Glossary Updates12 new terms added to the glossaries · October 2, 2026, 22:44 CEST
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Glossary · PLC and control programming

Software-defined automation

Also known as: SDA, Software-defined control

German: Software-definierte Automatisierung

In industrial automation, software-defined automation is an approach in which control functions are decoupled from specific hardware and deployed, updated and managed as software, for example as virtual PLCs on industrial PCs, edge servers or virtualized infrastructure.

  • PLC programming

In one sentence

Software-defined automation decouples control functions from hardware and manages them as software, for example as virtual PLCs.

Example

A plant runs several virtual PLCs in containers on a redundant edge server and deploys updates through a central orchestration tool.

How it applies

  • Engineering: Software-defined automation borrows IT practices: virtualization, containers, orchestration, version control and automated testing. IEC 61499 and hardware-independent runtimes support the idea of moving control applications between devices.
  • Real time: Deterministic behavior on shared hardware is the main technical challenge. Time-critical control still needs guaranteed Latency and jitter, which must be verified on the target infrastructure.
  • Security: More software and more networked infrastructure widen the attack surface. The security architecture, zones and conduits follow IEC 62443.
  • Documentation: Documentation shifts from device-centered to deployment-centered: which application version runs where, with which configuration, and how it is updated and rolled back. Deployment descriptions become part of the technical documentation.

Software-defined automation vs. PC-based control

PC-based control moves control from dedicated hardware to an industrial PC. Software-defined automation goes further by treating control applications as deployable software units independent of any specific device.

By knowledge.aitechdoc.world · Published September 26, 2026 · Last reviewed

Source: AI TechDoc Knowledge editorial definition, based on current industrial automation practice

Definitions follow the cited standards and specifications. Where a source is a copyrighted publication, such as an ISO, IEC or EN standard, the definition is a close paraphrase, not a verbatim quotation, so as not to infringe copyright. We recommend reading the original publication. The sections “How it applies” are editorial commentary by AI TechDoc Knowledge and are not part of any standard.

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