A Software-Defined Gateway Architecture with Graphical Protocol Modeling for Industrial Control Systems

Within the context of Industry 4.0, the integration of heterogeneous industrial devices into unified control and supervision systems remains a fundamental challenge due to diversified communication protocols and interfaces. Conventional industrial gateways relying on customized driver development encounter issues such as high protocol extension costs, lengthy development cycles, and limited compatibility, restricting the agility and scalability of modern industrial embedded control systems. This paper proposes a novel paradigm for industrial interoperability gateways based on a software-defined architecture and graphical modeling. Through layered decoupling of software functions, protocol parsing and data conversion functionalities are encapsulated into draggable graphical components, enabling flexible adaptation and efficient debugging of heterogeneous protocols. The gateway middleware GMGbox architecture was designed and validated through an experimental platform. Results demonstrate that the gateway can accurately and concurrently parse multiple heterogeneous protocols via graphical configuration, stably acquire over 3000 data points, support online visual debugging and flexible deployment of protocol logic, and seamlessly integrate final data with upper-layer systems through standard protocols. Case studies of a level control system and a wastewater treatment plant Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) further validate the effectiveness and practical utility of this paradigm in real-world industrial scenarios. The proposed solution provides a novel architectural paradigm for building reconfigurable and maintainable systems in the field of industrial automation.