Graphical process variable trend monitoring with zoom features for use in a process control system
First Claim
1. A method in a computing device for providing a process variable pane for monitoring process variables within a graphical depiction of a process control plant, the method comprising:
- displaying a graphical depiction of a process control plant that includes one or more graphic trend symbols, each graphic trend symbol (i) associated with a process variable within the graphical depiction of the process control plant and (ii) graphically representing process control information related to the associated process variable;
displaying one or more process variable panes associated with the displayed graphical depiction of the process control plant, wherein one or more process variable panes includes at least a navigation pane, a summary pane, and an expanded pane, each process variable pane including one or more process variable selector icons that correspond to the one or more process variables displayed within the graphical depiction of the process control plant, each process variable selector icon including a graphic trend symbol that corresponds to one of the graphic trend symbols displayed within the graphical depiction of the process plant and displaying one or more process variable attributes associated with each process variable selector icon, wherein the process control attributes include at least one of a parameter name, a type of engineering unit, an alarm trip point, a digital output process variable value, a trend graph, or an alarm tag;
receiving a selection of one of the process variable selector icons within the summary pane for a particular process variable; and
highlighting, in response to receiving the selection of the one of the process variable selector icons within the summary pane for the particular process variable (i) the corresponding graphic trend symbol in at least a first one of the process variable panes, wherein the first one of the process variable panes is an expanded view of the corresponding graphic trend symbol and (ii) the corresponding graphic trend symbol in the graphical depiction of the process control plant for the same process variable.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A process control monitoring system for a process control plant uses graphic trend symbols to assist in detecting and monitoring trends of process variables within the process control plant. A graphic display application within the process control monitoring system may implement and display each graphic trend symbol to graphically indicate or encapsulate current trend and value information of a process variable within the process control plant. The graphic display application may display the graphic trend symbol in a spatially realistic location within a graphical representation of the process control plant while maintaining the hierarchical structure or each hierarchical level of the process plant. The graphic display application may also include a zoom feature that enables a user to quickly drill down through tend data to obtain more information and to support problem identification and diagnosis tasks.
53 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method in a computing device for providing a process variable pane for monitoring process variables within a graphical depiction of a process control plant, the method comprising:
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displaying a graphical depiction of a process control plant that includes one or more graphic trend symbols, each graphic trend symbol (i) associated with a process variable within the graphical depiction of the process control plant and (ii) graphically representing process control information related to the associated process variable; displaying one or more process variable panes associated with the displayed graphical depiction of the process control plant, wherein one or more process variable panes includes at least a navigation pane, a summary pane, and an expanded pane, each process variable pane including one or more process variable selector icons that correspond to the one or more process variables displayed within the graphical depiction of the process control plant, each process variable selector icon including a graphic trend symbol that corresponds to one of the graphic trend symbols displayed within the graphical depiction of the process plant and displaying one or more process variable attributes associated with each process variable selector icon, wherein the process control attributes include at least one of a parameter name, a type of engineering unit, an alarm trip point, a digital output process variable value, a trend graph, or an alarm tag; receiving a selection of one of the process variable selector icons within the summary pane for a particular process variable; and highlighting, in response to receiving the selection of the one of the process variable selector icons within the summary pane for the particular process variable (i) the corresponding graphic trend symbol in at least a first one of the process variable panes, wherein the first one of the process variable panes is an expanded view of the corresponding graphic trend symbol and (ii) the corresponding graphic trend symbol in the graphical depiction of the process control plant for the same process variable. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a set of instructions, executable by a processor, for providing, via a computing device having a user interface, a process variable pane for monitoring process variables within a graphical depiction of a process control plant, the instructions comprising:
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instructions for displaying a graphical depiction of a process control plant that includes one or more graphic trend symbols, each graphic trend symbol (i) associated with a process variable within the graphical depiction of the process control plant and (ii) graphically representing process control information related to the associated process variable; instructions for displaying one or more process variable panes associated with the displayed graphical depiction of the process control plant, wherein one or more process variable panes includes at least a navigation pane, a summary pane, and an expanded pane, each process variable pane including one or more process variable selector icons that correspond to the one or more process variables displayed within the graphical depiction of the process control plant, each process variable selector icon including a graphic trend symbol that corresponds to one of the graphic trend symbols displayed within the graphical depiction of the process plant and displaying one or more process variable attributes associated with each process variable selector icon, wherein the process control attributes include at least one of a parameter name, a type of engineering unit, an alarm trip point, a digital output process variable value, a trend graph, or an alarm tag; instructions for receiving a selection of one of the process variable selector icons within the summary pane for a particular process variable; and instructions for highlighting, in response to receiving the selection of the one of the process variable selector icons within the summary pane for the particular process variable (i) the corresponding graphic trend symbol in at least a first one of the process variable panes, wherein the first one of the process variable panes is an expanded view of the corresponding graphic trend symbol and (ii) the corresponding graphic trend symbol in the graphical depiction of the process control plant for the same process variable. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification