Field device and data processing method

• US 10,585,899 B2
• Filed: 07/09/2014
• Issued: 03/10/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yokogawa Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yokogawa Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Usami, Katsuji, Kitano, Tetsuya
• Primary Examiner(s): Bhat, Aditya S
• Application Number:
  US14/326,571
• Publication Number:
  US 20150019154A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,071 Days
• Field of Search: 702100, 702116, 702189, 714 49
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 1/00 Measuring the volume flow or mass flow of fluid or fluent solid material wherein the fluid passes through a meter in a continuous flow measuring a proportion of the volume flow G01F5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/406 characterised by monitoring or safety G05B19/19 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/1416 by checking the object accessibility, e.g. type of access defined by the memory independently of subject rights G06F12/1458 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24575 using context

Abstract

A field device includes one or more processors configured to perform a first processing with reference to safety-critical data and a second processing with reference to safety-uncritical data which is less critical than the safety-critical data, wherein the one or more processors are configured to generate a first request for storing the safety-critical data in the second processing, store the safety-critical data into a storage unit in the first processing in accordance with the first request, and store the safety-uncritical data into the storage unit in the second processing.

Claims

1. A field device, which is controllable by a controller, comprising:

a sensor configured to measure a flow amount, pressure, or temperature of a measurement target;

a transfer communication unit configured to communicate with the controller;

one or more processors configured to perform a first processing and a second processing, the one or more processors being configured to read safety-critical data out of a storage unit in the first processing, the one or more processors being configured to read safety-uncritical data out of the storage unit which is less critical than the safety-critical data in the second processing, wherein

the one or more processors are configured to;

in the second processing, receive a writing request command from the controller;

in the second processing, check whether or not data included in the writing request command is proper;

in the second processing, if the data included in the writing request command is improper, perform no processing based on the writing request command;

in the second processing, if the data included in the writing request command is proper, judge whether data included in the writing request command is the safety-critical data or the safety-uncritical data with reference to a table which indicates, for each data, whether the data is the safety-critical data or the safety-uncritical data;

in the second processing, prohibit storing the safety-critical data into the storage unit if the one or more processors have judged that the data included in the writing request command is the safety-critical data;

in the second processing, generate a first request for storing the safety-critical data into the storage unit;

in the first processing, check whether or not the safety-critical data included in the first request is proper;

in the first processing, if the safety-critical data included in the first request is improper, perform no processing based on the first request;

in the first processing, if the safety-critical data included in the first request is proper, store the safety-critical data into the storage unit in accordance with the first request;

in the second processing, store the safety-uncritical data into the storage unit if the one or more processors have judged that the data included in the writing request command is the safety-uncritical data;

allow reading the safety-critical data out of the storage unit in the first processing and reading the safety-critical data out of the storage unit in the second processing; and

in the first processing, acquire a measurement result from the sensor, convert the measurement result to a process value, and control the transfer communication unit to transfer the process value to the controller.

2. The field device according to claim 1, wherein

the one or more processors are configured to read the safety-critical data out of the storage unit in the second processing.

3. The field device according to claim 1, wherein

the one or more processors are configured to:

prohibit reading the safety-critical data out of the storage unit during the second processing,

generate a second request for reading the safety-critical data in the second processing, and

read the safety-critical data out of the storage unit in the first processing in accordance with the second request.

4. The field device according to claim 1,

wherein the safety-critical data includes data for setting measurement range of the sensor, data for adjustment or calibration of the sensor, and data indicating a characteristic peculiar to the sensor.

5. The field device according to claim 4, wherein

the one or more processors are configured to perform a processing of signals acquired from the sensor in the first processing.

6. The field device according to claim 1, wherein

the field device is connectable to the controller supplying data and request commands to the field device, and

the safety-uncritical data includes communication data between the field device and the controller.

7. The field device according to claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are configured to perform a communication processing between the field device and the controller in the second processing.

8. The field device according to claim 6, wherein

in a case where the data received from the controller is not proper, the one or more processors return the data to the controller as a communication error, and

in a case where the data received from the controller is proper, the one or more processors perform processing of judging a type of the data received from the controller.

