Digital Twin (DT) technology revolutionizes industrial processes by enabling the representation of physical entities and their dynamics to enhance productivity and operational efficiency. It has emerged as a vital enabling technology in the Industry 4.0 context. The present article examines the particular issue of synchronizing a digital twin while ensuring an accurate reflection of its physical counterpart. Despite the reported recent advances in the design of middleware and low delay communication technologies, effective synchronization between both worlds remains challenging. This paper reviews currently adopted synchronization technologies and architectures, identifies vital outstanding technical challenges, and proposes a unified synchronization architecture for use by various industrial applications while addressing security and interoperability requirements. As such, this study aims to bridges gaps and advance robust synchronization in DT environments, emphasizing the need for a standardized architecture to ensure seamless operation and continuous improvement of industrial systems.

翻译：数字孪生技术通过实现对物理实体及其动态特性的数字化表征，以提升生产力和运营效率，正在引发工业流程的变革。该技术已成为工业4.0背景下的关键使能技术。本文聚焦于数字孪生同步这一具体问题，探讨如何在确保其准确反映物理对应体的前提下实现同步。尽管近年来在中间件设计与低延迟通信技术方面已取得显著进展，但实现两个世界之间的有效同步仍面临挑战。本文系统综述了当前采用的同步技术与架构，指出了亟待解决的核心技术难题，并提出了一种统一的同步架构方案。该架构可适用于多种工业应用场景，同时满足安全性与互操作性要求。本研究旨在弥合现有技术鸿沟，推动数字孪生环境中鲁棒同步技术的发展，并强调建立标准化架构对保障工业系统无缝运行与持续优化的重要性。