Historical Data Storage Architecture Blueprints for the Asset Administration Shell

Abstract

The concept of the Digital Twin (DT) and its implementation as Asset Administration Shell (AAS) is one of the key technologies for implementing Industry 4.0. By utilizing the AAS, use cases can be implemented with high interoperability. These use cases include optimizations and improvements of physical systems, like predictive maintenance or other artificial intelligence applications. For these use cases, historical data is key. However, there exists no guidance on how to handle historical data with the AAS. Furthermore, no integrated architecture exists that enables seamless storage and retrieval of historical data using the unified AAS meta-model and interface. Thus, we bridge this gap between use case and unified implementation by presenting multiple blueprints for data storage and retrieval motivated by use cases from Industry 4.0, healthcare, and civil construction. These data storage blueprints range from a mandatory change in the AAS infrastructure to augmentations of the existing AAS concepts. Furthermore, we showcase how the data model of the AAS can be utilized for a unified retrieval of historical data. In consequence, practitioners can quickly realize use cases that require historical data by tailoring and implementing the presented blueprints. Additionally, researchers can extend the presented guidance to further use cases, possibly from other domains.