mind, in certain embodiments, specialized hardware and/or software control systems may be integrated into industrial control systems that operate in the OT space, such that the control systems native to the OT assets may participate in orchestration operations. For example, in one embodiment, the control system may be configured as a worker node that may support a limited number of operations or commands provided by the container orchestration system. That is, the worker node may include an application programming interface (API) that supports receiving certain communications from a master node of the container orchestration system, parsing the communications to determine the requested commands, mapping the requested commands to OT asset commands, and sending the OT asset commands to the respective OT asset.

In another embodiment, a separate computing system may operate using an operating system (e.g., Linux) that enables the computing system to operate as a proxy node that is part of the container orchestration system cluster. In this way, the proxy node may be programmed to execute a container daemon that enables the proxy node to receive containers stored in a container registry and deploy the containers at scale to one or more control systems that control operations of one or more respective OT assets. When deployed in this fashion, the control systems (e.g., controllers) of the respective OT assets may unpack container content, such that the container content may be verified and loaded by the respective control system for execution. In addition, the proxy nodes may provide a bi-directional bridge for coordinating between the OT assets and a master node of the container orchestration system. That is, the proxy node may share state data associated with a control system of an OT asset with the master node of the container orchestration system. Moreover, since the proxy node provides the master node with a view of the operational states of the respective OT asset, the master node may include the OT asset in it scheduling operations to maintain the desired states of a collection of OT assets.

In any case, the embodiments described herein provide systems and method for using industrial control systems (e.g., controllers) that are capable of controlling operations of OT assets in the industrial automation system and participating as a work node or proxy node in a container orchestration system. As such, a more efficient use of OT assets may be coordinated by the container orchestration system, which may automatically control the processes that compose one or more applications across multiple OT assets. The container orchestration system may thus provide services for OT asset managers, such as automatic updates, health monitoring, failover procedures, system resource coordination, and the like, while ensuring that the OT assets continue to perform their respective operations in the industrial automation system. Additional details with regard to coordinating the operations of the container orchestration system with industrial control systems that control OT assets will be discussed below with reference to <FIG>.

By way of introduction, <FIG> is a perspective view of an example industrial automation system <NUM> controlled by one or more industrial control systems <NUM>. The industrial automation system <NUM> includes stations <NUM> having machine components and/or machines to conduct functions within an automated process, such as silicon wafer manufacturing, as is depicted. The automated process may begin at a station 14A used for loading objects, such as substrates, into the industrial automation system <NUM> via a conveyor section <NUM>. The conveyor section <NUM> may transport the objects to a station 14B to perform a first action, such a printing solder paste to the substrate via stenciling. As objects exit from the station 14B, the conveyor section <NUM> may transport the objects to a station 14C for solder paste inspection (SPI) to inspect printer results, to a station 14D, 14E, and 14F for surface mount technology (SMT) component placement, to a station <NUM> for convection reflow oven to melt the solder to make electrical couplings, and finally to a station <NUM> for automated optical inspection (AOI) to inspect the object manufactured (e.g., the manufactured printed circuit board). After the objects proceed through the various stations, the objects may be removed from the station <NUM>, for example, for storage in a warehouse or for shipment. Clearly, for other applications, the particular system, machine components, machines, stations, and/or conveyors may be different or specially adapted to the application.

For example, the industrial automation system <NUM> may include machinery to perform various operations in a compressor station, an oil refinery, a batch operation for making food items, chemical processing operations, brewery operations, mining operations, a mechanized assembly line, and so forth. Accordingly, the industrial automation system <NUM> may include a variety of operational components, such as electric motors, valves, actuators, temperature elements, pressure sensors, or a myriad of machinery or devices used for manufacturing, processing, material handling, and other applications. The industrial automation system <NUM> may also include electrical equipment, hydraulic equipment, compressed air equipment, steam equipment, mechanical tools, protective equipment, refrigeration equipment, power lines, hydraulic lines, steam lines, and the like. Some example types of equipment may include mixers, machine conveyors, tanks, skids, specialized original equipment manufacturer machines, and the like. In addition to the equipment described above, the industrial automation system <NUM> may also include motors, protection devices, switchgear, compressors, and the like. Each of these described operational components may correspond to and/or generate a variety of operational technology (OT) data regarding operation, status, sensor data, operational modes, alarm conditions, or the like, that may be desirable to output for analysis with IT data from an IT network, for storage in an IT network, for analysis with expected operation set points (e.g., thresholds), or the like.

In certain embodiments, one or more properties of the industrial automation system <NUM> equipment, such as the stations <NUM>, may be monitored and controlled by the industrial control systems <NUM> for regulating control variables. For example, sensing devices (e.g., sensors <NUM>) may monitor various properties of the industrial automation system <NUM> and may be used by the industrial control systems <NUM> at least in part in adjusting operations of the industrial automation system <NUM> (e.g., as part of a control loop). In some cases, the industrial automation system <NUM> may be associated with devices used by other equipment. For instance, scanners, gauges, valves, flow meters, and the like may be disposed on or within the industrial automation system <NUM>. Here, the industrial control systems <NUM> may receive data from the associated devices and use the data to perform their respective operations more efficiently. For example, a controller of the industrial automation system <NUM> associated with a motor drive may receive data regarding a temperature of a connected motor and may adjust operations of the motor drive based on the data.

The industrial control systems <NUM> may be communicatively coupled to a display/operator interface <NUM> (e.g., a human-machine interface (HMI)) and to devices of the industrial automation system <NUM>. It should be understood that any suitable number of industrial control systems <NUM> may be used in a particular industrial automation system <NUM> embodiment. The industrial control systems <NUM> may facilitate representing components of the industrial automation system <NUM> through programming objects that may be instantiated and executed to provide simulated functionality similar or identical to the actual components, as well as visualization of the components, or both, on the display/operator interface <NUM>. The programming objects may include code and/or instructions stored in the industrial control systems <NUM> and executed by processing circuitry of the industrial control systems <NUM>. The processing circuitry may communicate with memory circuitry to permit the storage of the component visualizations.

As illustrated, a display/operator interface <NUM> depicts representations <NUM> of the components of the industrial automation system <NUM>. The industrial control system <NUM> may use data transmitted by sensors <NUM> to update visualizations of the components via changing one or more statuses, states, and/or indications of current operations of the components. These sensors <NUM> may be any suitable device adapted to provide information regarding process conditions. Indeed, the sensors <NUM> may be used in a process loop (e.g., control loop) that may be monitored and controlled by the industrial control system <NUM>. As such, a process loop may be activated based on process inputs (e.g., an input from the sensor <NUM>) or direct input from a person via the display/operator interface <NUM>. The person operating and/or monitoring the industrial automation system <NUM> may reference the display/operator interface <NUM> to determine various statuses, states, and/or current operations of the industrial automation system <NUM> and/or for a particular component. Furthermore, the person operating and/or monitoring the industrial automation system <NUM> may adjust to various components to start, stop, power-down, power-on, or otherwise adjust an operation of one or more components of the industrial automation system <NUM> through interactions with control panels or various input devices.

