Self-descriptive orchestratable modules in software-defined industrial systems

A method performed by an orchestration device, comprising:

• identifying operational aspects of available software modules, the available software modules adapted to perform functional operations in a control system environment;
• identifying operational characteristics from a module manifest, wherein the operational characteristics define an environment for the available software modules to perform a control system application;
• selecting a software module of the available software modules, based on the identified operational aspects of the available software modules and the identified operational characteristics from the module manifest;
• and
• causing execution of the selected software module in the control system environment, wherein the execution occurs according to an application specification for the control system application, wherein the application specification defines values for control parameters of the selected software module,
• wherein the orchestration device is operably coupled to a plurality of execution devices in the control system environment that execute software modules, and wherein the execution of the selected software module via at least one execution devices effects functional operation of one or more control devices in the control system environment, and wherein the method further comprises coordinating the execution of the selected software module with an orchestration control strategy within the control system environment.

At least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium including instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processing circuitry of a device, cause the processing circuitry to perform operations comprising:

• identifying operational aspects of available software modules, the available software modules adapted to perform functional operations in a control system environment;
• identifying operational characteristics from a module manifest, wherein the operational characteristics define an environment for the available software modules to perform a control system application;
• selecting a software module of the available software modules, based on the identified operational aspects of the available software modules and the identified operational characteristics from the module manifest;
• and
• causing execution of the selected software module in the control system environment, wherein the execution occurs according to an application specification for the control system application, wherein the application specification defines values for control parameters of the selected software module,
• wherein the operations are performed by an orchestration device, wherein the orchestration device is operably coupled to a plurality of execution devices in the control system environment that execute software modules, and wherein the execution of the selected software module via at least one execution devices effects functional operation of one or more control devices in the control system environment, the operations further comprising:
• coordinating the execution of the selected software module with an orchestration control strategy within the control system environment.