Technological evolution has never been more important than in today’s times, where we have advanced tools to operate in various segments of society. Whether in the area of health, education or transportation, we see considerable advances every day.

This is also the case in the industrial segment, where smart factories can operate autonomously and without interruption. This allows for the extraction of maximum performance, and additionally brings more security and predictability to the process.

One example in the industry is Unified Namespace: a solution created to facilitate the handling of data, especially with regards to contextualization of data.

Want to know more about the topic? Then, continue reading until the end.

What a Unified Namespace is

A Unified Namespace is a centralized repository of structured data in which any application, or device, can access or publish data. In practice, it acts as an essential tool for the proper functioning of Industry 4.0.

Read also: The importance of technology in Industry 4.0: find out how it works and examples of its use

Unified Namespace Architecture

In general, Unified Namespace works in conjunction with two other layers: software and manufacturing devices or hardware interfaces, such as gateways.

In the first layer of manufacturing devices, we have machines, sensors and all the machinery needed to make the industry operate. They generate data at high volume and are typically unstructured.

The second layer, software and hardware interfaces, brings more structured and prepared data for use. However, there is still one fundamental element to join these layers: unified namespace.

Thus, UNS (Unified Namespace) presents a solution to contextualize the data received and make the information more “digestible”. That is, Unified Namespace allows more organization in the use of data and other benefits that we will see below.

Unified Namespace Benefits

Implementing a system such as Unified Namespace will allow for several benefits in data manipulation. With UNS, data becomes structured, organized and contextualized, in addition to coming from various sources.

In practice, this means that it is possible to know that a given machine produced P parts, with a temperature of T degrees, on day D and month M. During the production of the parts, which were sent to customer C at H time, there were Unscheduled N stops.

All these features make the production process more organized and, primarily, traceable. Just imagine the amount of data that had to be processed in order for  all the fictitious context that we described above to be made possible. 

The power of Unified Namespace within the smart industry is wonderful.

In order to make the explanation more helpful, we can understand Unified Namespace as a telephone exchange, where all information passes and is then sent elsewhere.

Still, there is always the possibility to obtain more details about each call made and received. Thus, more efficiency in distributing data with a history that is both easy-to-track and also to understand.

What are the requirements for Unified Namespace to operate?

Basically, there are four main requirements for implementing a system such as UNS: Edge Focus, Exception Report, Lightness, and Open Architecture.  Let’s get to know each of these items:

1. Edge Focused

Focusing on the edge means that the data must be processed as close as possible to the operating machines. This processing should occur appropriately, with data normalization and simple aggregations for UNS to work well.

2. Report by Exception

A data point should be transmitted only by alteration, that is, something relevant must happen for the UNS to work. This is important so that the system does not operate continuously, as hundreds of data points can travel over the network every second.

Therefore, you can ignore approximately 90% of the data generated.

3. Lightness (Lightweight)

A data transmission protocol such as  MQTT, created with the objective of offering a low consumption of network, bandwidth and also other software resources, is perfect for data management via UNS.

As it also supports the Report by Exception protocol, which we talked about earlier, we have the perfect combination to help optimize Industry 4.0.

4. Open architecture

Speaking of Industry 4.0, we can’t think of digital transformation through closed solutions, or even through single-manufacturer solutions. In this sense, it is important to work with open architecture to allow scalability.

In sites as complex as smart and modern industries, it is impossible to risk future expansion projects. Therefore, it is essential that the elements of the entire technological layer are able to communicate without hindrance.

In short

Unified Namespace is a very welcome solution in the evolution of Industry 4.0, which relies on highly technological elements to deliver its maximum operating capacity and intelligence.

In this sense, as we have seen here, UNS is an indispensable tool to make the use of data more robust in many aspects. Thereon, it is up to other sectors to use the information to achieve even more meaningful results.Do you like the content?

See also: Mapping of industrial processes: concept, importance and 9 steps to perform in your company