# US 2020/0401116 A1 · High availability for container based control execution

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- Number: US 2020/0401116 A1
- Document ID: US20200401116A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/446,125
- Filed: 2019-06-19
- Published: 2020-12-24
- Earliest claimed: 2019-06-19
- Assignees: Honeywell International Inc.
- Applicants: Honeywell International, Inc.
- Inventors: Paul F. McLaughlin; James M. Schreder; Joseph Felix
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20200401116A1

## CPC

- G05B 19/4185: {characterised by the network communication}
- G06F 11/2005: {using redundant communication controllers}
- G05B 19/4184: {characterised by fault tolerance, reliability of production system}
- G05B 19/41845: {characterised by system universality, reconfigurability, modularity}
- G06F 9/5044: {considering hardware capabilities}
- G06F 9/5055: {considering software capabilities, i.e. software resources associated or available to the machine}
- G06F 11/2007: {using redundant communication media}
- G06F 11/2017: {where memory access, memory control or I/O control functionality is redundant (redundant communication control functionality G06F11/2005; redundant storage control functionality G06F11/2089)}
- G06F 11/2028: {eliminating a faulty processor or activating a spare}
- G06F 11/2033: {switching over of hardware resources}
- G06F 11/2097: {maintaining the standby controller/processing unit updated (initialisation or re-synchronisation thereof G06F11/1658 and subgroups)}
- G06F 11/3433: {for load management (allocation of a server based on load conditions G06F9/505; load rebalancing G06F9/5083; redistributing the load in a network by a load balancer H04L67/1029)}
- G06F 21/53: by executing in a restricted environment, e.g. sandbox or secure virtual machine
- G06F 2201/815: Virtual
- Y02P 90/02: Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]
- Y02P 90/80: Management or planning
- G05B: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables G05D; systems for regulating electric or magnetic variables G05F; control devices or systems insofar as characterised by mechanical features only G05G)
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- Y02P: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS

## Abstract

In an industrial automation system, a control device adapted to a container-based architecture has been developed. The control device may comprise one or more containers instantiated with control execution application, communication application, and or redundancy management application.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A high availability industrial control automation system comprising:
a. a set of nodes wherein each node comprises a processor configured with a platform supporting container architecture; each node comprising one or more containers instantiated with at least one application function selected from control execution, communication, and redundancy management; and
b. a high availability management network connecting the platforms of the nodes in the set of nodes.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein the set of nodes is a heterogeneous set of nodes.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein the set of nodes comprises physical control devices and virtual servers.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 further comprising a primary control network and a secondary control network wherein each node is connected to both the primary control network and the secondary control network.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 further comprising a primary I/O network and a secondary I/O network wherein each node is connected to both the primary I/O network and the secondary I/O network.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein at least a first container of a first node and a second container of a second node are present in a redundant relationship.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein the platform enables container runtime services to the containers.

### Claim 8

A high availability industrial control method comprising:
a. providing a set of nodes, each node comprising a processor configured with a platform supporting container architecture and each node comprising one or more containers instantiated with at least one application function selected from control execution, communication, and redundancy management, wherein each node is connected to a high availability management network;
b. detecting a failure state of one or more nodes by communications though the high availability management network;
c. identifying the containers assigned to the one or more nodes detected in a failure state;
d. determining available capacity in the remaining nodes by communications though the high availability management network;
e. redistributing the containers previously assigned to the one or more nodes detected in a failure state to one or more remaining nodes based on the determined available capacity; and
f. automatically starting the redistributed containers.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8 further comprising detecting I/O connections assigned to the one or more nodes detected in a failure state and reassigning the I/O connections along with the redistributing of the containers.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8 wherein the set of nodes are a heterogeneous set of nodes.

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8 wherein the set of nodes comprise physical and virtual nodes.

### Claim 12 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8 wherein the containers include redundant pairs of containers where each member of the pair is assigned to a different node.

### Claim 13 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8 further comprising determining which of the containers assigned to the one or more nodes detected in a failure state are primary containers in a redundant pair of a primary container and a secondary container and elevating the corresponding secondary container to function as a new primary container.

### Claim 14 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8 further comprising detecting a change in status of a node from a failure state and rebalancing the distribution of containers across nodes in a non-failure state.

### Claim 15 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8 wherein the determining available capacity comprises communicating predetermined container requirements though the high availability management network.

### Claim 16 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12 wherein the automatically starting the redistributed containers further comprises automatically synchronizing data from a remaining member of the redundant pair of containers.

### Claim 17

A high availability industrial control method comprising:
a. providing a set of nodes, each node comprising a processor configured with a platform supporting container architecture and each node comprising one or more containers instantiated with at least one application function selected from control execution, communication, and redundancy management, wherein each node is connected to a high availability management network;
b. detecting a failure state of one or more containers by communications though the high availability management network;
c. identifying the failed container assigned to the one or more nodes and identifying the capacity requirements of the failed container;
d. determining available capacity in the nodes by communications though the high availability management network;
e. redistributing the one or more failed containers to one or more nodes based on the determined available capacity and the capacity requirements of the one or more containers; and
f. automatically starting and synchronizing the redistributed one or more containers.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17 wherein the set of nodes comprise a heterogenous mixture of nodes.

### Claim 19 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17 further comprising detecting I/O connections assigned to the one or more containers detected in a failure state and reassigning the I/O connections along with the redistributing of the containers.

### Claim 20 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17 further comprising determining which of the one or more containers in a failure state are primary containers in a redundant pair of a primary container and a secondary container and elevating the corresponding secondary container to function as a new primary container.