We did participate in last year’s show and was disappointed with the amount of attendees and the geographics of them. It seemed that the attendees just didn’t have a good mix geographically and were too concentrated — the majority of attendees seemed to be from Texas and the nearby states. The general consensus from those I’ve talked to this year weren’t any different. The event this year drew 8000 attendees, where only 200 registered for the educations programs and there was noticeably less exhibitor booths, a significant drop from the 2008 Expo.

Vendor neutral trade trade shows like ISA Expo seem to be rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Companies are participating more in targeted technology, vendor specific/automation based trade shows (e.g. Rockwell Automation’s Automation Fair). Companies are also leveraging the power of the internet and distribution channels in getting their product announcements out. With several more cost effective ways to announce product releases on the Internet, countless social networking outlets, and limited travel restrictions due to the economy, the lure of traditional trade shows is just not the same as it was. The increasing costs of exhibitor booths, hotel accommodations and the extra costs of booth amenities like electrical outlets, internet, shipping etc. also play apart.

It remains to be seen whether this new format will be embraced (considering the fact that the educational programs this year were poorly attended). The cost/quality of this type of show would be a factor in whether people would fly in for 4 days — ISA would have to make it extremely worth their while. A suggestion has been to move it out of Houston and host it in different states every year. Having it in different states tends to create mixtures of vertical industry focus. I have found that having it in Houston every year tends to shift the focus to the Oil/Gas related industry (for obvious reasons; although not purposely done). It will be good to have a change from that (unintended) focus. Having it in different locations could also play to their advantage as allows them to create a themed approach of the event based on geographical location.

The announcement wasn’t much of a surprise to me, considering the declining participation compared to Expos of previous years and in local ISA chapters too (one in particularly has disbanded in our region). My overall impression is that this announcement was sort of a rushed decision — it seems that they are putting a sudden stop to the Expo without a clear picture/direction of what they are going to do next year.

The service will document the current physical network assets and wired/ wireless infrastructure, detail the data activity within the network and test the infrastructure against industrial standards/specifications and recommended practices.

It would be useful for companies needing network audits, a detailed assessment of what their network consist of and may also help pinpoint problem areas within an industrial network.

This service complements Kazio’s other core services. It is meant as a quick service solution to those needing documented evidence for network improvement, optimization, management and maintenance.

About Kazio Networks

Kazio Networks provides turnkey Industrial Ethernet network solutions; offering full wired/ wireless design, installation, analysis, management and support services for discrete and process networks. Past project experience includes assisting the Pharmaceutical, Life Sciences, Food and Beverage, Wastewater, Aerospace, Automotive, Metal/Steel, Power and Energy sectors.

For more information, visit: http://sn.im/sotns or call: 484-334-2757.

Press release

Research Triangle Park, NC (9 Sep 2009) – The ISA Standards & Practices Board (S&P) has voted to approve the ISA-100.11a wireless standard “Wireless Systems for Industrial Automation: Process Control and Related Applications,” thereby making it an official ISA Standard. The approval of this major new industry standard by the ISA S&P Board certifies that ISA’s accredited procedures have been followed in the development of the standard.

The ISA-100.11a standard received final approval by the ISA100 committee in July of this year with 81% of the voting members approving, before being passed along to the ISA S&P Board. With the ISA S&P Board approval, the ISA-100.11a standard will now be submitted to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for approval as an ANSI standard, and will be submitted to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) for consideration as an IEC standard.

“The ISA-100.11a standard was developed by a committee consisting of over 600 end users and equipment manufacturers from around the world, and represents a truly consensus standard created in an open, unbiased forum by a global team of industry experts,” said Wayne Manges, ISA100 co-chair from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The ISA100 committee was established by ISA to address wireless manufacturing and control systems in areas including:

• the environment in which the wireless technology is deployed;
• technology and life cycle for wireless equipment and systems; and
• the application of wireless technology

“The committee has been very active in pursuing its charter and I am delighted that this initial standard has been issued,” said Manges.