9. The field device according to claim 8, wherein

in a case where data for setting measurement range of a sensor is received from the controller, the one or more processors check whether or not the data received from the controller is proper by judging whether or not the data received from the controller is within a predetermined range.

10. The field device according to claim 8, wherein

in the processing of judging the type of the data received from the controller, the one or more processors judge whether the data received from the controller is the safety-critical data or the safety-uncritical data with reference to a table relating data to type of data.

11. The field device according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors perform the first processing which is important for safety.

12. The field device according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are perform the second processing which has little effect on safety.

13. The field device according to claim 1, wherein

the safety-critical data comprises non-public data and public data, and

the one or more processors are configured to:

in the first processing, allow storing the non-public data and the public data into the storage unit;

in the second processing, prohibit storing the non-public data and the public data into the storage unit;

in the first processing, allow reading the non-public data and the public data out of the storage unit; and

in the second processing, prohibit reading the non-public data out of the storage unit but allow reading the public data out of the storage unit.

14. A field device, which is controllable by a controller, comprising:

a sensor configured to measure a flow amount, pressure, or temperature of a measurement target;

a transfer communication unit configured to communicate with the controller;

one or more processors configured to perform a first processing and a second processing, the one or more processors being configured to read safety-critical data out of a storage unit in the first processing, the one or more processors being configured to read safety-uncritical data out of the storage unit which is less critical than the safety-critical data in the second processing, and

a storage controller configured to control storing data into the storage unit, wherein

the one or more processors are configured to;

in the second processing, receive a writing request command from the controller;

in the second processing, check whether or not data included in the writing request command is proper;

in the second processing, if the data included in the writing request command is improper, perform no processing based on the writing request command;

in the second processing, if the data included in the writing request command is proper, judge whether data included in the writing request command is the safety-critical data or the safety-uncritical data with reference to a table which indicates, for each data, whether the data is the safety-critical data or the safety-uncritical data;

in the second processing, prohibit storing the safety-critical data into the storage unit if the one or more processors have judged that the data included in the writing request command is the safety-critical data; and

in the second processing, generate a first request for storing the safety-critical data into the storage unit,

in the first processing, check whether or not the safety-critical data included in the first request is proper;

in the first processing, if the safety-critical data included in the first request is improper, perform no processing based on the first request;

the storage controller is configured to;

in the first processing, if the safety-critical data included in the first request is proper, store the safety-critical data into the storage unit in accordance with the first request; and

in the second processing, store the safety-uncritical data into the storage unit if the one or more processors have judged that the data included in the writing request command is the safety-uncritical data, and

the one or more processors are configured to;

allow reading the safety-critical data out of the storage unit in the first processing and reading the safety-critical data out of the storage unit in the second processing; and

in the first processing, acquire a measurement result from the sensor, convert the measurement result to a process value, and control the transfer communication unit to transfer the process value to the controller.

15. The field device according to claim 14, wherein

the safety-critical data comprises non-public data and public data, and

the one or more processors are configured to:

in the first processing, allow storing the non-public data and the public data into the storage unit;

in the second processing, prohibit storing the non-public data and the public data into the storage unit;

in the first processing, allow reading the non-public data and the public data out of the storage unit; and

in the second processing, prohibit reading the non-public data out of the storage unit but allow reading the public data out of the storage unit.

16. A data processing method comprising:

measuring, by a sensor, a flow amount, pressure, or temperature of a measurement target;

communicating, by a transfer communication unit, with a controller controlling the field device;

performing, by one or more processors, a first processing and a second processing;

reading, by the one or more processors, safety-critical data out of a storage unit in the first processing;

reading, by the one or more processors, safety-uncritical data out of the storage unit which is less critical than the safety-critical data in the second processing;

in the second processing, receiving a writing request command from the controller by the one or more processors;

in the second processing, checking, by the one or more processors, whether or not data included in the writing request command is proper;

in the second processing, if the data included in the writing request command is improper, performing, by the one or more processors, no processing based on the writing request command;

in the second processing, if the data included in the writing request command is proper, judging whether data included in the writing request command is the safety-critical data or the safety-uncritical data, by the one or more processors, with reference to a table which indicates, for each data, whether the data is the safety-critical data or the safety-uncritical data;

