In March 2024, NIST’s Rosemary Astheimer presented efforts to capture and leverage Product Manufacturing Information (PMI) in ISO 10303, referred to as STEP (Standard for Exchange of Product model data), at the 3D Collaboration and Interoperability Congress in Golden, CO. The event is an opportunity for implementors and stakeholders to share their findings and challenges on implementing a model-based approach to drive the adoption and use of the digital thread. This year’s theme, “The Digital Future…” encompassed stories of success, challenges, and business strategy and the supporting technology and standards.
ISO 10303: Automation systems and integration — Product data representation and exchange is a standard for the computer-interpretable representation and exchange of PMI to drive automated manufacturing devices, such as Computer Numerical Controlled (CNC) machines and Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMM) for automated inspection, which eliminates human error associated with re-entering information, improves efficiency, and reduces cost. The STEP standard has been widely implemented and is well-suited for archiving purposes, but new requirements are continuously identified during industry implementation. Astheimer introduced the MBx Interoperability Forum, a joint testing effort between AFNeT Services, PDES, Inc., and prostep ivip, that organizes testing efforts between users, CAD and CAE vendors, and second or third-party software developers to address those requirements. With support from NIST, the forum organizes test activities to address identified concerns; NIST supplies data sets for testing and the NIST STEP File Analyzer helps vendors troubleshoot problems that arise during the test round to improve exchange capabilities. Users read in and write out STEP files and report results to the team to review progress and identify items for the next test round. The team meets twice a year and has been testing in this capacity since 1995, demonstrating the value of this forum. Astheimer ended by speaking to the complexity of organizing and managing the information, which makes continued testing imperative to success.
NIST's Industrial Wireless Systems team’s paper, titled “An Analytical Evaluation for Software-based TSN in Industrial Wi-Fi Networks,” was accepted to the 7th IEEE International Conference on Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems (ICPS 2024). The conference is sponsored by the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IES). The conference will be held in May 2024 at St. Louis, MO, where the paper will be presented by Mohamed Kashef (Hany).
Time-sensitive networking (TSN) is an emerging topic for advancing wireless networking for industrial applications. Wireless TSN (WTSN) is the wireless counterpart of the wired TSN, which faces the challenges associated with wireless networking, such as reliability, stability, and interference-related effects. One aspect of WTSN is the traffic scheduling of the time-critical (TC) traffic streams to coexist with the best-effort (BE) traffic over the same Wi-Fi network. Traffic scheduling can be achieved by implementing the IEEE 802.1Qbv protocol that defines priority queues for traffic forwarding, based on their quality of service (QoS) requirements.
One direct software-based implementation of IEEE 802.1Qbv was achieved by using the Qdisc token bucket algorithm with a gated input at Linux-based devices equipped with Wi-Fi interfaces. This implementation enables the mapping of traffic streams to queues at the network stack (using the Linux Qdisc features) and controls the queues based on the requirements of the traffic streams as shown in the above diagram. In the paper, the authors introduce a numerical analysis of this software-based WTSN implementation to provide a tool to measure the ability of utilizing already deployed legacy Wi-Fi chipsets to achieve WTSN latency requirements in a practical way.
The analysis presented in the paper demonstrates the impact of the Token Bucket algorithm parameters on latency performance. Two main challenges are studied. First, the utilization of the wireless channel, due to applying a schedule, is affected by resource reservation. Second, the protected window of the schedule for the TC stream may have overflow from the BE traffic window because the TSN schedule is implemented before the Wi-Fi chipsets. Overall, this work identifies the advantages and limitations of the current software-based WTSN implementations and provides a tool for application-based tuning of the Qdisc parameters to achieve a desired level of performance.
NIST's Industrial Wireless Systems team’s paper, titled “On the Impact of TIG Welding Interference on Industrial Wi-Fi Networks: Modeling of Empirical Data and Analytical Studying of Coexistence,” was accepted to the 7th IEEE International Conference on Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems (ICPS 2024). The conference is sponsored by the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IES). The conference will be held in May 2024 at St. Louis, MO, where the paper will be presented by Mohamed Kashef (Hany).
The use of wireless communications technologies for industrial applications is an enabler for the advanced manufacturing vision of massive connectivity, flexible manufacturing, and extended use of mobile platforms. The use of IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi in industrial applications has been enabled by time-sensitive networking (TSN) capabilities to achieve deterministic communications within time-critical applications. Any wireless interference over the shared medium can impact the performance of IEEE 802.11 industrial wireless networks through collisions or occupying the medium leading to increased latency and decreased service quality.
The Industrial Wireless Team at NIST measured the over-the-air activity from a Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding station and found that it produces significant interference power in the 2.4 GHz band, commonly used by the IEEE 802.11 networks. The measurements were taken in the machine shop of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in Gaithersburg, Maryland, as shown in the photo. In the article, the team presents a modeling procedure for non-communications industrial wireless interference from TIG welding to recreate the signal in a lab environment and analytically study its impact on operational industrial wireless Wi-Fi communications systems.
This procedure has been recommended for inclusion in the emerging IEEE P3388 standard testing procedures. The proposed IEEE P3388 provides a reference test architecture for the performance evaluation of industrial wireless systems and an assessment process for various industrial wireless use cases.
