On migration from PLCs to IEC 61499: Addressing the data handling issues

The IEC 61499 Function Block architecture is considered as the next generation of programmable control technology. However, during migration from IEC 61131-3 centralized PLC to IEC 61499 distributed control, the data handling efficiency issue has arisen. This paper uses baggage handling system as case study to propose two different approaches for providing efficient data handling model. The comparison between the object-oriented and service-oriented models is provided as well as the limitations.