in the second processing, prohibiting storing the safety-critical data into the storage unit by the one or more processors if the one or more processors have judged that the data included in the writing request command is the safety-critical data;

in the second processing, generating a first request for storing safety-critical data into the storage unit by the one or more processors;

in the first processing, checking, by the one or more processors, whether or not the safety-critical data included in the first request is proper;

in the first processing, if the safety-critical data included in the first request is improper, performing, by the one or more processors, no processing based on the first request;

in the first processing, if the safety-critical data included in the first request is proper, storing the safety-critical data into the storage unit by the one or more processors in accordance with the first request;

in the second processing, storing the safety-uncritical data into the storage unit by the one or more processors if the one or more processors have judged that the data included in the writing request command is the safety-uncritical data;

allowing, by the one or more processors, reading the safety-critical data out of the storage unit in the first processing and reading the safety-critical data out of the storage unit in the second processing; and

in the first processing, acquiring a measurement result from the sensor by the one or more processors, converting the measurement result to a process value by the one or more processors, and controlling the transfer communication unit to transfer the process value to the controller by the one or more processors.

17. The data processing method according to claim 16, wherein

the safety-critical data comprises non-public data and public data, and

the data processing method further comprises:

in the first processing, allowing storing the non-public data and the public data into the storage unit by the one or more processors;

in the second processing, prohibiting storing the non-public data and the public data into the storage unit by the one or more processors;

in the first processing, allowing reading the non-public data and the public data out of the storage unit by the one or more processors; and

in the second processing, prohibiting reading the non-public data out of the storage unit by the one or more processors but allowing reading the public data out of the storage unit by the one or more processors.

18. A data processing method comprising:

measuring, by a sensor, a flow amount, pressure, or temperature of a measurement target;

communicating, by a transfer communication unit, with a controller controlling the field device;

performing, by one or more processors, a first processing and a second processing;

reading, by the one or more processors, safety-critical data out of a storage unit in the first processing;

reading, by the one or more processors, safety-uncritical data out of the storage unit which is less critical than the safety-critical data in the second processing;

in the second processing, receiving a writing request command from the controller by the one or more processors;

in the second processing, checking, by the one or more processors, whether or not data included in the writing request command is proper;

in the second processing, if the data included in the writing request command is improper, performing, by the one or more processors, no processing based on the writing request command;

in the second processing, if the data included in the writing request command is proper, judging whether data included in the writing request command is the safety-critical data or the safety-uncritical data, by the one or more processors, with reference to a table which indicates, for each data, whether the data is the safety-critical data or the safety-uncritical data;

controlling, by a storage controller, storing data into the storage unit;

in the second processing, prohibiting storing the safety-critical data into the storage unit by the one or more processors if the one or more processors have judged that the data included in the writing request command is the safety-critical data;

in the second processing, generating a first request for storing safety-critical data into the storage unit by the one or more processors;

in the first processing, checking, by the one or more processors, whether or not the safety-critical data included in the first request is proper;

in the first processing, if the safety-critical data included in the first request is improper, performing, by the one or more processors, no processing based on the first request;

in the first processing, if the safety-critical data included in the first request is proper, storing the safety-critical data into the storage unit by the storage controller in accordance with the first request;

in the second processing, storing the safety-uncritical data into the storage unit by the storage controller if the one or more processors have judged that the data included in the writing request command is the safety-uncritical data;

allowing, by the one or more processors, reading the safety-critical data out of the storage unit in the first processing and reading the safety-critical data out of the storage unit in the second processing; and

in the first processing, acquiring a measurement result from the sensor by the one or more processors, converting the measurement result to a process value by the one or more processors, and controlling the transfer communication unit to transfer the process value to the controller by the one or more processors.

19. The data processing method according to claim 18, wherein

the safety-critical data comprises non-public data and public data, and

the data processing method further comprises:

in the first processing, allowing storing the non-public data and the public data into the storage unit by the one or more processors;

in the second processing, prohibiting storing the non-public data and the public data into the storage unit by the one or more processors;

in the first processing, allowing reading the non-public data and the public data out of the storage unit by the one or more processors; and

in the second processing, prohibiting reading the non-public data out of the storage unit by the one or more processors but allowing reading the public data out of the storage unit by the one or more processors.