Digital Twin Technology

4Digital Twin Solution Architecture

Suhas D. Joshi

Olyphaunt Solutions, Pvt. Ltd., Pune, India

Abstract

A digital twin simulates the state and the behavior of a physical object in real time. This work focuses on primarily the digital twin solution architecture. The emphasis is on how the digital twin can be designed to deliver common use cases. From an architecture standpoint, a digital twin is a collection of several different software services, applications and data stores. In this chapter, we will first review how the physical object can be connected to the digital twin through the Internet of Things (IoT) and then see a layered view of the digital twin solution architecture. A description of the layered view and components in each layer will follow. An explanation of the data flow across digital twin components will show how various components work together. The digital twin solution architecture is explained through various viewpoints including data stores, user experience, integration with external applications, application programming interface (API), and cyber security. The solution architecture is presented at a conceptual level and is not tied to a framework, platform, or solution from a particular vendor. Concepts in the digital twin solution architecture are illustrated through examples from the world of discrete manufacturing.

Keywords: Digital twin use cases, digital twin solution architecture, digital twin services, digital twin applications, digital twin development ...