Data Integration Models for Heterogeneous Industrial Systems: A Conceptual Analysis

In the industrial automation domain, data integration between heterogeneous systems and architectures is a challenge. Companies and factories are impatient with the selection of technical solutions that are beneficial to local requirements, therefore facing problems of data integration and incompatibility between other systems. There is a need to bridge heterogeneous industrial systems to provide data integration. This article aims to provide guidelines to industrial managers and solution designers to achieve data integration between heterogeneous industrial systems according to their requirements. For this purpose, we have explored the implementation of two data integration models that can be selected based on the state and needs of industrial systems. The first data integration model is based on event-driven architecture (EDA), where Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) is deployed as an event broker. The second model is based on the Arrowhead Framework, which is designed by using service-oriented architecture (SOA) principles, where EventHandler provides SOA-based event-driven communication. We conceptually compare and analyze them based on selected criteria essential in an industrial environment. The qualitative analysis of these models is based on proof-of-concept implementations made available for our evaluation.