The industrial automation system <NUM> may be considered a data-rich environment with several processes and operations that each respectively generate a variety of data. For example, the industrial automation system <NUM> may be associated with material data (e.g., data corresponding to substrate or raw material properties or characteristics), parametric data (e.g., data corresponding to machine and/or station performance, such as during operation of the industrial automation system <NUM>), test results data (e.g., data corresponding to various quality control tests performed on a final or intermediate product of the industrial automation system <NUM>), or the like, that may be organized and sorted as OT data. In addition, sensors <NUM> may gather OT data indicative of one or more operations of the industrial automation system <NUM> or the industrial control system <NUM>. In this way, the OT data may be analog data or digital data indicative of measurements, statuses, alarms, or the like associated with operation of the industrial automation system <NUM> or the industrial control system <NUM>.

The industrial control systems <NUM> described above may operate in an OT space in which OT data is used to monitor and control OT assets, such as the equipment illustrated in the stations <NUM> of the industrial automation system <NUM> or other industrial equipment The OT space, environment, or network generally includes direct monitoring and control operations that are coordinated by the industrial control system <NUM> and a corresponding OT asset. For example, a programmable logic controller (PLC) may operate in the OT network to control operations of an OT asset (e.g., drive, motor). The industrial control systems <NUM> may be specifically programmed or configured to communicate directly with the respective OT assets.

A container orchestration system <NUM>, on the other hand, may operate in an information technology (IT) environment. That is, the container orchestration system <NUM> may include a cluster of multiple computing devices that coordinates an automatic process of managing or scheduling work of individual containers for applications within the computing devices of the cluster. In other words, the container orchestration system <NUM> may be used to automate various tasks at scale across multiple computing devices. By way of example, the container orchestration system <NUM> may automate tasks such as configuring and scheduling of containers, provisioning and deployments of containers, determining availability of containers, configuring applications in terms of the containers that they run in, scaling of containers to equally balance application workloads across an infrastructure, allocating resources between containers, performing load balancing, traffic routing and service discovery of containers, performing health monitoring of containers, securing the interactions between containers, and the like. In any case, the container orchestration system <NUM> may use configuration files to determine a network protocol to facilitate communication between containers, a storage location to save logs, and the like. The container orchestration system <NUM> may also schedule deployment of containers into clusters and identify a host (e.g., node) that may be best suited for executing the container. After the host is identified, the container orchestration system <NUM> may manage the lifecycle of the container based on predetermined specifications.

With the foregoing in mind, it should be noted that containers refer to technology for packaging an application along with its runtime dependencies. That is, containers include applications that are decoupled from an underlying host infrastructure (e.g., operating system). By including the run time dependencies with the container, the container may perform in the same manner regardless of the host in which it is operating. In some embodiments, containers may be stored in a container registry <NUM> as container images <NUM>. The container registry <NUM> may be any suitable data storage or database that may be accessible to the container orchestration system <NUM>. The container image <NUM> may correspond to an executable software package that includes the tools and data employed to execute a respective application. That is, the container image <NUM> may include related code for operating the application, application libraries, system libraries, runtime tools, default values for various settings, and the like.

By way of example, an integrated development environment (IDE) tool may be employed by a user to create a deployment configuration file that specifies a desired state for the collection of nodes of the container orchestration system <NUM>. The deployment configuration file may be stored in the container registry <NUM> along with the respective container images <NUM> associated with the deployment configuration file. The deployment configuration file may include a list of different pods and a number of replicas for each pod that should be operating within the container orchestration system <NUM> at any given time. Each pod may correspond to a logical unit of an application, which may be associated with one or more containers. The container orchestration system <NUM> may coordinate the distribution and execution of the pods listed in the deployment configuration file, such that the desired state is continuously met. In some embodiments, the container orchestration system <NUM> may include a master node that retrieves the deployment configuration files from the container registry <NUM>, schedules the deployment of pods to the connected nodes, and ensures that the desired state specified in the deployment configuration file is met. For instance, if a pod stops operating on one node, the master node may receive a notification from the respective worker node that is no longer executing the pod and deploy the pod to another worker node to ensure that the desired state is present across the cluster of nodes.

As mentioned above, the container orchestration system <NUM> may include a cluster of computing devices, computing systems, or container nodes that may work together to achieve certain specifications or states, as designated in the respective container. In some embodiments, container nodes <NUM> may be integrated within industrial control systems <NUM> as shown in <FIG>. That is, container nodes <NUM> may be implemented by the industrial control systems <NUM>, such that they appear as worker nodes to the master node in the container orchestration system <NUM>. In this way, the master node of the container orchestration system <NUM> may send commands to the container nodes <NUM> that are also configured to perform applications and operations for the respective industrial equipment.

With this in mind, the container nodes <NUM> may be integrated with the industrial control systems <NUM>, such that they serve as passive-indirect participants, passive-direct participants, or active participants of the container orchestration system <NUM>. As passive-indirect participants, the container nodes <NUM> may respond to a subset of all of the commands that may be issued by the container orchestration system <NUM>. In this way, the container nodes <NUM> may support limited container lifecycle features, such as receiving pods, executing the pods, updating a respective filesystem to included software packages for execution by the industrial control system <NUM>, and reporting the status of the pods to the master node of the container orchestration system <NUM>. The limited features implementable by the container nodes <NUM> that operate in the passive-indirect mode may be limited to commands that the respective industrial control system <NUM> may implement using native commands that map directly to the commands received by the master node of the container orchestration system <NUM>. Moreover, the container node <NUM> operating in the passive-indirect mode of operation may not be capable to push the packages or directly control the operation of the industrial control system <NUM> to execute the package. Instead, the industrial control system <NUM> may periodically check the file system of the container node <NUM> and retrieve the new package at that time for execution.

As passive-direct participants, the container nodes <NUM> may operate as a node that is part of the cluster of nodes for the container orchestration system <NUM>. As such, the container node <NUM> may support the full container lifecycle features. That is, container node <NUM> operating in the passive-direct mode may unpack a container image and push the resultant package to the industrial control system <NUM>, such that the industrial control system <NUM> executes the package in response to receiving it from the container node <NUM>. As such, the container orchestration system <NUM> may have access to a worker node that may directly implement commands received from the master node onto the industrial control system <NUM>.

In the active participant mode, the container node <NUM> may include a computing module or system that hosts an operating system (e.g., Linux) that may continuously operate a container host daemon that may participate in the management of container operations. As such, the active participant container node <NUM> may perform any operations that the master node of the container orchestration system <NUM> may perform. By including a container node <NUM> operating in the OT space, the container orchestration system <NUM> is capable of extending its management operations into the OT space. That is, the container node <NUM> may provision devices in the OT space, serve as a proxy node <NUM> to provide bi-directional coordination between the IT space and the OT space, and the like. For instance, the container node <NUM> operating as the proxy node <NUM> may intercept orchestration commands and cause industrial control system <NUM> to implement appropriate machine control routines based on the commands. The industrial control system <NUM> may confirm the machine state to the proxy node <NUM>, which may then reply to the master node of the container orchestration system <NUM> on behalf of the industrial control system <NUM>.

Additionally, the industrial control system <NUM> may share an OT device tree via the proxy node <NUM>. As such, the proxy node <NUM> may provide the master node with state data, address data, descriptive metadata, versioning data, certificate data, key information, and other relevant parameters concerning the industrial control system <NUM>. Moreover, the proxy node <NUM> may issue requests targeted to other industrial control systems <NUM> to control other OT devices. For instance, the proxy node <NUM> may translate and forward commands to a target OT device using one or more OT communication protocols, may translate and receive replies from the OT devices, and the like. As such, the proxy node <NUM> may perform health checks, provide configuration updates, send firmware patches, execute key refreshes, and other OT operations for other OT devices.