The ISA-100.11a standard is intended to provide reliable and secure wireless operation for noncritical monitoring, alerting, supervisory control, open loop control, and closed loop control applications. The standard defines the protocol suite, system management, gateway, and security specifications for low-data-rate wireless connectivity with fixed, portable, and moving devices supporting very limited power consumption requirements. The application focus addresses the performance needs of applications such as monitoring and process control where latencies on the order of 100 ms can be tolerated, with optional behavior for shorter latency.

“To meet the needs of industrial wireless users and operators, the ISA-100.11a standard provides robustness in the presence of interference found in harsh industrial environments and with legacy
non-ISA-100 compliant wireless systems,” said ISA100 co-chair Pat Schweitzer of ExxonMobil. The standard addresses coexistence with other wireless devices anticipated in the industrial workspace, such as cell phones and devices based on IEEE 802.11x, IEEE 802.15x, IEEE 802.16x, and other relevant standards. Further, the standard allows for interoperability of ISA-100 devices.

The standard is available at www.isa.org/ISA100-11a. For more information on the full scope of ISA100 committee activity, visit ISA100.org or call +1-919-549-8411.

About ISA

Founded in 1945, the International Society of Automation (www.isa.org) is a leading, global, nonprofit organization that is setting the standard for automation by helping over 30,000 worldwide members and other professionals solve difficult technical problems, while enhancing their leadership and personal career capabilities. Based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, ISA develops standards; certifies industry professionals; provides education and training; publishes books and technical articles; and hosts the largest conference and exhibition for automation professionals in North America. ISA is the founding sponsor of The Automation Federation (www.automationfederation.org).

Areas of focus (but not limited to) would be Patient Services, Surgery/Procedure/Operating Rooms, Emergency, Ambulatory Care, Women’s Health, Diagnostic and Treatment, Caregiver, Service/Support, Facilities, Operations, and Critical Care.

The working group has recommended that “work areas” for heathcare systems are expanded (as opposed to non-heathcare infrastructure standards) and that the required permanent links for each necessary cabling established.

The standard will also support biomedical systems (RFID, BAS, nurse call, security, access control, pharmaceutical inventory, etc.) that use, or have the potential to use, IP based infrastructure systems.

This standard is developed by the TR.42 Premises Telecommunications Cabling TR-42.1 Commercial Building Cabling Subcommittee.

Available through Sourceforge.net here, it allows users to test Industrial Ethernet TCP/IP systems that require deterministic operations. The current version analyzes network traffic and performance of a device on ODVA’s Ethernet/IP network only but NIST has said to be releasing additional versions for other Industrial Ethernet types (release date unavailable).

Test Tool for Industrial Ethernet Network Performance document (distributed by ISA)
NIST test tool download (Sourceforge.net)

It remains to be seen if there will be further support for other PLC manufacturers like Allen-Bradley, Siemens, GE etc. I guess it would all depend on the demand of this app — that’s a tough one, as I see more engineers having Windows Mobile and Blackberrys then iPhones. The proprietary/legal aspect of tapping into the PLCs made by the relevant manufacturers may also be a stumbling block. Nevertheless, it’s a nice option for remote monitoring.

Here are the features per their spec page:

Key Features

ScadaMobile provides many possibilities designed to meet all PLC remote monitoring needs.

-Monitor (display and change) PLC variables (tags) through local or remote wireless access.
-Supported types are boolean, both signed and unsigned 16 and 32 bit integers, and 32 bit floating point.
-Optional automatic scaling of the variables being monitored (v2.0).
-Edition of variables directly from the iPhone application and the ability to import files created in Excel, Word or Open Office containing the specification of variables
-Access to files and settings via Web browser: Safari, Firefox or Microsoft Explorer.
-Highly optimized engine for communications with the PLC allowing a large number of variables (literally tens of thousands) with a minimum of network traffic.
-Ability to set various access levels with password to prevent accidental modification of variables or display of sensible data.

Specific support for OMRON PLCs
ScadaMobile is available for OMRON programmable logic controllers, for which includes the following additional features.

