Open source group The Eclipse Foundation has released Sparkplug 3.0, an industry standard specification for operational technology (OT) integration with Industrial IoT, using a range of technical standards including MQTT. Sparkplug 3.0 is the first version of the specification managed by the Eclipse Foundation specification process, and represents a formalisation of the specification over the v2.2 release.

Sparkplug provides an open specification for how Edge of Network (EoN) gateways or native MQTT-enabled end devices and MQTT Applications communicate bi-directionally within an MQTT Infrastructure. MQTT is used across a spectrum of application solution use cases and a wide variation of network topologies.

The goals for Sparkplug 3.0 are to utilise the Eclipse Foundation’s open specification process to clarify ambiguities in the v2.2 version and add explicit statements, all the while maintaining backward compatibility.

The Sparkplug specification has also begun the process of transposition as an international standard at ISO/IEC, the International Standards Organisation, which is made up of 167 national standards bodies. To support this standardisation effort, the Eclipse Foundation has obtained the status of Publicly Available Specification (PAS) submitter from ISO/IEC’s Joint Technology Committee (JTC) 1. The PAS process is a fast-track process enabling a specification to be approved as an ISO/IEC standard in less than a year, as opposed to a full-length process that can take up to four years.

“Today’s release of Sparkplug 3.0 represents a major milestone,” said Mike Milinkovich, executive director for the Eclipse Foundation. “This march to Sparkplug’s transformation into an official industry standard has come from significant industry-wide collaboration that continues under the auspices of the Sparkplug Working Group. We look forward to continuing to foster new partnerships to advance the adoption of MQTT and Sparkplug in the industry.”

The Sparkplug Working Group is simultaneously launching a product compatibility programme for Sparkplug implementers. The programme will ensure that Sparkplug-compatible products and implementations demonstrate a high degree of compatibility and interoperability.

By design, the MQTT specification does not dictate a Topic Namespace or any payload encoding. As IIoT and other architectures making use of the publisher/subscriber model are adopted by device OEMs in the industrial sector, having different Topic Namespace and payload encoding can inhibit interoperability for the end customer. To that end, the Sparkplug specification addresses the following components within an MQTT infrastructure:

• Sparkplug defines an OT-centric Topic Namespace
• Sparkplug defines an OT-centric Payload definition optimised for industrial process variables.
• Sparkplug defines MQTT Session State management required by real-time OT SCADA systems.

“Cirrus Link originally created Sparkplug to help industrial clients seamlessly integrate data between their sensors, devices, or gateways and applications within an MQTT infrastructure. With the activities in the Eclipse Sparkplug Working Group, it is now growing rapidly as the standard for interoperability in IIoT, and these new developments make it even easier for customers to implement MQTT Sparkplug and find software and devices that are Sparkplug Compatible,” said Arlen Nipper, President and CTO, Cirrus Link, and co-inventor of MQTT.

“The Sparkplug specification is an integral part of digital transformation and is the missing link that bridges OT and IT. Sparkplug makes it possible to achieve a unified namespace with seamless integration between different systems. We can’t wait to see the amazing innovations that result from this standard being adopted internationally. We are excited to continue growing awareness and contributing to the specification through the Sparkplug Working Group,” said Travis Cox, Chief Technology Evangelist at Inductive Automation.

”Two primary considerations in operational technology (OT) systems are interoperability and standardisation. More recently, cybersecurity at the OT level is also a high priority. MQTT with Sparkplug addresses each of these considerations fluently. Opto 22 participates in the Sparkplug Working Group to help drive the adoption of this standard-based, problem-solving approach to data democratisation. And by embedding MQTT and Sparkplug directly into our edge hardware platforms, we help OT practitioners unleash new capabilities at lower costs and better performance than ever before,” said Benson Hougland – VP of Product Strategy, Opto 22.