With the foregoing in mind, <FIG> is a block diagram of an example industrial control system <NUM> that may be used with the embodiments described herein. The industrial control system <NUM> may include a communication component <NUM>, a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a storage <NUM>, input/output (I/O) ports <NUM>, a display <NUM>, and the like. The communication component <NUM> may be a wireless or wired communication component that facilitates communication between the container orchestration system <NUM> and the industrial control system <NUM>, or any other suitable electronic device. The processor <NUM> may be any type of computer processor or microprocessor capable of executing computer- executable code. The processor <NUM> may also include multiple processors that may perform the operations described below.

The memory <NUM> and the storage <NUM> may be any suitable article of manufacture that may serve as media to store processor-executable code, data, or the like. These articles of manufacture may represent computer-readable media (i.e., any suitable form of memory or storage) that may store the processor-executable code used by the processor <NUM> to perform the presently disclosed techniques. The memory <NUM> and the storage <NUM> may represent non-transitory computer-readable media (e.g., any suitable form of memory or storage) that may store the processor-executable code used by the processor <NUM> to perform various techniques described herein. It should be noted that non-transitory merely indicates that the media is tangible and not a signal.

The I/O ports <NUM> may couple to one or more sensors <NUM>, one or more input devices, one or more displays, or the like to facilitate human or machine interaction with the industrial control system <NUM>. For example, based on a notification provided to a user via a display <NUM>, the user may use an input device to instruct the adjustment of an OT device.

The display <NUM>, as discussed above, may operate to depict visualizations associated with software or executable code being processed by the processor <NUM>. In one embodiment, the display <NUM> may be a touch display capable of receiving inputs from a user of the industrial control system <NUM>. The display <NUM> may be any suitable type of display, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma display, or an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, for example. Additionally, in one embodiment, the display <NUM> may be provided in conjunction with a touch-sensitive mechanism (e.g., a touch screen) that may function as part of a control interface for the industrial control system <NUM>.

Although <FIG> is depicted with respect to the industrial control system <NUM>, it should be noted that the container orchestration system <NUM>, the container nodes <NUM>, and the proxy node <NUM> may also include the same or similar components to perform, or facilitate performing, the various techniques described herein. Moreover, it should be understood that the components described with respect to <FIG> are exemplary figures and the industrial control system <NUM> and other suitable computing systems may include additional or fewer components as detailed above.

With the foregoing in mind, <FIG> illustrates a block diagram that depicts the relative positions of the container node <NUM> and the proxy node <NUM> with respect to the container orchestration system <NUM>. As mentioned above, the container orchestration system <NUM> may include a collection of nodes that are used to achieve a desired state of one or more containers across multiple nodes. As shown in <FIG>, the container orchestration system <NUM> may include a master node <NUM> that may execute control plane processes for the container orchestration system <NUM>. The control plane processes may include the processes that enable the container orchestration system <NUM> to coordinate operations of the container nodes <NUM> to meet the desired states. As such, the master node may execute an applications programming interface (API) for the container orchestration system <NUM>, a scheduler component, core resources controllers, and the like. By way of example, the master container node <NUM> may coordinate all of the interactions between nodes of the cluster that make up the container orchestration system <NUM>. Indeed, the master container node <NUM> may be responsible for deciding the operations that will run on container nodes <NUM> including scheduling workloads (e.g., containerized applications), managing the workloads' lifecycle, scaling, and upgrades, managing network and storage resources for the workloads, and the like. The master container node <NUM> may run an API server to handle requests and status updates received from the container nodes <NUM>.

By way of operation, an integrated development environment (IDE) tool <NUM> may be used by an operator to develop a deployment configuration file <NUM>. As mentioned above, the deployment configuration file <NUM> may include details regarding the containers, the pods, constraints for operating the containers/pods, and other information that describe a desired state of the containers specified in the deployment configuration file <NUM>. In some embodiments, the deployment configuration file <NUM> may be generated in a YAML file, a JSON file, or other suitable file format that is compatible with the container orchestration system <NUM>. After the IDE tool <NUM> generates the deployment configuration file <NUM>, the IDE tool <NUM> may transmit the deployment configuration file <NUM> to the container registry <NUM>, which may store the file along with container images <NUM> representative of the containers stored in the deployment configuration file <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the master container node <NUM> may receive the deployment configuration file <NUM> via the container registry <NUM>, directly from the IDE tool <NUM>, or the like. The master container node <NUM> may use the deployment configuration file <NUM> to determine a location to gather the container images <NUM>, determine communication protocols to use to establish networking between container nodes <NUM>, determine locations for mounting storage volumes, locations to store logs for the containers, and the like.

Based on the desired state provided in the deployment configuration file <NUM>, the master container node <NUM> may deploy containers to the container host nodes <NUM>. That is, the master container node <NUM> may schedule the deployment of a container based on constraints (e.g., CPU or memory availability) provided in the deployment configuration file <NUM>. After the containers are operating on the container nodes <NUM>, the master container node <NUM> may manage the lifecycle of the containers to ensure that the containers specified by the deployment configuration file <NUM> is operating according to the specified constraints and the desired state.

Keeping the foregoing in mind, the industrial control system <NUM> may not use an operating system (OS) that is compatible with the container orchestration system <NUM>. That is, the container orchestration system <NUM> may be configured to operate in the IT space that involves the flow of digital information. In contrast, the industrial control system <NUM> may operate in the OT space that involves managing the operation of physical processes and the machinery used to perform those processes. For example, the OT space may involve communications that are formatted according to OT communication protocols, such as FactoryTalk Live Data, EtherNet/IP. Common Industrial Protocol (CIP), OPC Direct Access (e.g., machine to machine communication protocol for industrial automation developed by the OPC Foundation), or any suitable OT communication protocol (e.g. DNP3, Modbus, Profibus, LonWorks, DALI, BACnet, KNX, EnOcean). Since the industrial control systems <NUM> operate in the OT space, the industrial control systems are not capable of implementing commands received via the container orchestration system <NUM>.

In certain embodiments, the container node <NUM> may be programmed or implemented in the industrial control system <NUM> to serve as a node agent that can register the industrial control system <NUM> with the master container node <NUM>. For example, the industrial control system <NUM> may include a programmable logic controller (PLC) that cannot support an operating system (e.g., Linux) for receiving and/or implementing requested operations issued by the container orchestration system <NUM>. However, the PLC may perform certain operations that may be mapped to certain container events. As such, the container node <NUM> may include software and/or hardware components that may map certain events or commands received from the master container node <NUM> into actions that may be performed by the PLC. After converting the received command into a command interpretable by the PLC, the container node <NUM> may forward the mapped command to the PLC that may implement the mapped command. As such, the container node <NUM> may operate as part of the cluster of nodes that make up the container orchestration system <NUM>, while a control system <NUM> (e.g., PLC) that coordinates the OT operations for an OT device <NUM> in the industrial control system <NUM>. The control system <NUM> may include a controller, such as a programmable logic controller (PLC), a programmable automation controller (PAC), or any other controller that may monitor, control, and operate an industrial automation device or component.

