Virtual Private Infrastructure - What Does it Mean?

VPI stands for the access to many different embedded systems and/or distributed automation components via an Internet portal. The connection of components to the portal is achieved via any channel of communication such as ISDN, GSM, GPRS, modem, ADSL or leased line etc.

Why a Virtual Private Infrastructure Initiative?

The technical development of the last years was shaped by embedded systems and communication networks.

· Embedded systems: The diffusion of embedded systems in everyday life has spread rapidly. Even simple tasks are now being solved with micro controllers.

· Communication networks: The Internet, GSM and ADSL are only the most important keywords. The
possibilities and bandwidths have multiplied. Local connections have also been perpetuated by new
technologies. Wireless technologies such as WLAN, .
Blue Tooth or DECT have made accessible those parts of our lives where a connection via cable was
unlikely.

The increasing amount of embedded systems in daily life, however, also leads to growing complexities and the need for organization.
Communication networks are now capable of making possible the demand for connection - physically. They are however not often actually used, because concepts and standards have so far not been thoroughly developed.

This is where the VPI concept comes in: it uses existing standards and combines them. Only standards which are very widespread in the industrial sector and are capable of being represented transparently in a micro controller environment are being used.

What Exactly Does That Mean?

· Access to information from distributed components is the key to many new successful models of
business in the service automation and related services connected to technical infrastructure,
equipment and machines. Using those new technologies makes enormous cost savings possible

· VPI achieves all known prerequisites from existing industrial processes to new business models.

· VPI fulfills highest security standards.

· VPI is an open and evolutionary concept: existing web server based solutions can be integrated
transparently.

Why are existing concepts inappropriate for the industrial environment?

· The standard procedure of a connection to the Internet (web sites, e-commerce) has been designed for
completely different standards/specifications. In an industrial environment this approach is very
expensive and complex, and it leaves open many security questions.

· A solely modem based solution for manually established point to point connections is no longer
profitable, if too many machines are connected, because most business models request an automation
of certain monitoring and business processes. A future-proof solution also needs a seamless migration into a direct connection to the Internet of the connected machines, because those connections are
becoming more and more common.

· The 'Virtual Private Network concept' which is often used in a WAN region can only be badly representedon the typical 'use cases' of a connected infrastructure: completely different user groups have to have access to very different machines. The configuration and security efforts are too large to achieve this,
and the concept is massively overdimensioned for the connection of stand-alone machines.

· The 'Open Service Gateway Initiative' includes only a small part of the 'use cases' and suffers from two decisive errors in reasoning: redundancy in the network as well as requirements of organization to the
administrators which seem hardly realizable/implementable.

Goals and Uses of the VPI Initiative

The goal of this initiative is that a number of selected companies from different fields pursuit a common vision that they communicate to the market place. Customers shall be offered an open, seminal concept which is being supported by many independent companies which are already deep-seated within their markets.
The benefit for all the involved companies is that they can acquire new markets thanks to their new VPI compatible solutions which are being implemented in their existing products. Thus, they can increase their market potential.

Which Companies May Join the VPI Initiative?

Makers of machines/equipment
· Makers of SPS
· Makers of communication components (connection to SPS, industrial modems, etc.)
· Makers of automation components

Service industries
i.e. companies which provide services by means of a VPI infrastructure. Those services may be executed for a third party or may be part of the company in question, e.g. makers of machines.

Service Provider
Users should have the possibility to run their own portals or to have them run externally. Outsourcing seems appropriate in many cases. Service providers may provide security and 24 hour run time. There is also the possibility of getting better prices as well as more suitable price models by means of large account contracts with telecom providers.

Engineering companies
Services and remote maintenance concepts which may be automatized have to be developed specifically for customers. Therefore, specialized service providers have to counsel customers on the spot.

What are the technical requirements?

A VPI portal needs to fulfill three important requirements:

· Security has to be conveyed in a plausible and comprehensible manner.

· The connection between portal and embedded system has to be fully interchangeable.
If there are leased lines they have to be used with a minimal expenses.

· The portal may has to be used transparently by both automatic processes as well as real users.

The prerequisites of an embedded systems are as follows:

· Integration of an HTTP server which makes available the user surfaces specific to the machines.

· The HTTP server has to allocate an interface for remote procedure calls for access to its variables and
functions.

What does the VPI initiative try to achieve?

· communication of the same technical concepts, use of the same argumentation

· use of the same terms

· joint presentation and communication with the press

· connection and harmonization of the products of the involved partners

· mutual referencing

· meetings at regular intervals