Secure data handling process

Addressing these issues, Mitsubishi Electric and e-F@ctory Alliance partner, Raima, worked together to help a common customer monitor and track many 1000s of assets on a sub-terrain metro line in a cost effective, reliable and secure way.

Rather than use traditional approaches in way they were not designed for, Raima and Mitsubishi Electric decided to use existing, approved solutions, designed for purpose and combined in to a single system.

Features such as ACID based data replication and data encryption and the use of a networked database concept, were critical to the solution. Another key part of the solution was to design the system architecture as a distributed database, i.e. it was planned that small local databases (based on RDMe) were to be embedded in the local PLC.

Mitsubishi’s iQ Platform – a combination of PLC and PAC control – provided a solution for the problem of how to embed a fully operating database in a non-PC environment, yet retain the reliability and security of industrial PLC control.

The use of the iQ platform's C Controller was particularly suitable to host the Raima RDM embedded database as it seamlessly integrated with the PLC control function through the iQ Platform. The C Controller also provided industrial reliability, with no moving parts, high environmental resilience and a fully C compatible environment meaning it was not susceptible to the normal issues around PC security.