The industrial automation device or component may correspond to an OT device <NUM>. The OT device <NUM> may include any suitable industrial device that operates in the OT space. As such, the OT device <NUM> may be involved in adjusting physical processes being implemented via the industrial system <NUM>. In some embodiments, the OT device <NUM> may include motor control centers, motors, human machine interfaces (HMIs), operator interfaces, contactors, starters, sensors, drives, relays, protection devices, switchgear, compressors, network switches (e.g., Ethernet switches, modular-managed, fixed-managed, service-router, industrial, unmanaged, etc.) and the like. In addition, the OT device <NUM> may also be related to various industrial equipment such as mixers, machine conveyors, tanks, skids, specialized original equipment manufacturer machines, and the like. The OT device <NUM> may also be associated with devices used by the equipment such as scanners, gauges, valves, flow meters, and the like. In one embodiment, every aspect of the OT device <NUM> may be controlled or operated by the control system <NUM>.

In the present embodiments described herein, the control system <NUM> may thus perform actions based on commands received from the container node <NUM>. By mapping certain container lifecycle states into appropriate corresponding actions implementable by the control system <NUM>, the container node <NUM> enables program content for the industrial control system <NUM> to be containerized, published to certain registries, and deployed using the master container node <NUM>, thereby bridging the gap between the IT-based container orchestrations system <NUM> and the OT-based industrial control system <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates a data flow diagram <NUM> that tracks the deployment of a container using the master container node <NUM> and the container node <NUM> described above with reference to <FIG>. At step <NUM>, the IDE tool <NUM> may create a deployment of the deployment configuration file <NUM> to the master container node <NUM>. After receiving the deployment configuration file <NUM>, the master container node <NUM> may identify a container node <NUM> that may fit the constraint specifications (e.g., memory, CPU availability) provided in the deployment configuration file <NUM>. That is, the master container node <NUM> performs scheduling operations that involve checking the state data for each node of the container orchestration system <NUM>, determining whether a suitable node exists for the constraints provided in the deployment configuration file <NUM>, and the like.

After identifying the suitable container node, at step <NUM>, the master container node <NUM> may schedule the deployment of the container to the respective container node <NUM>. At step <NUM>, the master container node <NUM> may deploy a pod to the container node <NUM>, which may cause the container node <NUM> to retrieve a container image <NUM> from the container registry <NUM> at step <NUM>. In this way, the container node <NUM> is configured to receive pods from the master container node <NUM> and execute the pods, although the control system <NUM> of the industrial control system <NUM> may not be able to execute the pod. After pulling the container image <NUM> from the container registry <NUM>, the container node <NUM> may, at step <NUM>, run the container image <NUM> or unpack the container image <NUM> and store an application or operation executable by the control system <NUM> in a file system. At step <NUM>, the control system <NUM> may check the file system of the container node <NUM> for updates or newly stored packages. At step <NUM>, the control system <NUM> may retrieve the stored package that may include the container scheduled for operation by the control system <NUM> by the master container node <NUM> at step <NUM>. At step <NUM>, the control system <NUM> may execute the package retrieved from the file system of the container node <NUM>. The container node <NUM> may then monitor the operations of the package being executed on the control system <NUM>, the state (e.g., memory, CPU usage) of the control system <NUM> and send updates to the master container node <NUM>. If the container node <NUM> sends an updated indicative of the package no longer executing the package, the master container node <NUM> may schedule deployment of another pod to another container node <NUM> for execution to maintain the desired state.

Keeping the foregoing in mind, <FIG> illustrates a method <NUM> in which the container node <NUM> may implement to coordinate activities via the master container node <NUM> of the container orchestration system <NUM>. Although the following description of the method <NUM> is described as being performed by the container node <NUM>, it should be understood that any suitable container node that is configured to interface with the cluster of nodes of the container orchestration system <NUM> and the industrial control system <NUM> may perform the operations described herein. In addition, although the method <NUM> is described in particular order, it should be understood that the method <NUM> may be performed in any suitable order.

Referring now to <FIG>, at block <NUM>, the container node <NUM> may receive a pod from the master container node <NUM>. As mentioned above, pods may include one or more containers that are deployed to a host (e.g., container node <NUM>). In some embodiments, the pod may operate to specify coordinated operations between a group of containers. The pod may include an indication or reference to a storage location for one or more container images <NUM> related to the pod. In some embodiments, the container images <NUM> may be stored in the container registry <NUM>. As such, the pod may provide an indication of a network address or other address for accessing a memory location in the container registry <NUM>.

After receiving the pod from the master container node <NUM>, at block <NUM>, the container node <NUM> may download the related container images <NUM> from the container registry <NUM>. The container image <NUM>, as mentioned above, represents data that encapsulates an application and its software dependencies. The container images <NUM> may be executable software bundles that may execute as standalone software without regard to the operating system that the corresponding container node <NUM> is using. In some embodiments, the container node <NUM> may receive the container images directly from the container registry <NUM>, via the master container node <NUM>, or any other suitable communication schemes.

After receiving the container images <NUM>, at block <NUM>, the container node <NUM> may run or unpack the container images <NUM> and determine commands that may be performed by the control system <NUM> based on the container images <NUM>. That is, the container images <NUM> may include software applications that are executable by container nodes <NUM>. However, the software applications may not be executable by the control system <NUM>. As such, the container node <NUM> may determine commands for the control system <NUM> that correspond to the software applications encapsulated in the container images <NUM>. In some embodiments, certain operations in the software applications may be mapped to certain operations that may be performed by the control system <NUM>. For example, software application commands for create, run, start, pause, stop, and delete may map to download, download/run, run, idle, and unload commands, respectively, which may be performed by the control system <NUM>.

After determining the commands that may be implemented by the control system <NUM> based on the container images <NUM>, at block <NUM>, the container node <NUM> may generate a package that may be retrieved and executed by the control system <NUM>. That is, the container node <NUM> may organize or structure the determined commands into a software package that may be used by the control system <NUM>. For example, if the control system <NUM> corresponds to a PLC, the package may be organized according to a programming structure (e.g. ladder logic) that the PLC may use to program itself.

At block <NUM>, the container node <NUM> may store the package in a memory or filesystem that is accessible to the control system <NUM>. In some embodiments, the container node <NUM> may not be capable of interfacing directly with the control system <NUM>. However, the container node <NUM> may provide the control system <NUM> with access to its memory or storage components, such that the control system <NUM> may retrieve the stored package. The control system <NUM> may be programmed to periodically (e.g., daily, hourly) check the filesystem for updates or new packages available for downloading.

It should be noted that the method <NUM> may describe a passive-indirect mode of operation for the container node <NUM> as part of the container orchestration system <NUM>. That is, the container node <NUM> is limited to performing a subset of commands that may be provided by the master container node <NUM>, as opposed to performing all of the commands that nodes that are part of the container orchestration system <NUM> are capable of performing. Moreover, the container node <NUM> may not be able to perform all of the lifecycle operations provided in a container. For example, the container node <NUM> may facilitate a package download operation for the control system <NUM>, as described above, but it may not be able to perform every function specified in the container if the control system <NUM> does not have a corresponding operation that can be mapped to the respective container lifecycle operation.

