GE launches industry’s first optimizing standalone controller

GE Power’s Automation & Controls business announced the release of dual redundancy capability on its PACSystems RX3i CPE400 outcome optimizing controller. Building on GE’s controls leadership and expertise in deploying mission-critical solutions, the CPE400 is designed to function in rugged, high-temperature environments where a compact footprint with high-performance is essential.

CPE400 is an out-of-the-box solution providing customers the confidence to activate a flexible and intelligent, highly-available system to ensure maximum uptime while reducing the total cost of ownership. With this release, GE is bringing the same world-class, high-available solutions to applications in oil and gas, water/waste water and other infrastructure industries with small and large assets requiring smaller footprints.

The CPE400 redundancy is simple to configure, operate and maintain, and is powered by the PACSystems High Availability solution over PROFINET. CPE400 utilizes embedded Ethernet technology in a stand-alone controller leading to up to 60% smaller footprint. The CPE400 is also effective in applications requiring rugged controls as it operates from -40 to +70 temperature range and supports conformal coated option for corrosive environments.

“The CPE400 builds upon GE’s leadership in controls with the best long-term migration in the industry by delivering a world-class controller solution for a wide range of industries,” Rich Carpenter, General Manager of Control Platforms for GE Power’s Automation & Controls business, said. “An industry first, we are bringing redundancy to an outcome optimizing control system to help increase reliability and reduce downtime – a win-win for GE and our customers.”

GE’s PACSystems RX3i CPE400 delivers key benefits including: 

• Reliable, High-Speed Performance: The CPE400 can be configured for simplex and redundant operation. A large working memory allows for rapid retrieval and conveyance of machine data. Gigabit data interfaces enable high-speed, reliable performance.
• Advanced Security: The CPE400 is secure by design, incorporating technologies such as Trusted Platform Module (TPM) and secure, trusted, and measured boot to enable that hardware root of trust. A centralized configuration allows patches and updates to be executed from a central location.
• Application-specific Control: The CPE400 leverages GE’s Predix analytics platform to augment real-time control with external intelligence delivered through machine learning, fleet and enterprise data analytics, and asset/process knowledge.

Breaking the barriers of traditional control systems, the CPE400, part of GE’s Industrial Internet Control System, provides real-time deterministic control with embedded Predix technology to deliver advanced redundancy capabilities for increased performance and reliability. This next-generation connected controller is ideal for outcome optimizing control applications in mission-critical environments and uses a standalone controller equipped with high-performance processing to collect and analyze industrial data in a compact footprint.

CPE400 also enables Field AgentTM technology to enhance real-time programmed control and provides a secure, authenticated data transfer from the industrial asset to the cloud over encrypted channels. The CPE400 is differentiated by not only its strong processing capability, but also by its ability to improve business outcomes by delivering a new paradigm for control – a dual redundancy solution that makes it possible to perform maintenance and application updates while the application continues to run.

For example, the CPE400 allows customers to gain instant access to real-time response and advanced analytics that help inform strategic and operational decisions. The CPE400 offering is equipped with a Control System Health app that provides a user-friendly dashboard for customers operating a fleet of controllers to better understand the status and health of their fleet. When combined with superior performance and high-availability control, the result is a product that reduces the total cost of ownership in a robust industrial control.