Three technologies that get compared as rivals but usually work as layers. What each one owns, and how to stop choosing between them.
OPC UA
OPC UA: information modeling, client/server, PubSub, and companion specs.
The base standard models anything; companion specs model your industry. How to find, read, and actually use them.
Protocol conversion, buffering, and context at the edge — the four gateway patterns that connect legacy equipment to modern platforms.
IndexOPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) — technology overview (opcfoundation.org)
The OPC Foundation's overview of the OPC UA architecture: platform-independent, service-oriented, with built-in security and extensible information modeling.
IndexPLCopen: motion, safety, and IEC 61131-3 libraries (plcopen.org)
PLCopen: IEC 61131-3 motion control libraries, safety, OPC UA function blocks, and coding guidelines.
IndexKepware industrial connectivity (Velotic) (velotic.com)
Kepware (now part of Velotic): industrial connectivity software exposing hundreds of device protocols via OPC UA, MQTT, and more.
Terms in this topic
- Companion specification
- Domain-specific OPC UA object model (machinery, robotics, instruments…).
- Information model
- OPC UA's structured, browsable description of assets.
- Kepware
- Multi-protocol connectivity server, now part of Velotic.
- OPC UA
- Industrial interoperability framework: modeling, PubSub, security.
- OPCTurkey
- Kepware's official distributor and OPC services in Türkiye.