Control system with wireless address domain to field device address domain translation

• US 20070160000A1
• Filed: 01/11/2007
• Published: 07/12/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fisher-Rosemount Systems Incorporated (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: Fisher-Rosemount Systems Incorporated (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Orth, Kelly, Dobrowski, Patrick, Lovegren, Eric, Stotz, Kyle
• Granted Patent: US 7,783,330 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31162 Wireless lan
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/00 Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/22 Alternate routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/24 Multipath
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/28 using route fault recovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/28 in relation to timing considerations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/34 ensuring sequence integrity, e.g. using sequence numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/18 Network planning tools
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/22 Traffic simulation tools or models
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/02 Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/00 Communication routing or communication path finding
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/08 based on transmission power
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/10 based on available power or energy
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/22 using selective relaying for reaching a BTS [Base Transceiver Station] or an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/24 : Connectivity information management, e.g. connectivity discovery or connectivity update
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/02 : Power saving arrangements in wired systems H04L12/12; signaling of mobile application services, e.g. low battery notifications H04W4/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0225 : using monitoring of external events, e.g. the presence of a signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0229 : where the received signal is a wanted signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/00 : Synchronisation arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/20 : Manipulation of established connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 : Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 : Network addressing or numbering for mobility support
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/00 : Wireless network protocols or protocol adaptations to wireless operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 : Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 : Gateway arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/00 : Interfaces specially adapted for wireless communication networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A host computer communicates with field devices over a wireless network that includes a gateway and a plurality of wireless nodes. At least one of the field devices is associated with each wireless node, and each field device has a unique field device address. The host computer sends control messages to field devices using their field device addresses. The gateway translates the field device address of a control message to a wireless address of the wireless node with which the field device is associated. The gateway sends a wireless message over the network to the wireless node at the wireless address. The message contains the field device address so that, when the wireless message is received and opened, the control message from the host computer can be routed to the intended field device based upon the field device address.

Claims

1. A control system comprising:

a plurality of field devices, each field device having a unique field device address;

a host computer for sending messages to and receiving messages from the field devices, each message to one of the field devices including the unique field device address of that field device; and

a wireless network including;

a gateway that interfaces the wireless network with the host computer, the gateway translating the field device address to a wireless address and generating a wireless message containing that wireless address and the field device address; and

a plurality of wireless nodes, each node having a unique wireless address and including a radio for transmitting and receiving wireless messages, and a wireless device router for routing a received wireless message to a field device based upon the field device address contained in the received wireless message.

2. The control system of claim 1, wherein the gateway translates the field device address to the wireless address of the wireless node at which the field device corresponding to the field address is located.

3. The control system of claim 2, wherein the gateway translates the field device address based upon a stored table that correlates field device addresses within a wireless address.

4. The control system of claim 1, wherein the field device address is embedded in the wireless message as part of a payload.

5. The control system of claim 1, wherein the field device address is embedded in the wireless message as part of the message from the host computer.

6. The control system of claim 1, wherein the gateway maintains a stored table that correlates a field device address with the wireless address of the wireless node at which the field device corresponding to that field device address is located.

7. A method of sending messages from a host to field devices over a wireless network having a plurality of nodes, the method comprising:

sending a control message addressed to a field device address from the host to the wireless network;

translating the field device address to a corresponding wireless address;

sending a wireless message containing content of the control message through the network to the node having the corresponding wireless address; and

delivering the content of the control message to the field device corresponding to the field device address.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the wireless message includes the field device address.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the field device address is included within the content of the control message.

10. The method of claim 9 and further comprising:

opening the wireless message;

extracting the content of the control message from the wireless message; and

determining the field device address for the content of the control message.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein translating comprises:

selecting from a lookup table the wireless address of the node at which the field device corresponding to the field device address is located.

12. The method of claim 7 and further comprising:

generating a response by the field device to the control message; and

sending a wireless message containing the response through the network to the gateway.

13. The method of claim 12, and further comprising:

delivering the response from the gateway to the host.

14. A method of sending messages between a host and a selected field device over a wireless network, the method comprising:

generating at the host a control message to the selected field device, the control message including a field device address of the selected field device;

sending the control message to the wireless network;

sending a wireless message containing content of the control message through the wireless network to a node associated with the selected field device;

receiving the wireless message at the node corresponding to the wireless address; and

delivering the content of the control message to the selected field device.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the wireless message includes the field device address.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the field device address is included within the content of the content of the control message.

17. The method of claim 14 and further comprising:

opening the wireless message at the node;

extracting the content of the control message from the wireless message; and

determining the field device address from the content of the control message.

18. The method of claim 14 wherein generating the wireless message comprises:

selecting from a lookup table the wireless address of the node at which the selected field device corresponding to the field device address is located.

19. The method of claim 14 and further comprising:

generating a response by the selected field device to the control message; and

sending the wireless message containing the response through the network.

20. The method of claim 19 and further comprising:

delivering the response from the network to the host.