G3-PLC: The communication protocol tailored to the new cyber-physical systems challenges

The cyber-physical systems industrials recommend the use of the G3-PLC technology as an answer to the new challenges it implies. Trialog, with its expertise in this technology and member of the G3-PLC Alliance, offers a wide range of tools and services adapted to the needs of the players in the cyber-physical ecosystem.

The new communication challenges brought by cyber-physical systems

An observation

Born from the more and more frequent digital interconnection of devices, cyber-physical systems transform the way companies work. The complete life cycle of systems is affected, from the design of the systems to their deployment, their exploitation and their dismantling. Technological breakthrough and changes in the organization are necessary to create and operate these cyber-physical systems.

Needs for the development and deployment of cyber-physical systems

Going from an idea of a new cyber-physical system to a fully functional system requires several big steps.

In the design phase it is required to:

Define the system use-cases and features (requirements, performance, constraints, privacy, security)
Define the system architecture
Choose the communication technology

In the development phase it is necessary to:

Define the communication profile
Define the devices and / or choose devices off-the-shelf
Validate the devices (conformance, performance)
Integrate and validate the system (interoperability, performance)

The deployment of the cyber-physical system implies to:

Define the strategy of deployment
Orchestrate and execute the strategy

Finally, the operation of the cyber-physical may begin, inducing to:

Follow up and improve the level of service
Follow up and improve the level of performance
Ensure the resilience of the cyber-physical system, …

All the actors of the ecosystem are impacted: chip vendors, device manufacturers, system integrators, end-users, … The connection of the devices in these cyber-physical systems requires by nature know-how and experience on communication technologies, which is not the core business of most of these actors. Help is then more than welcome, in fact it definitely reveals to be necessary.

G3-PLC technology is more and more often selected in various cyber-physical systems and turn out to be a very efficient technology. Very efficient, not only because of its quality but also thanks to the contribution of the G3-PLC Alliance and the G3-PLC community in bringing support and tools.

Fully aware of all the challenges encountered by the stakeholders of cyber-physical systems, the G3-PLC Alliance, the international association created to promote and support the use of G3-PLC communication, and the G3-PLC community decided to develop the solutions necessary for facing these challenges.

The G3-PLC Alliance and Trialog

A lot has been done in a few years by the G3-PLC Alliance to help G3-PLC adopters:

Consolidation and improvement of the protocol;
Support to new implementers of the protocol, in order to foster the maturity of their implementation and to achieve interoperability with other G3 PLC solutions;
Creation of an efficient and strong Certification process, with accredited certification labs in Europe and Asia;
Additional documentation such as white papers, FAQ, …

In the meantime, the G3-PLC community has developed expertise, training, process and tools. Trialog as founding member and convenor of working groups of the G3-PLC Alliance has been very active in this momentum and delivers now an extensive set of services and tools.