Hybrid Cloud – Architecture for Administration Shells with RAMI4.0 Using Actor4j

In this paper, the actor-oriented Java framework Actor4j is used to implement administration shells in a RAMI4.0 context to enable the implementation of hybrid cloud solutions. A novel architecture is conceptualized around the usage of the Actor Model, especially in the area of edge and cloud computing. The administration shell can be either implemented by an asset that is OPC-UA ready or be mapped to a gateway in the device (service) cloud. The administration shell implemented with the Actor Model (predominantly for the public and private cloud) consists of four modules: the components module (describing the corresponding system), the publish-subscribe module, the additional logic module (conditions, alarms), and the interaction module (behavior). The main idea is to reuse an OPC-UA compliant implementation for the internal actor logic. At the device cloud level, IT/OT entities can be composed together in a domain specific point of view. This is implemented over three abstractions levels (data acquisition, data analytics and control & monitoring). The proposed Actor Model fits very well for the implementation of large scale administrations shells.