-Monitor all areas of memory including: IO bit, IO channel, DM area, Work Bit, Work Channel, Timer/Counter area, HR Bit, HR Channel, EM area, and AR area.
-Supports all CJ1 and CS1 series PLCs, as well as most older models with TCP / IP connection.
-Supported CX-Programmer-generated ‘cxr’ files for direct import of selected variables without any additional step.

Other Features
ScadaMobile connects directly to the PLC without routing through servers or personal computers, using a direct TCP/IP link between the iPhone and the PLC, with minimal configuration.
The package contains “out of the box” several configuration file examples created in Microsoft Excel or CX-Programmer that can be used as templates for your own developments.

Link to ScadaMobile in the App Store

What is ISA18?

ISA18 is the standard and guideline for alarm systems including annunciators, process automation systems, and the general development, design, installation, and management of alarm systems in the process industries. It’s main purpose is to establish terminology and practices for alarm systems, including the definition, design, installation, operation, maintenance and modification and work processes recommended to effectively maintain an alarm system over time.

ANSI/ISA-18.1-1979(R2004), Annunciator Sequences and Specifications. This standard is primarily for use with electrical annunciators that call attention to abnormal process conditions by the use of individual illuminated visual displays and audible devices. Annunciators can range from a single annunciator cabinet, to complex annunciator systems with many lamp cabinets and remote logic cabinets. The sequence designations provided can be used to describe basic annunciator sequences and also many sequence variations.

ANSI/ISA-18.2-2009, Management of Alarm Systems in the Process Industries. This standard provides requirements and recomendations for the activities of the alarm management lifecyle. Lifecycle stages include philosophy, identification, rationalization, detail design, implementation, operation, maintenance, monitoring & assessment, management of change, and audit.

Update: For those of you who are within the Berks County and Lehigh Valley, PA area, the ISA Lehigh Valley Section is holding a free presentation of ISA18 (by Todd Stauffer, exida) on September 10th. More details on the event here. Registration is necessary; Members/ Non-members are welcome.

To summarize … the first power line exploit allows the attacker to grab keyboard signals through unshielded cablings, and the ground wire of an electrical system which is fed to the computer. The voltage difference and fluctuations of the signals that are leaked into the ground are captured from both resistor ends and converted to letters. The attack works on computers plugged into the wall and up to 15 meters (about 49 feet).

The second exploit involves a cheap laser pointed at a shiny part of a laptop or an object sharing the same space with the laptop. A receiver is set to capture the modulations of the reflected beam caused by the vibrations from the keys being struck. The modulation is then converted to electrical signals. Between the sequence of keys and word spacing, the attacker can disseminate what text is being typed; with shiny laptop lids and hinges provide the best read vibrations.

It is advised that when working on a laptop, that your surroundings are surveyed and that there isn’t a line of sight to the laptop while moving your position frequently while typing. They go as far as to say that striking random keys and using the backspace key to delete them is a good thing.

“If our small research was able to accomplish acceptable results in a brief development time (approximately a week of work) and with cheap hardware,” they say. “Consider what a dedicated team or government agency can accomplish with more expensive equipment and effort.”

The simplicity of exploits is indicative of the fact that you don’t need to do much to steal data. However, I am not sure how realistic (or real world) this is. It may be good in theory but the scenarios/ instances have to be perfect for it to happen.

Here are some notable comments:

“Many laptops have power converters without a ground. Based on the description of the attack, it seems that not having a ground wire would prevent this method from working as well.”

“Signal obtained by potential difference from the earth outlet needs to be fed back to a computer with the right voltage with AD converter and a software code to make any intelligible sense, I personally believe this claim is far fetched, the same goes with reflected laser beam unless the person listening to the sound signals is an expert telegraph operator who can detect and memorize at least 26 different sounds, not even Thomas Edison can do it.Unless of course the sound signal from the sound card is fed to speech converter application”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be writing your quarterly report on your laptop at Panera. Seriously, the best way to protect yourself and your data is simply choose better places to work on data with sensitive information. The only reason people are able to exploit this is because users are dumb. If your information needs to be protected then your computer needs to be in a secure area- and sorry, Motel 6 wifi doesn’t count.”

