Remotely monitoring/diagnosing distributed components of a supervisory process control and manufacturing information application from a central location

• US 20060224361A1
• Filed: 05/24/2006
• Published: 10/05/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schneider Electric Software, LLC (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: Invensys Systems Incorporated (Invensys PLC)
• Inventors: Mody, Pankaj H., Rowley, Kevin, McIntyre, James P., Jones, Derrick C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,831,410 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/183
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0216 Human interface functionality, e.g. monitoring system providing help to the user in the selection of tests or in its configuration

Abstract

A centralized diagnostics management tool is disclosed that facilitates centralized monitoring of distributed components of a supervisory process control and manufacturing information application. The centralized diagnostics management tool includes a diagnostics management console shell that is customized according to a set of software modules that interface to data sources to populate views supported by the console shell. The console shell includes a set of view templates including controls for manipulating graphically displayed representations of data rendered by the distributed components. The console shell also includes an interface for exchanging requests and data with an extensible set of software modules that provide data links to ones of the set of distributed components. The software modules also define the customizable portions of the view rendered by the console shell.

Claims

1-4. -4. (canceled)

5. A supervisory process control and manufacturing information system including:

a process control and manufacturing information application comprising a set of software objects distributable to a plurality of networked computer devices, and wherein the software objects comprise both host software objects and hosted software objects; and

a centralized diagnostics management tool facilitating monitoring operational status of the set of software objects of the supervisory process control and manufacturing information application.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the centralized diagnostics management tool comprises a set of view templates having controls for manipulating graphically displayed representations of data associated with the set of software objects.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the set of view templates includes a tree view that is populated by representations of selectable software objects.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the set of view templates includes a work area populated by exposed attributes of a selected one of the selectable software objects.

9. The system of claim 7 further comprising security measures for limiting access to the selectable software objects.

10. The system of claim 5 wherein the centralized diagnostics management tool comprises an interface customization software interface for integrating an extensible set of software modules providing access to ones of the set of software objects.

11. The system of claim 5 wherein the centralized diagnostics management tool comprises a set of software modules that submit requests to the set of objects to access exposed operational status attributes of the software objects.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the set of software objects comprises an object corresponding to a physical computer system component.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the set of software objects comprises an engine object.

18. The system of claim 11 wherein the set of software modules provide bi-directional access to the set of software objects.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the bi-directional access includes issuing commands to the software objects.

20. The system of claim 11 wherein the set of software modules comprise snap-in modules that provide data and interface control definitions for accessing and displaying remotely deployed software objects.

21. The system of claim 5 wherein a single host software object hosts multiple hosted software objects.

14. The system of claim 111 wherein the set of software objects comprises application objects.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the application objects are distributed across a set of remote computer systems.

16. The system of claim 111 wherein the set of software modules access diagnostic data relating to the operational status of a real time process control information database.

17. The system of claim 111 wherein the set of software modules access diagnostic data relating to the operational status of a data access server.