In some embodiments, the container node <NUM> may operate in a passive-direct mode of operation in which the container node <NUM> may participate as a node in the container orchestration system <NUM>. As such, the container node <NUM> may support a full set of container lifecycle operations. That is, since the control system <NUM> may be capable of implementing a limited set of commands provided by the master container node <NUM>, the container node <NUM> may be implemented or executed by a sidecar compute module that may host a container host daemon that may perform the full suite of operations that a node in the container orchestration system <NUM> may perform. As such, the sidecar compute module may be any suitable computing system that is capable of executing an operating system (OS), such that commands received from the master container node <NUM> may be implemented by the respective sidecar compute module.

By implementing the container node <NUM> in the sidecar compute module, the container node <NUM> may be operating as a node that is part of the container orchestration system <NUM> but operating in the OT space. As a result, the container node <NUM> may extend the functions available via the container orchestration system <NUM> to OT devices <NUM> that are not typically visible to the master container node <NUM> of the container orchestration system <NUM>. To operate in the passive-direct mode, the container node <NUM> may include applications and/or APIs that interface directly with the control system <NUM> and the master container node <NUM>. As such, the container node <NUM> may provide a bi-directional bridge of communication between the control system <NUM> and the master container node <NUM>. In some embodiments, the container node <NUM> may include an API that translates the OT data received from the control system <NUM> into IT data that may be interpretable by the master container node <NUM>. As such, the container node <NUM> may provide the master container node <NUM> with visibility into the operations and states of the OT devices <NUM> operating in the OT space.

With this in mind, <FIG> illustrates a method <NUM> for the container node <NUM> directly sending packages to the control system <NUM> and machine state data to the master container node <NUM> in accordance with embodiments described herein. Like the method <NUM> described above, the following description of the method <NUM> may be performed by any suitable computing system and any suitable order. It should be noted that the method <NUM> described below corresponds to operating the container node <NUM> in the passive-direct mode of operation. As such, the container node <NUM> may receive and interpret orchestration commands received from the master container node <NUM> or the like and directly interface with the control system <NUM> to verify that the control system <NUM> is operating at the desired state.

Referring to <FIG>, at block <NUM>, the container node <NUM> may receive an orchestration command from the master container node <NUM> or some other node that is part of the container orchestration system <NUM>. The orchestration command may include an instruction regarding one or more containers that the control system <NUM> should currently be executing. As such, the orchestration command may be part of a monitor function that causes the container node <NUM> to verify that the machine state data of the control system <NUM> corresponds to an expected machine state, as specified by the deployment configuration file <NUM>.

At block <NUM>, the container node <NUM> may retrieve machine state data from the control system <NUM>. The machine state data may include current operational state (e.g., active, inactive) of the respective OT device controlled by the control system <NUM>, available processing resources (e.g., CPU availability), available memory resources (e.g., storage, RAM), and the like. The machine state data may also indicate whether any containers are being executed by the control system <NUM>. As such, the machine state data may be reported back to the master container node <NUM> to ensure that the desired state specified by the deployment configuration file <NUM> is present.

To receive the machine state data, the container node <NUM> may send requests to the control system <NUM> via an appropriate OT communication protocol. In response to receiving the requests, the control system <NUM> may query a database, memory cell, or other suitable storage that may include information regarding the requested data. After retrieving the requested information, the control system <NUM> may send the requested data to the container node <NUM> using the same OT communication protocol on which it received the request.

In some embodiments, the container node <NUM> may be embedded or integrated into one or more cores of the control system <NUM>. As such, the container node <NUM> may communicate data with portions of the control system <NUM> using onboard communication methodologies. Alternatively, the container node <NUM> may directly retrieve the machine state data from the respective memory locations.

After receiving the machine state data from the control system <NUM>, the container node <NUM> may, at block <NUM>, determine whether the control system <NUM> is operating at a desired state based on the deployment configuration file <NUM>. In the present embodiment, the container node <NUM> may evaluate whether the control system <NUM> is executing the containers, as specified in the deployment configuration file <NUM>. That is, since the container node <NUM> may execute the container daemon host, the container node <NUM> may participate in the management of the containers distributed throughout the container orchestration system <NUM> by monitoring the machine state data of the control system <NUM>.

If the control system <NUM> is operating in the desired state, the container node <NUM> may proceed to block <NUM> and send the machine state data to the master container node <NUM>. The master container node <NUM> may then check whether other container nodes <NUM> are achieving the desire states.

If, however, the container node <NUM> determines that the control system <NUM> is not operating in the desired state, the container node <NUM> may proceed to block <NUM> and generate a package that may cause the control system <NUM> to modify its operations to execute the corresponding pod and the containers therein. After generating the package, the container node <NUM> may send the package directly to the control system <NUM> to execute. In this way, the container node <NUM> operate in the passive-direct mode because the container node <NUM> may directly send commands that cause the control system <NUM> to change operations. For example, instead of the control system <NUM> periodically checking the filesystem, as described above with respect to <FIG> (e.g., passive-indirect mode), the control system <NUM> may directly interface with the container node <NUM> and receive commands that may cause it to adjust operations of a connected device (e.g., OT device), execute received packages, and the like. As such, the container node <NUM> may push packages, firmware updates, OT device credential updates, security updates, encryption keys, and other data to the control system <NUM> at any given time. That is, the container system <NUM> may generate an event notification that causes an API or other component of the control system <NUM> to react in response to detecting the event notification. In this way, the container node <NUM> may actively participate in the coordination of containers with a respective control system <NUM> based on orchestration commands received passively from the master container node <NUM> or the like.

By employing the container nodes <NUM> to enable the container orchestration system <NUM> to implement software containers on control systems <NUM>, the present embodiments described herein may allow for coordinating control of a number of control systems <NUM> and a number of OT devices <NUM> to control operations in the industrial automation system <NUM>. That is, desired machine states may include desired operating parameters for industrial equipment, and the container orchestration system <NUM> may monitor the available industrial equipment resources to ensure that the desired machine states are continuously being achieved by coordinating activities via the container nodes <NUM> communicatively coupled to the control systems <NUM>.

In addition to operating in the passive-indirect mode and the passive-direct mode, the container node <NUM> may operate in an active mode, such that the container node may invoke container orchestration commands for other container nodes <NUM>. For example, referring back to <FIG>, a proxy node <NUM> may operate as a proxy or gateway node that is part of the container orchestration system <NUM>. The proxy node <NUM> may be implemented in a sidecar computing module that has an operating system (OS) that supports the container host daemon. In another embodiment, the proxy node <NUM> may be implemented directly on a core of the control system <NUM> that is configured (e.g., partitioned), such that the control system <NUM> may operate using an operating system that allows the container node <NUM> to execute orchestration commands and serve as part of the container orchestration system <NUM>. In either case, the proxy node <NUM> may serve as a bi-directional bridge for IT/OT orchestration that enables automation functions to be performed in IT devices based on OT data and in OT devices <NUM> based on IT data. For instance, the proxy node <NUM> may acquire OT device tree data, state data for an OT device, descriptive metadata associated with corresponding OT data, versioning data for OT devices <NUM>, certificatelkey data for the OT device, and other relevant OT data via OT communication protocols. The proxy node <NUM> may then translate the OT data into IT data that may be formatted to enable the master container node <NUM> to extract relevant data (e.g., machine state data) to perform scheduling operations and to ensure that the container orchestration system <NUM> and the connected control systems <NUM> are operating at the desired state. Based on the results of its scheduling operations, the master container node <NUM> may issue supervisory control commands to targeted OT devices via the proxy nodes <NUM>, which may translate and forward the translated commands to the respective control system <NUM> via the appropriate OT communication protocol.