“Closing the curtains would be a start!”

Links

Compromising electronimagnetic emanations of wired keyboards
Researchers find ways to sniff keystrokes from thin air
Sniffing keystrokes via laser and keyboard power

1.   Start Small Without Getting Suckered. Many of the traditional offerings charge a low fee for small tag counts and client run-times (log ins) and then charge much more for higher tag counts and run-times.  New competitive products charge nothing for run-times/users and include unlimited tag bases without breaking the budget.  Many of the sales pitches from the leaders are geared at OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), which attempts to make one KPI (Key Performance Indicator) to measure productivity, out of the few most important ones. This is a noble goal but the reality in most cases is that it will take a lot of work to get there and will not be a drop-in solution.

2.   It’s the Network Dummy. Don’t over pay for software and ignore the network infrastructure.  Hardware and software costs are coming down across the board and this is especially true of network equipment.   Old hubs and overrated network switches have no place in a modern Ethernet network.  It was once acceptable to have a certain amount of data loss on your network; this is no longer true.  Routers and managed switches do not have to cost a bundle either, allowing for real security. Diagnostics in the device now let us see that we no longer have any data loss in the network connection.

3.   Get the Right Tools. Find tools to help document existing equipment, documentation and related software.  Doing this the old fashioned way is a waste of time, effort, and money.  The rewards go far beyond a software roll out.  Passive solutions that work, like network port scanners, can help you locate and diagram the network in hours instead of weeks.  You will then be able put existing related material against those devices and publish them for the organization.  The reward for this effort will be realized every time you quickly find answers in the system.

4.   Understand What You Are Buying. Who is the man behind the curtain? OPC is a standard over which no major players has ever had control aside from the body that publishes it, the OPC foundation.  Many have packaged their solutions with licensed offerings from third parties.  These third party solutions are certified and tested by the software foundation.   Many of the platforms rely on code libraries that are GPL (General Public License) and which cost them nothing.  It is not uncommon for a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) product to be based on Linux or free BSD that are also GPL.  These free or low cost solutions dramatically lower the cost for new entrants into the market.

5.   Don’t Get Fooled by the Name. As we have seen recently no company is too big to fail.  This is just as true for the big players in the industrial automation market.  Some of their best customers are going through incredibly trying times. Many of the big industrial automation firms are already struggling in a market that is increasingly competitive to make their acquisitions and licenses offerings bring in the expected revenue.  Outsourcing and layoffs are happening and often important knowledge goes out the door as well.

6.   Not All Platforms Are Built for the Web. Web launched applications built on platforms and languages built for web technology are key in assuring that secure, functional and manageable solutions can be developed.  Everyone will assure you that you can access the product via the web.  It is security and licensing that will make or break this as a reality.   For example Microsoft charges licensing fees for active directory users on servers.  IT departments have a strong sense of ownership over Active Directory, allowing for security and authentication (Computer / Server Log-in) to a network resource.  Web application platforms will have their own security model that function separately from the office domain.

7.   Be Skeptical of the “Legacy.” Many of the next generation packages from market leaders have a start fresh approach to address this.  It comes as no surprise that large companies have trouble reinventing themselves around these new offerings.  It is not uncommon to see complete false starts and forced migrations to competing products after acquisitions.  The market leaders all have an incentive to bring current customers to the new base platform.  Don’t get caught up in the next newest thing that was made to look simply like the next new version.

8.  Focus on Total Solution Cost. Not Initial Cost Many software companies spend a great deal of time and money trying to corner the market with low up-front fees.  Eventually this strategy falls apart.  The key is to find an integrator that has the experience and knowledge to provide the best solution at the best total cost.

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This post is authored by Douglas Albright, Director of Operations at Ai Control Systems, Inc.

About Ai Control Systems, Inc.

Ai Control Systems, Inc. is a comprehensive control engineering systems integrator located in Reading, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1985, Ai Controls is an engineering boutique that works with their customers to design, engineer, prototype, test, fabricate, install and maintain operational equipment control and monitoring systems. For more information, visit their website, http://www.aicontrols.com