Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that it will work with Microsoft Corporation, FogHorn Systems, Inc., Bayshore Networks, Inc., and Telit IoT Platforms, LLC to integrate their technology into an industrial IoT (IIoT) architecture for the delivery of new services. With this architecture, Yokogawa aims to transform its business model, expand its business scope, and help its customers run their businesses more efficiently.

Outline of the Tie-up
IIoT technology is now ready for practical use thanks to advances in network technology, the availability of low-cost, large-capacity data communications, and the shifting of corporate information systems to the cloud. However, the use of IIoT technology presents many technical challenges in such areas as sensing, automation, and security, and it is also costly to build such systems and develop the necessary applications. With its wide range of expertise in fields ranging from sensor technology to control logic and applications technology, Yokogawa will be able to help its customers address issues they face in their business by providing end-to-end solutions that incorporate sensing, control, and cloud-based processing.

Through this architecture, business process applications can be configured that enable plug-and-play*1 sensors, sensing clouds with automatic provisioning*2, database clouds, historian (data storage) clouds, and application development environments to work together. These four companies each possess technologies that will be key components of this IIoT architecture.

This undertaking will be led by the Architecture Development Division California, which was set up in November 2016. Yokogawa’s IIoT architecture will integrate the cloud-based Microsoft Azure IoT Suite, FogHorn’s fog computing software, Bayshore’s security technology for layer 7*3 of the OSI reference model*4, and Telit’s communication modules, sensor onboarding, and device management.

Regarding this business tie-up, Tsuyoshi Abe, a Yokogawa vice president and head of the Marketing Headquarters, commented as follows:

Yokogawa has drawn up a long-term business framework and formulated a vision statement that reads, “Through ‘Process Co-Innovation,’ Yokogawa creates new value with our clients for a brighter future.” The IIoT architecture that Yokogawa will develop under this agreement will revolutionize the way in which value is delivered in sensing and plant information management. By working with these four companies, Yokogawa will rapidly establish its IIoT architecture. Under the corporate brand slogan of “Co-innovating tomorrow,” we will seek to expand partnerships such as these with leaders in each industry.

Basic Information on the Four Companies and their Technologies
Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft is a worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. The cloud-based Microsoft Azure IoT Suite platform, which provides businesses with globally scalable, preconfigured IoT solutions, will enable Yokogawa to connect their devices, analyze previously-untapped data, and integrate business systems. The Azure IoT Suite provides the functions required for the construction and utilization of Yokogawa’s IIoT architecture.

FogHorn Systems, Inc.
FogHorn Systems is a Silicon Valley-based startup that has been deeply involved in developing core software for fog computing and owns advanced technology in this field. Yokogawa invested in the company in July 2016. Fog computing is an architectural concept designed to avoid communication congestion by establishing a “fog” distributed computing layer between the cloud and devices in the field. Fog computing eliminates communication delays and fluctuations by locating the processing of certain data near the field devices and sending only essential information to the cloud. This technology is expected to lead to a number of new IoT applications.

Bayshore Networks, Inc.
Founded in 2012 and headquartered in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, Bayshore develops industrial cybersecurity solutions offering visibility, control, and protection for operational technology infrastructure and applications. The firm has a number of strategic partners in the IT sector and has gained a reputation for its expertise in IIoT cybersecurity. Yokogawa invested in this company in November 2016.

Telit
Telit is a leading enabler of end-to-end IoT solutions. The company offers the industry’s broadest portfolio of integrated IoT products and services, including cellular communication modules, IoT connectivity plans, and IoT platform services. As a pure-play IoT company for over 15 years, Telit offers unmatched expertise, resources, and support to make IoT onboarding easy - reducing risk, time to market, complexity, and costs for asset tracking, remote monitoring and control, telematics, industrial automation, and predictive maintenance across many industries and vertical markets worldwide.

• The ability to automatically detect sensors and other instruments connected to a network, make appropriate settings, and thus enable them to work immediately
• For the efficient utilization of cloud platforms, the process of connecting sensors and other devices to the cloud via a network and dynamically making the necessary changes for the exchange of data
• The application layer – the top layer in the open systems interconnection reference model
• A model in which the functions of communication devices are divided into seven layers. This model was defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to facilitate data communication among different communication systems.