In addition, the proxy node <NUM> may also perform certain supervisory operations based on its analysis of the machine state data of the respective control system <NUM>. As a result of its analysis, the proxy node <NUM> may issue commands and/or pods to other nodes that are part of the container orchestration system <NUM>. For example, referring to <FIG>, the proxy node <NUM> may send instructions or pods to other worker container nodes <NUM> that may be part of the container orchestration system <NUM>. The worker container nodes <NUM> may corresponds to other container nodes <NUM> that are communicatively coupled to other control systems <NUM> for controlling other OT devices <NUM>. In this way, the proxy node <NUM> may translate or forward commands directly to other control systems <NUM> via certain OT communication protocols or indirectly via the other worker container nodes <NUM> associated with the other control systems <NUM>. In addition, the proxy node <NUM> may receive replies from the control systems <NUM> via the OT communication protocol and translate the replies, such that the nodes in the container orchestration system <NUM> may interpret the replies. In this way, the container orchestration system <NUM> may effectively perform health checks, send configuration updates, provide firmware patches, execute key refreshes, and provide other services to OT devices <NUM> in a coordinated fashion. That is, the proxy node <NUM> may enable the container orchestration system to coordinate the activities of multiple control systems <NUM> and <NUM> to achieve a collection of desired machine states for the connected OT devices <NUM> and <NUM>.

In addition to coordinating the communication between the IT system and the OT system, the container orchestration system <NUM> may also be used to implement functions-as-a-service (FaaS) operations or serverless functions using the embodiments described herein. More specifically, the master container node <NUM> may distribute FaaS operations across one or more control systems <NUM> using respective worker container nodes or the like. In this way, the container orchestration system <NUM> may leverage the available resources of the control systems <NUM> in the OT space to coordinate various OT operations.

By way of introduction, serverless functions or FaaS operations corresponds to a computing scheme that allows certain logic or applications (e.g., packages, containers) be executed without regard to the available computing resources available on a respective device. In other words, regardless of the current state (e.g., CPU availability, memory availability, line availability, device availability) of a control system <NUM>, the master container node <NUM> may identify a worker container node <NUM> and/or a control system <NUM> to host and/or execute an application. The FaaS operations may, in some embodiments, be triggered based on an asynchronous event that occurs in another system (e.g., control system <NUM>). For example, the master container node <NUM> monitor incoming messages from other container nodes of the container orchestration system <NUM> for events, triggers, or notifications that may cause a FaaS operation to execute. Additionally, the master container node <NUM> may monitor shared filesystems for new files, rows added to database tables, data added to a database, or the like. The master container node <NUM> may also listen for API endpoint calls (e.g., GET, POST, PUT, Delete) or any other suitable triggering event. In any case, the master container node <NUM> may employ a function (e.g., executing application) that continuously (e.g., periodically) monitors an external system for a change of state that corresponds to causing another application to execute.

Keeping this in mind, <FIG> illustrates a method <NUM> for performing an example FaaS operation using the embodiments described herein. By way of example, the method <NUM> described below will be detailed as being performed by the master container node <NUM>. However, it should be noted that any suitable container node capable of coordinating activities of nodes in the container orchestration system <NUM>, such as the proxy node <NUM>, may perform the method <NUM>. In addition, although the following description of the method <NUM> is described in a particular order, it should be understood that the method <NUM> may be performed in any suitable order.

Referring now to <FIG>, the master container node <NUM> may, at block <NUM>, receive an event-based notification from the container node <NUM>, the worker container node <NUM>, or other suitable node in the container orchestration system <NUM>. In some embodiments, the event-based notification may be related to condition or state that corresponds to the control system <NUM>, the OT device <NUM>, or the like. As such, the event-based notification may correspond to a state that meets some condition, exceeds some threshold, falls below some threshold, or the like. For instance, the event-based notification may be related to conditions related to computing properties (e.g., CPU availability) associated with the control system <NUM>, machine availability (e.g., available, unavailable) of the OT device <NUM>, or other variables being detected by the control system <NUM>. As such, the event-based notification may be generated by the control system <NUM> and reported to the container node <NUM>, which may translate the event-based notification into a format that may be interpretable by the master container node <NUM>.

At block <NUM>, the master container node <NUM> may determine analytic operations or logic operations that are to be performed based on the event-based notification. That is, the master container node <NUM> may monitor for the event-based notification, which may cause the master container node <NUM> to execute an application or function (e.g., container) in response to receiving the event-based notification. In some embodiments, the invoked function may involve performing certain analytic operations for data stored on various devices (e.g., OT devices, control systems). For example, if the event-based notification is related to the OT device <NUM> overheating or the respective control system <NUM> detecting a temperature associated with the OT device <NUM> exceeding a threshold, the master container node <NUM> may perform analytic operations to determine the average increase in temperature for a number of OT devices for some period of time (e.g., <NUM> hours).

To perform the analytic operations, the master container node <NUM> may identify one or more functions (e.g., equations, processes), one or more variables, and other data elements that may be involved in performing the analytics. In some embodiments, the master container node <NUM> may execute a container in response to receiving the event-based notification, and the container may include relevant information regarding the analytic operations to be performed, the functions used to perform the analytic operations, the variable or data involved for completing the analytic operations, and the like. Part of the information or data that may be used to perform the analytic operations may include pre-analytic data. The pre-analytic data may include certain datasets that have been pre-processed or collected to facilitate the higher-level analytic operations. Referring again to the example provided above, to determine the average increase in temperature for a number of OT devices, the pre-analytic data may include an average increase in temperature for one OT device over the period of time.

With this in mind, the container employed to perform the analytic operations may cause the master container node <NUM> to determine whether other nodes of the container orchestration system <NUM> may perform certain pre-analytic operations. Alternatively, the container may include a list of commands or instructions for other container nodes <NUM> to perform the respective pre-analytic operations. In any case, based on the instructions provided by the respective container, the master container node <NUM> may, at block <NUM>, determine the pre-analytic operations that are related to the analytic operations determined at block <NUM>.

After determining the pre-analytic operations to be performed by various container nodes <NUM> or other industrial control systems <NUM>, the master container node <NUM> may, at block <NUM>, generate or retrieve one or more pods for deployment to one or more container nodes <NUM>. The pods may include executable instructions that cause the respective container nodes <NUM> to retrieve the respective container images <NUM> associated with the pods, as described above with respect to <FIG>. In some embodiments, the pods may be stored as part of the container that specifies the container nodes <NUM> and/or the control systems <NUM> that may perform the respective pre-analytic operations.

