Automatic Mitigation of Wrong Cabling in High Availability Industrial Networks

Abstract

In order to ensure high availability, industrial automation systems such as substation automation systems often rely on IEC 62439 seamless redundancy protocols like PRP and HSR [1]. However, the high availability achieved by these protocols relies on the correct cabling of the network devices. Wrong cabling of such networks can happen with non-negligible likelihood, especially during network extensions or refurbishments. This paper proposes a new distributed solution that leverages the benefits offered by an IoT edge orchestration layer, namely dynamic and seamless deployment of context-aware applications on devices of an industrial automation system. Using the orchestration layer, our solution deploys system-wide distributed agents to not only discover but also mitigate wrong cabling in PRP and HSR networks in an automated fashion.