Adapter device for coupling an industrial field instrument to an industrial wireless network

• US 10,015,826 B2
• Filed: 06/22/2015
• Issued: 07/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Kolavennu, Soumitri N., Chernoguzov, Alexander, Powell, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Jangbahadur, Lakeram
• Application Number:
  US14/746,071
• Publication Number:
  US 20150289309A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,107 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25198 Brouter: transfers data from wireless to wired networks, router: wired to wired
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/00 Systems for electrical power generation, transmission, distribution or end-user application management characterised by the use of communication or information technologies, or communication or information technology specific aspects supporting them
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/18 Network protocols supporting networked applications, e.g. including control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

A method includes coupling an adapter device to a field instrument in an industrial control system to provide a wireless communication capability to the field instrument. The method also includes converting, by the adapter device, information from a first protocol native to the field instrument into a second protocol native to a wireless network. The method further includes transmitting the information to at least one other device over the wireless network.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

coupling an adapter device to a field device in an industrial control system to provide a wireless communication capability to the field device;

converting, by the adapter device, information from a first protocol native to the field device into a second protocol native to a wireless network, wherein the converting comprises using a mapping of object types of the first protocol to object types of the second protocol, the object types of the second protocol including input and output object types, wherein the object types of the second protocol include analog input (AI), analog output (AO), digital input (DI), and digital output (DO) object types, and wherein the object types of the first protocol include primary variable (PV), secondary variable (SV), tertiary variable (TV), and quaternary variable (QV) object types; and

transmitting the information to at least one other device over the wireless network,

wherein the mapping allows the object types of the first protocol, from the field device, to be published and shared amongst devices on the wireless network including the at least one other device, and

wherein the mapping allows the publishing and sharing of object types amongst the devices on the wireless network using one or more peer-to-peer publisher-subscriber services.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second protocol comprises an International Society of Automation (ISA) 100.11a protocol.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first protocol comprises a Highway Addressable Remote Transducer (HART) protocol.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the object types of the second protocol provides remote access over the wireless network to an interface of the field device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the adapter device, second information over the wireless network;

converting, by the adapter device, the second information from the second protocol into the first protocol; and

transmitting the second information to the field device.

6. An apparatus comprising:

a memory configured to store a mapping of object types of a first protocol to object types of a second protocol; and

at least one processor configured to;

control a first interface to communicate with a field device in an industrial control system;

control a second interface to communicate with at least one other device over a wireless network;

convert information from the first protocol native to the field device into the second protocol native to the wireless network; and

transmit, via the second interface, the information to the at least one other device over the wireless network,

wherein the at least one processor is configured to convert the information using the mapping of the object types of the first protocol to the object types of the second protocol, the object types of the second protocol including input and output object types,

wherein the object types of the second protocol include analog input (AI), analog output (AO), digital input (DI), and digital output (DO) object types,

wherein the object types of the first protocol include primary variable (PV), secondary variable (SV), tertiary variable (TV), and quaternary variable (QV) object types,

wherein the mapping allows the object types of the first protocol, from the field device, to be published and shared amongst devices on the wireless network including the at least one other device, and

wherein the mapping allows the publishing and sharing of object types amongst the devices on the wireless network using one or more peer-to-peer publisher-subscriber services.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the second protocol comprises an International Society of Automation (ISA) 100.11a protocol.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first protocol comprises a Highway Addressable Remote Transducer (HART) protocol.

9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein at least one of the object types of the second protocol provides remote access over the wireless network to an interface of the field device.

10. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to obtain second information transmitted over the wireless network, convert the second information from the second protocol into the first protocol, transmit the second information to the field device via the first interface.

11. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the apparatus is configured to support the second protocol to provide a wireless communication capability to a legacy field device that lacks an ability to communicate wirelessly.

12. A system comprising:

a field device in an industrial control system; and

an adapter device coupled to the field device, the adapter device configured to provide a wireless communication capability to the field device, the adapter device comprising;

a first interface configured to communicate with the field device;

a second interface configured to communicate with at least one other device over a wireless network; and

a controller configured to convert information from a first protocol native to the field device into a second protocol native to the wireless network and to transmit, via the second interface, the information to the at least one other device over the wireless network;

wherein the controller is configured to convert the information using a mapping of object types of the first protocol to object types of the second protocol, the object types of the second protocol including input and output object types,

wherein the object types of the second protocol include analog input (AI), analog output (AO), digital input (DI), and digital output (DO) object types,

wherein the object types of the first protocol include primary variable (PV), secondary variable (SV), tertiary variable (TV), and quaternary variable (QV) object types,

wherein the mapping allows the object types of the first protocol, from the field device, to be published and shared amongst devices on the wireless network including the at least one other device, and

wherein the mapping allows the publishing and sharing of object types amongst the devices on the wireless network using one or more peer-to-peer publisher-subscriber services.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein:

the second protocol comprises an International Society of Automation (ISA) 100.11a protocol.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein:

the first protocol comprises a Highway Addressable Remote Transducer (HART) protocol.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein at least one of the object types of the second protocol provides remote access over the wireless network to an interface of the field device.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing computer readable program code that, when executed by at least one processing device, causes the at least one processing device to:

obtain information from a field device in an industrial control system;

convert the information from a first protocol native to the field device into a second protocol native to a wireless network, wherein the converting comprises using a mapping of object types of the first protocol to object types of the second protocol, the object types of the second protocol including input and output object types, wherein the object types of the second protocol include analog input (AI), analog output (AO), digital input (DI), and digital output (DO) object types, and wherein the object types of the first protocol include primary variable (PV), secondary variable (SV), tertiary variable (TV), and quaternary variable (QV) object types; and

initiate transmission of the information to at least one other device over the wireless network,

wherein the mapping allows the object types of the first protocol, from the field device, to be published and shared amongst devices on the wireless network including the at least one other device, and

wherein the mapping allows the publishing and sharing of object types amongst the devices on the wireless network using one or more peer-to-peer publisher-subscriber services.