In some embodiments, prior to deploying the pods, the master container node <NUM> may, at block <NUM>, identify the control system <NUM> that may perform the pre-analytic operations. That is, the master container node <NUM> may schedule the deployment of the pods based on the constraints associated with the container orchestration system <NUM>. For instance, the master container node <NUM> may confirm that deploying the pods and causing the respective control system <NUM> to perform the pre-analytic operations would still allow the control system <NUM> to maintain a machine state that corresponds to defined constraints of the deployment configuration file <NUM>. As such, the master container node <NUM> may schedule the deployment of the pod at a specific time or such that the pod invokes the control system <NUM> at a time in which the control system <NUM> may perform the pre-analytic operations while preserving a desired machine state. If a respective container node <NUM> indicates to the master container node <NUM> that the control system <NUM> may not be able to perform the pre-analytic operations, the master container node <NUM> may deploy other pods to one or more other container nodes <NUM> to retrieve raw data from the unavailable control system <NUM> (e.g., via one or more intermediate container nodes <NUM>), such that other control systems <NUM> may perform the pre-analytic operations. Indeed, the master container node <NUM> may confirm that the other control systems <NUM> may perform the respective pre-analytic operations based on the respective machine state data received via the respective other container nodes <NUM>. As such, the coordination of the pre-analytic operation commands may be facilitated by the master container node <NUM> and its native scheduling operations as part of the container orchestration system <NUM>.

After identifying the appropriate container node <NUM>, the master container node <NUM> may send the pod to the respective container node <NUM>. The container node <NUM> may then pull the container image associated with the received pod and store an associated package on the filesystem shared with the control system <NUM> or send the package directly to the control system <NUM> (e.g., via passive-direct mode, active mode operation) to implement.

After the control system <NUM> performs the pre-analytic operations and acquires the pre-analytic data, the master container node <NUM> may, at block <NUM>, receive the pre-analytic data from the container node <NUM>. As discussed above, the container node <NUM> may receive the pre-analytic data via OT communication protocols and translate the received data into a format interpretable by the master container node <NUM>. Since the pre-analytic data is processed close to the source of the data and organized as the pre-analytic data, the amount of data that is sent to the master container node <NUM> is less than the raw data that was analyzed to obtain the pre-analytic data. As such, the container orchestration system <NUM> may reduce the amount or volume of network traffic transmitted across the nodes of the container orchestration system <NUM> by using the control systems <NUM> to process raw data and transmit the smaller pre-analyzed data results.

With this in mind, the present embodiments enable the container orchestration system <NUM> to implement serverless functions in the industrial automation environment by coordinating various data processing operations across different control systems <NUM>. As a result, users and/or developers from different domains (e.g., IT domain and OT domain) may create joint solutions using their respective tools in their respective environments. For instance, control engineers that work with control systems <NUM> may use languages like Ladder Logic or Function Block to create robust control programs, while IT Engineers may use languages like Python or JavaScript to create analytic or integration solutions. The container orchestration system <NUM> may coordinate the deployment of tasks across different domains while maintaining desired machine states across the IT domain and the OT domain. In this way, the container orchestration system <NUM> allows each developer to build their part of the solution without sacrificing the strengths of their respective tools or becoming overly knowledgeable with the other's domain. Further by employing the control systems <NUM> (e.g., controller or other compute surface/sidecar in chassis) to perform certain functions (e.g., IT operations), the present embodiments described herein may reduce the complexity associated with networking connections between various devices (e.g., OT devices and IT devices) and providing security across the communications by leveraging certain OT communication protocols. Moreover, by coordinating the operations across the control systems <NUM> of the industrial control system <NUM>, the container orchestration system <NUM> may improve the reliability and availability of the generated data by scheduling operations according to available resources and desired machine states.

Since the master container node <NUM> deploys functions in a container (e.g., making it serverless), the container orchestration system <NUM> absolves the IT developer from having to understand the infrastructure that the function runs on. Further, since the function's logic runs in a container, the control engineer is unconcerned with the additional processing changing the performance or behavior of the implemented control program. As a result, the present embodiments described herein provide a robust computing architecture that leverages the control systems <NUM> that are available in the industrial control system <NUM> with the lifecycle management operations the container orchestration system <NUM> to efficiently coordinate data analytic operations, machine control operations, line control operations, and the like. By way of example, the container orchestration system <NUM> may push analytic operations to be performed as close to the source of the data inputs and make the results of which available for downstream analytics. Additionally, the container orchestration system <NUM> may shape data for consumption by other services, use GraphQL to generate user-friendly schema for graphical representation, provide access to 3rd party systems (e.g., call a web service, access a database), and perform other operations in the IT domain. Moreover, the container orchestration system <NUM> may coordinate OT operations, such as obtaining recipe data from a control system <NUM> for a batch process, logging information to an MES application, reporting detected anomalies of the OT device, tracking ingredient consumption for inventory and quality, and the like. Indeed, the OT data may be made available to IT devices for data processing via the container orchestration system <NUM>, thereby leveraging the data processing capabilities of the IT devices for OT data.

In addition to pushing analytic operations to control systems, the present embodiments may be employed to provide rolling updates to control systems <NUM>, OT devices <NUM>, and other suitable components that may be present in the industrial system <NUM>, the industrial control system <NUM>, or the like. In the industrial environment, software patches, firmware updates, and other updates are implemented by the control systems <NUM> while the respective OT device <NUM> are offline. That is, in order to update the control system <NUM> or the OT device <NUM>, the control system <NUM> and/or the OT device <NUM> may be placed offline prior to the update being implemented on the respective device. In the industrial automation system <NUM>, placing a component offline may directly affect production in that fewer online OT devices <NUM> may reduce the production rate or efficiency of the industrial system <NUM>.

Keeping this in mind, the container orchestration system <NUM> described herein may coordinate the update distribution across the components of the industrial system <NUM> to ensure that the components are updated while maintaining a desired state for the industrial system <NUM>. That is, the deployment configuration file <NUM> for distributing an update may include desired state data that indicates a number of each control system <NUM> and/or OT device <NUM> that may remain operating at any given time. In some embodiments, to implement the following methodology for providing updates, redundant control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM> may be available to allow the container orchestration system <NUM> to shift operations between components to update certain components while they are offline and keep other components online to perform their respective operations. Additionally, the container orchestration system <NUM> may schedule the deployment of updates based on an expected operation schedule for the respective control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM>. That is, the container orchestration system <NUM> may monitor the operational pattern of for the respective control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM> and schedule the deployment of the respective pods for updating the components during a time period in which the components are scheduled to be offline. In any case, the present embodiments described herein enable updates to be provided to components in the industrial system <NUM> in a coordinated fashion based on available resources and desired states to ensure that the industrial system <NUM> continues to operate according to a desired protocol.

By way of example, <FIG> illustrates a flowchart of a method <NUM> that the master container node <NUM> of the container orchestration system <NUM> may employ to distribute updates to the control system <NUM> and/or the OT device <NUM>. Like the methods described above, although the method <NUM> is described as being performed by the master container node <NUM> and in a particular order, it should be understood that the method <NUM> may be performed by any suitable computing system or node in the container orchestration system <NUM> in any suitable order.

Referring now to <FIG>, at block <NUM>, the master container node <NUM> may receive update data for a target control system <NUM>. The update data may be provided via the deployment configuration file <NUM> or via a command input by a user of the container orchestration system <NUM>. The update data may include software updates, controller updates, firmware updates, or other type of update that may modify the operation of the target control system <NUM> and/or the OT device <NUM>. In addition, the update data may include an indication of the target control system <NUM> and/or the target OT device <NUM> that may implement the update. In some embodiments, the update data may also include desired machine state data for the collection of control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices of the industrial system <NUM>. The desired machine state data may include a number of control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM> and corresponding desired operating states for the respective components. As such, the master container node <NUM> may analyze the components of the industrial system <NUM> to ensure that the desired machine states are maintained while providing the update to the target control system <NUM> and/or OT device <NUM>.

