Extended study of network capability for cloud based control systems

Current control systems are limited from a technical viewpoint in areas such as scalability, start-up and reconfiguration time and computational complexity for algorithms. These limitations call for a new concept for control systems to address current and future requirements. It has been suggested that the physical location of the control system be moved from that of the machine to a cloud, i.e. control system as a service (CSaaS). In this way, the control system becomes scalable and can handle highly complex computational tasks while keeping the process know-hows. Utilizing capabilities of modern Wide Area Network (WAN) and Local Area Network (LAN) the control system can be connected with the rest of the machine, e.g. drives, sensors, devices and HMI. This approach, however, presents new challenges, i.e. the requirement for integration of network, cloud computing and control system expertize. This paper will focus on the requirements of the communication for a cloud based control system.