The NIST team is currently in the process of demonstrating an approach for responding to and recovering from cyber events on manufacturing sector operational technology (OT) environments. Industry partners on the project include: Amazon Web Services, Cisco, Dragos, Garland Technology, Inductive Automation, Qcor, Rockwell Automation, Siemens, TDI Technologies, and Tenable.
Constant threats of destructive malware, insider threats, and even operator errors require manufacturers to be able to respond to and quickly recover from a cyber event that impacts OT, industrial control systems, and plant operations. The project will demonstrate approaches for responding to and recovering from several cyber events similar to those within the manufacturing sector by leveraging common cybersecurity capabilities: event reporting, log review, event analysis, and incident handling and response.
The project is in the build phase and is currently being implemented in the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) manufacturing laboratory, located in Rockville, Maryland, USA. The lab contains a discrete manufacturing workcell that emulates a common manufacturing process, including an automated assembly process, robotic arm for machine-tending, industrial networking, and supporting equipment typically utilized to support OT environments.
The result will be a freely available NIST Cybersecurity Practice Guide that includes a reference design and a detailed description of the practical steps needed to implement the solution based on the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and industry standards and best practices.
NIST researcher CheeYee Tang, with MITRE staff, have started a project to address the cybersecurity needs for water and wastewater utilities. Through development of a reference design and example solutions using commercially available products, the goal of the project is to provide the water and wastewater sector with practical and actionable guidance to implement cybersecurity measures that can safeguard their operations.
The NIST team is currently in the process of developing an adaptable, example solution demonstrating how to secure small and large water and wastewater utilities. Four technical capabilities will be demonstrated in this project: Remote access, Network segmentation, Asset management, and Data integrity. Industry partners on the project include: Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (Asdwa), Bedrock Systems, Cisco Systems, Cyber 2.0, Denver Water, Dragos, I&C Secure, Q-Net Security, Radiflow, Re-Wa, StrongDM, TDI Technologies, US ABB, West Yost, and WSSC
The U.S. water and wastewater systems sector has been undergoing a digital transformation. Many sector stakeholders are utilizing data-enabled capabilities to improve utility management, operations, and service delivery. The ongoing adoption of automation, sensors, data collection, network devices, and analytic software may also increase cybersecurity-related vulnerabilities and associated risks. The project will demonstrate an approach for securing the U.S. water and wastewater sector by using commercially available solutions.
The project is in the build phase and is currently being implemented at the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) located in Rockville, Maryland, USA. The lab contains a hybrid network environment that emulates water and wastewater sector environments and will be used to integrate with partners’ solutions.
The result will be documented in a series of freely available NIST publications to be released on a rolling basis. These publications will include a reference design and a detailed description of the practical steps needed to implement the solution based on the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and industry standards and best practices.
In an enlightening and engaging session organized by the Belonging Initiative of NIST’s Smart Connected Systems Division, Dr. Sera Linardi (University of Pittsburgh; 2024 Siegel Faculty Impact Fellow at Cornell Tech) explored the possibilities and obstacles to building social innovation-focused academic research programs that are more responsive to the needs and perspectives of local communities and underserved groups. Dr. Linardi’s presentation “Take Three: Multiple Attempts to Build Inclusive Infrastructures in Academia” provided an overview of her comprehensive research and institution-building and personal experiences, including the nuanced challenges and creative strategies essential for fostering inclusivity in higher education.
The first part of Dr. Linardi's presentation provided an introspective look at her journey as a pre-tenured faculty member, emphasizing the pivotal role of previous methodological training (“the hammer”) in the framing of research questions (“the nail”). Through this lens, Dr. Linardi illustrated the balancing act that community-oriented researchers have to undertake as they attempt to meet the threshold of academic rigor and innovation in their disciplines while reflecting the priorities and lived experiences of people in the community. This highlights the necessity of creating broader systems that recognize and intentionally provide support for understanding the complexity and cost of community-engaged research – which often goes unrewarded in the researcher’s discipline.
Expanding the focus beyond the faculty perspective, Dr. Linardi next discussed service-learning infrastructures in universities and the limitations of individual disciplines and academic calendars in benefitting community partners. Dr. Linardi founded the Center for Analytical Approach to Social Innovation (CAASI) at Pitt to train multidisciplinary groups of students to co-design, implement, and co-lead community-requested projects over multiple semesters. CASSI was highlighted as an effective model for grassroots data science, fostering a shared sense of mission and belonging among diverse populations inside and outside the university’s walls. The third attempt at inclusive infrastructures discussed by Dr. Linardi took the form of Equity and Access in Algorithms, Mechanisms, and Optimization (EAAMO) – a multi-institutional initiative to support social justice-oriented early-career computational researchers. Each attempt, as shared by Dr. Linardi, serves as a beacon for ongoing efforts to dismantle barriers and build a more inclusive, accessible academic world.
Overall, Dr. Linardi’s presentation highlighted the multi-faceted and multi-disciplinary approaches needed to address inclusivity in academia. The concepts and social values resonated with participants in the Belonging Initiative, which promotes belonging and inclusivity for all, and creates a safe and open environment for meaningful data-driven conversations.
