OPC CONNECTIVITY

OPC is a widely accepted industrial communication standard that enables the exchange of data
between multi-vendor devices and control applications without any proprietary restrictions. An
OPC server can communicate data continuously among PLCs on the shop floor, RTUs in the
field, HMI stations, and software applications on desktop PCs. Even when the hardware and
software are from different vendors, OPC compliance makes continuous real-time
communication possible.

An enabling technology that helps users move beyond "closed" or proprietary solutions. OPC has
led to improved cooperation between technology providers and users alike. OPC has helped
automation suppliers provide solutions that are truly open which in turn has given users more
choices in their automation applications. This is an exciting time in the industry; interoperability,
open solutions, and choices have helped automation professionals around the globe realize the
advantages of incorporating OPC into their industrial applications.

OPC is open connectivity in industrial automation and the enterprise systems that support the
industry. Interoperability is assured through the creation and maintenance of non-proprietary
open standards specifications. The first OPC standard specification resulted from the
collaboration of a number of leading worldwide automation suppliers working in cooperation
with Microsoft. Originally based on Microsoft's OLE COM and DCOM technologies, the
specification defined a standard set of objects, interfaces and methods for use in process control
and manufacturing automation applications to facilitate interoperability. The COM/DCOM
technologies provided the framework for software products to be developed. There are now
hundreds of OPC Data Access servers and clients.

OPC is open connectivity via open standards and these standards are based on technologies of
the general computing market. Products by OPC members offer a wide range of tools for people
who prefer "off-the-shelf" products, to mid-level engineers who like the efficiency of building
with a toolkit, to the developer who prefers to build the entire application.

Although OPC is primarily designed for accessing data from a networked server, OPC interfaces
can be used in many places within an application. At the lowest level they can get raw data from
the physical devices into a SCADA or DCS, or from the SCADA or DCS system into the
application. The architecture and design makes it possible to construct an OPC Server which
allows a client application to access data from many OPC Servers provided by many different
OPC vendors running on different nodes via a single object.
General OPC Architecture and Components

OPC is a specification for two sets of interfaces; the OPC Custom Interfaces and the OPC
Automation interfaces. A revised automation interface will be provided with release 2.0 of the
OPC specification. This is shown below.