Delivery of process plant notifications

• US 20040172147A1
• Filed: 02/28/2003
• Published: 09/02/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fisher-Rosemount Systems Incorporated (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: Fisher-Rosemount Systems Incorporated (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Dillon, Steven R.
• Granted Patent: US 7,103,427 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/90
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4184 characterised by fault tolerance, reliability of production system
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31365 Send message to most appropriate operator as function of kind of error
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/80 Management or planning

Abstract

In a method for configuring delivery of notifications related to process plants, at least one person is selected to receive a notification from a process entity in a process plant. Additionally, a delivery method for delivering the notification to the at least one person is selected. The selected person and the selected delivery method may be stored in a memory.

Claims

1. A method for configuring delivery of notifications related to process plants, the method comprising:

selecting at least one person to receive a notification from a process entity in a process plant;

selecting a delivery method for delivering the notification to the at least one person; and

storing the selected person and the selected delivery method in a memory.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a time period within which, if the notification is received, the at least one person is to receive the notification;

storing the selected time period in the memory.

3. A method as defined in claim 2, wherein selecting at least one person includes selecting a first person and selecting a second person;

wherein selecting the time period comprises;

selecting a first time period within which, if the notification is received, the first person is to receive the notification;

selecting a second time period within which, if the notification is received, the second person is to receive the notification; and

wherein storing the selected time period comprises storing the selected first time period and the selected second time period in the memory.

4. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein selecting at least one person to receive the notification comprises selecting a group of persons.

5. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising selecting the notification.

6. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein selecting the notification comprises selecting a group of notifications.

7. A method as defined in claim 6, wherein selecting at least one person to receive the notification comprises selecting the at least one person to receive the group of notifications.

8. A method as defined in claim 6, wherein the group of notifications comprises notifications related to a group of process entities in the process plant.

9. A method as defined in claim 6, wherein the group of notifications comprises notifications of at least one notification type.

10. A method as defined in claim 6, wherein the group of notifications comprises notifications having an associated priority level within a range of priority levels.

11. A method as defined in claim 6, wherein the group of notifications comprises notifications having an associated health index within a range of health index values.

12. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the notification comprises at least one of a process alarm, a device alert, a device alarm, a notification related to rotating equipment, and a notification related to power generation and distribution equipment.

13. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the memory comprises a database.

14. A tangible medium storing machine readable instructions, comprising:

first code for selecting at least one person to receive a notification from a process entity in a process plant;

second code for selecting a delivery method for delivering the notification to the at least one person; and

third code for storing the selected person and the selected delivery method in a memory.

15. A method for delivering notifications related to process plants, the method comprising:

receiving a notification associated with a process entity in a process plant;

determining at least one destination to which to send the notification based on configuration information associated with the notification;

determining a delivery method for sending the notification to the destination based on the configuration information; and

sending the notification to the destination according to the delivery method.

16. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the at least one destination comprises one of a person, a network address, a network identifier (ID), an internet protocol (IP) address, an account, an email address, a cellular phone number, and a pager number.

17. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the determined delivery method is according to a network communication protocol.

18. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the determined delivery method is according to an e-mail protocol.

19. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the determined delivery method comprises using a wireless local area network.

20. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the determined delivery method comprises using a cellular network.

21. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the determined delivery method comprises using a paging network.

22. A tangible medium storing machine readable instructions, comprising:

first code for receiving a notification associated with a process entity in a process plant;

second code for determining at least one destination to which to send the notification based on configuration information associated with the notification;

third code for determining a delivery method for sending the notification to the destination based on the configuration information; and

fourth code for sending the notification to the destination according to the delivery method.