PI OPC Clients

OPC (OLE for Process Control or Open Connectivity) is a standard established by the OPC Foundation task force to allow applications to access plant floor process data in a consistent manner.

Features

PI OPC Data Access (DA) Interface. Sends and retrieves data from the PI System. Also supports redundancy on both an interface and OPC server level.
PI OPC Historical Data Access Interface (HDA). Acts as a link between the PI System and a foreign historian, allowing data transfer from one to another.
PI OPC Alarms and Events (A&E). Designed to communicate with OPC A&E servers and receive both alarm and event data, including all three event types – Simple, Tracking-related, and Condition-related.
PI OPC XML. Allows data to be passed between an XML server and the PI System. The interface architecture allows the plugging-in of different XML-based protocol layers to communicate with various XML server types.
PI OPC HDA COM Connector. Allows PI System clients to access data from a foreign data historian without storing the data in the PI System. The HDA COM Connector is designed specifically for OPC HDA servers.


Interface Configuration Utility with Click to enlarge image		PI OPC Client Utility Showing the status of the currently selected OPC server Click to enlarge image

Benefits

OPC brings the value that comes with the use of a standard. This includes reduced cost for training, custom development, and long-term maintenance
Ensures seamless integration between other OPC products. Uses a plug-and-play approach where off-the-shelf components can be brought together efficiently to solve immediate requirements.
Provides long-term maintenance and upgrade security. Maintenance and upgrades can be done by removing and/or replacing individual system components without having to wire-up or purchase new interfaces.

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Example of Product Implementation

Business Challenge

A medical lab needed to install a system to manage heating, ventilation, air conditioning, control, security systems, and much more. Users needed to be able to access data for not only their floor, but for the other floors as well. Budget constraints meant the system had to be done as economically as possible.

Implementation

They used PI OPC Server and PI OPC interface as a means of moving data into and out of their control system. They also utilized PI OPC HDA COM connectors to access their data on an existing historian.

Customer Result/Benefit

Using PI OPC products allowed this company to economically manage all avenues of their production system. They met all their mandatory regulations, but also allowing for seamless utilization of current products and a security in knowing when upgrading these, it will not cause any major delay in operations.