System and Method For Automatically Upgrading Functionalities in a Distributed Network

• US 20080134164A1
• Filed: 12/20/2005
• Published: 06/05/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG (ABB Limited)
• Original Assignee: ABB Research Ltd. (ABB Limited)
• Inventors: Dix, Marcel, Stich, Christian M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,527,980 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/172
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57

Abstract

The invention relates to a system and to a method for automatically providing system software which is filed in software packets, for system nodes which are arranged in a distributed network, in particular in a distributed automatic system. The inventive system comprises at least one system diagnosis tool which analyses the current state of the system of the distributed network and combines the current state of the data in system status data which is guided to at least one knowledge-based planning tool. Said knowledge-based planning tool produces a system plan for a novel system version, based on control and data, from the system status data and a planning data base, generating installation data for an automatic installation and configuration of the system configuration based on the produced system plan for the system nodes of the distributed network, and guides the installation data to at least one installation and configuration tool, provided in the system nodes. The installation and configuration tool, of the respective system node automatically selects, from the installation data, the software packets which are to be installed, installs and configures said latter, which enable, after configuring the installed software packets, the functionality of the distributed network to be re-established.

Claims

1. A system for automatically upgrading system software stored in software packages for system nodes arranged in a distributed network, in particular in a distributed automatic system,

with at least one system diagnosis tool, which analyzes the current system status of the distributed network, summarizes this in a system status file and forwards the system status file to at least one knowledge-based planning tool,

the knowledge-based planning tool creates a rule-based and data-based system plan for a new system version from the system status file and a planning database, generates installation files for automatic installation and configuration of the system upgrade on the basis of the created system plan for the system nodes of the distributed network and forwards the installation files in each case to at least one installation and configuration tool, (60) present in the system nodes,

the installation and configuration tool of the respective system node automatically selects from the installation files, installs and configures the software packages to be installed, and restores the functionality of the distributed network following the configuration of the installed software packages.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system software integrated into the software packages comprises functional components, such as application programs and/or control programs of the distributed network.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system diagnosis tool collects system-related data via the system nodes of the distributed network in order to record the current system status by means of an analysis tool and summarizes said data in the system status file.

4. The system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the analysis tool automatically carries out a verification of the functionality of the distributed network and/or generates a status report with information relating to the upgrading of the system software of the distributed system.

5. The system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the analysis tool determines necessary extensions and/or adaptations of the hardware of the system nodes of the distributed system.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the planning tool is stored in a separate planning computer.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the planning database comprises a model of a new system version with planning rules, system dependencies, system node types, system limit information, system installation requirements and/or system configuration steps.

8. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system diagnosis tool and the installation and configuration tool 60) are arranged in the system nodes of the distributed network.

9. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the installation files comprise information relating to the node type and the name of each system node, the operating system, requirements for external basic software, additional hardware requirements, a compilation of the software packages to be installed depending on the respective system node and/or configuration data of the system nodes.

10. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein, following the configuration of the installed software packages, the system characteristics and functionalities of the distributed system, in particular the type and number of operator stations and/or engineering stations, the ability to communicate with connected control devices with the number of connection stations, supported redundancies of system nodes, selected combinations of client/server structures on the same system node, installations of selected system applications, the type and number of application servers, the number of domain servers or, alternatively, the selection of a workgroup and/or the domain name, the network characteristics and/or the division of the network into a plurality of subnetworks and/or network redundancies, the name and the identification addresses of the individual system nodes, created user and access rights of the domain and the automatic system, the system names and/or further user-specific system configurations are restored.

11. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the configuration of the installed software packages can be carried out in a user-controlled manner.

17. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the planning tool is stored in a separate planning computer.

12. A method for automatically upgrading system software stored in software packages for system nodes arranged in a distributed network, in particular in a distributed automatic system, whereby

the current system status of the distributed network is analyzed by means of a system diagnosis tool, is summarized in a system status file and the system status file is forwarded to a knowledge-based planning tool,

a rule-based and data-based system plan for a new system version is created from the system status file and a planning database by means of the knowledge-based planning tool,

installation files for automatic installation and configuration of the system upgrade are generated on the basis of the created system plan for the system nodes of the distributed network,

the installation files are in each case forwarded to an installation and configuration tool present in the system nodes,

the software packages to be installed are automatically selected from the installation files, installed and configured by means of the installation and configuration tool, of the respective system node, and the functionality of the distributed network is restored following the configuration of the installed software packages.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein functional components, such as operating systems, application programs and/or control programs of the distributed network, are stored in the software packages.

14. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein system-related data are collected via the system nodes of the distributed network by means of an analysis tool integrated into the system diagnosis tool in order to record the current system status and are summarized in the system status file.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein a verification of the functionality of the distributed network is automatically carried out by means of the analysis tool and/or a status report is generated with information relating to the upgrading of the system software of the distributed system.

16. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein necessary extensions and/or adaptations of the hardware of the system nodes of the distributed system are determined by means of the analysis tool.

18. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the model of a new system version with planning rules, interdependencies of the software packages, definitions of the system node types, configuration combinations and/or system restrictions is formed as the planning database.

19. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the system diagnosis tool and the installation and configuration tool are arranged in the system nodes of the distributed network.

20. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein information relating to the node type and the name of each system node, the required operating system, requirements for external basic software, additional hardware requirements, a compilation of the software packages to be installed depending on the respective system node and/or configuration data of the system nodes is stored in the installation files.

21. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein, following the configuration of the installed software packages, the system characteristics and functionalities of the distributed system, in particular the type and number of operator stations and/or engineering stations, the ability to communicate with connected control devices with the number of connection stations, supported redundancies of system nodes, selected combinations of client/server structures on the same system node, installations of selected system applications, the type and number of application servers, the number of domain servers or, alternatively, the selection of a workgroup and/or the domain name, the network characteristics and/or the division of the network into a plurality of subnetworks and/or network redundancies, the name and the identification addresses of the individual system nodes, created user and access rights of the domain and the automatic system, the system names and/or further user-specific system configurations are restored.

22. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the configuration of the installed software packages is carried out in a user-controlled manner.