A Candidate Architecture for Cloud-Based Monitoring in Industrial Automation

We describe a cloud-based architecture for monitoring large numbers of industrial automation devices. We are interested in massive parallel monitoring of software components controlling critical automation facilities such as factories, mines or oil rigs. Monitoring focuses on post-deployment verification, aiming at discovering specification violations indicating for example bugs or incompatibilities in the software-based control systems. Our work facilitates the goals of industry 4.0 and smart factories. We provide an evaluation of our architecture, realised in an experimental cloud-based automation facility, and based on a combination of real and simulated trials using a message broker commonly used in cloud computing.