Design Pattern for Industrial Control Applications Based on One-Line IEC 61499 Adapter Connections

IEC 61499 is an emerging standard for distributed automation which requires well-defined design practises to improve development efficiency. In this paper, we extend the one-line engineering design pattern and provide step-by-step guidelines on its implementation keeping in mind key features of Industry 4.0. The one-line design pattern simplifies the modification of the application structure and the addition of new components to the system without disrupting the existing control application. It also enables easy fault identification and debugging of the system. The design pattern was developed and validated in three different use cases that demonstrated the applicability of the pattern.