At block <NUM>, the master container node <NUM> may receive the machine state data for the target control system <NUM> and the other control systems <NUM> and/or associated OT devices <NUM> that are part of the industrial control system <NUM> and visible to the container orchestration system <NUM>. As such, the master container node <NUM> may send requests for machine states data for the respective components to the target container node <NUM>, the container nodes <NUM>, and or proxy node <NUM> that are communicatively coupled to the target control system <NUM> and the other control systems <NUM>. The machine state data may include data regarding the availability of certain computing resources (e.g., memory, processing power) of the respective control systems <NUM> and <NUM>. In addition, machine state data may also include information regarding the processes and/or containers being executed by the control systems <NUM> and <NUM>. Further, the machine state data may also include information related to an operational state (e.g., mode of operation, status) of the connected OT devices <NUM>.

Based on the machine state data of the control systems <NUM> and <NUM> and/or the OT devices <NUM>, the master container node <NUM> may schedule pod deployments to the target control system <NUM> and redundant control systems <NUM>. The redundant control systems <NUM> may include any suitable control system <NUM> that may interface and communicate with the target OT device <NUM>. As such, the pods may be related to suspending the operations of the respective control systems <NUM> and/or the respective OT devices <NUM>. In addition, the pods may be related to performing the suspended operations of the respective control systems <NUM> and/or the respective OT devices <NUM> using the redundant control systems <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the master container node <NUM> may monitor the machine state data of the control systems <NUM> and <NUM> and may maintain a list of OT devices <NUM> that are present in the industrial system <NUM>. Using this list, the master container node <NUM> may identify control systems <NUM> or OT devices <NUM> that may replace the operations of the target control system <NUM> and/or the target OT device <NUM>. After identifying the suitable control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM>, the master container node <NUM> may analyze the respective machine state data to identify suitable control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM> to use as replacement control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM>. In some embodiments, the replacement control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM> may correspond to redundant control systems and/or OT devices that may be reserved for performing operations when the target control system <NUM> and/or the target OT device <NUM> are unavailable. As such, the replacement control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM> may be identified as components that may be used to perform the respective operations of the target control system <NUM> and/or OT device <NUM> while the target control system <NUM> and/or OT device <NUM> are updated.

Additionally, the replacement control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM> may correspond to other control systems and/or OT devices that may currently being used for certain operations but may also be configured to perform additional operations. That is, some control systems may include sufficient processing and computing resources to control multiple OT devices. As such, the master container node <NUM> may receive machine state data from these control systems via the respective container nodes to determine whether they will be able to perform the operations of the target control system <NUM> and/or OT device <NUM>.

After identifying the replacement control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM>, the master container node <NUM> may, at block <NUM>, schedule the deployment of pods to the identified components to continue operations that are currently being performed by the target control system <NUM> and/or the OT device <NUM>. In addition to sending the pods to the identified components, at block <NUM>, the master container node <NUM> may deploy an update pod to the target control system <NUM> and/or OT device <NUM> to cause the target control system <NUM> and/or OT device <NUM> to halt operations and receive one or more respective updates. In some embodiments, the master container node <NUM> may schedule the deployment of pods, such that the replacement control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM> assume the responsibilities of the target control system <NUM> and/or OT device <NUM> after they halt operations. That is, the master container node <NUM> may coordinate the operations of the target control system <NUM> and/or OT device <NUM> to stop, while the replacement control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM> take over the corresponding operations. The master container node <NUM> may coordinate the transfer to ensure that the OT devices continue performing the functions of the industrial system <NUM>.

After deploying the pods to the replacement control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM> and the target control system <NUM> and/or OT device <NUM>, at block <NUM>, the master container node <NUM> may again receive the machine state data for the control systems and/or OT devices accessible to the master container node <NUM>. As such, the master container node <NUM> may receive updated machine state data after the pods have been deployed to the redundant control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM> and the target control system <NUM> and/or OT device <NUM>. The master container node <NUM> may verify that the industrial system <NUM> is achieving the desired machine states for the various components therein.

Based on the updated machine state data, at block <NUM>, the master container node <NUM> may again schedule the deployment of pods to the redundant control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM> and the target control system <NUM> and/or OT device <NUM>. That is, if the machine state data for the industrial system <NUM> does not correspond to the desired states, the master container node <NUM> may send additional pods to the redundant control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM> to modify their respective operations to achieve the desired machine states. If however, the machine state data is indicative of the update being completed, the master container node <NUM> may schedule the deployment of pods to the redundant control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM> and the target control system <NUM> and/or OT device <NUM>, such that the redundant control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM> halt its respective operations and the target control system <NUM> and/or OT device <NUM> resume the operations previously performed prior to receiving the update pod. In some embodiments, the master container node <NUM> may allow the redundant control systems <NUM> and/or OT devices <NUM> to maintain their current machine states and keep the target control system <NUM> and/or OT device <NUM> available as redundant components of the industrial system <NUM>. In any case, the master container node <NUM> may update the list of components of the industrial system <NUM> and the industrial control system <NUM> to represent the current configuration of each component.

By employing the container orchestration system <NUM> to perform update operations on the components of the industrial system <NUM>, the present embodiments described herein enable the industrial system <NUM> to continue operations without reducing uptime or efficiency in production. Indeed, other update methodologies involve powering off components, thereby reducing the efficiency of the production or operations of the industrial system <NUM>. Moreover, updates may involve performing tasks in a design-time environment when the respective component (e.g., control system) is disengaged from coordinating operations performed by the respective OT device. With this in mind, the container orchestration system <NUM> coordinates the update process in the run-time environment while the components continue to perform their respective operations. Indeed, the operations of various components may be shifted among the available resources in the industrial system <NUM>, but the operational tasks of the industrial system <NUM> remain online and thus the productivity of the industrial system <NUM> remains the same.

Claim 1:
A system, comprising:
a plurality of control systems (<NUM>, <NUM>) for controlling a plurality of operations of a plurality of operational technology, OT, devices (<NUM>);
a first computing node of a cluster of computing nodes that are part of a container orchestration system (<NUM>), wherein the first computing node comprises a master container node (<NUM>) and is configured to:
receive (<NUM>) update data for a first control system (<NUM>) of the plurality of control systems (<NUM>, <NUM>), wherein the first control system is configured to perform one or more operations, wherein the update data is configured to update one or more software components being executed by the first control system;
retrieve (<NUM>) a plurality of machine state datasets from the plurality of control systems (<NUM>, <NUM>) via a portion of the cluster of computing nodes, wherein each of the plurality of machine state datasets correspond to an operational state associated with each of the plurality of control systems (<NUM>, <NUM>), each of a plurality of OT devices, or both;
identify a second control system (<NUM>) as a suitable host to perform the one or more operations in place of the first control system (<NUM>) based on the plurality of machine state datasets;
store a first pod in a first filesystem accessible to a second computing node, wherein the first computing node is configured to coordinate the one or more operations of the first control system (<NUM>) to stop; and
store a second pod in a second filesystem accessible to a third computing node associated with the second control system (<NUM>), wherein the second pod is configured to cause the third computing node to perform the one or more operations via the second control system (<NUM>).