Location Dependent Control Access in a Process Control System

• US 20090065578A1
• Filed: 09/05/2008
• Published: 03/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fisher-Rosemount Systems Incorporated (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: Fisher-Rosemount Systems Incorporated (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Schleiss, Trevor D., Peterson, Neil J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,244,455 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/382
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/048 Monitoring; Safety
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/409 characterised by using manual data input [MDI] or by using control panel, e.g. controlling functions with the panel; characterised by control panel details or by setting parameters G05B19/408, G05B19/4093 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4185 characterised by the network communication
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/24024 Safety, surveillance
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/28 the pass enabling tracking or indicating presence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A method of accessing an element in a process control environment using a portable communicator includes defining a plurality of control areas within the process control environment, determining a position of a user operating a portable communicator with respect to one or more of the control areas, establishing an identity of the user, and selectively allowing the user to access an element within the process control environment via the portable communicator depending on the determined position of the user with respect to the one or more control areas and on the identity of the user.

Claims

1. A method of accessing an element in a process control environment using a portable communicator, comprising:

defining a plurality of control areas within the process control environment;

determining a position of a user operating a portable communicator with respect to one or more of the control areas;

establishing an identity of the user; and

selectively allowing the user to access an element within the process control environment via the portable communicator depending on the determined position of the user with respect to the one or more control areas and on the identity of the user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the position of a user operating a portable communicator includes associating the position of the user with a position of the portable communicator and determining the position of the portable communicator.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the position of a user operating a portable communicator includes associating the position of the user with a position of an electronic tag carried by the user and determining the position of the electronic tag.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the position of the electronic tag includes applying a technique consistent with a Real Time Location Systems (RTLS) standard to determine a real time position of the electronic tag.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the position of the electronic tag includes activating a circuit within the electronic tag by means of a signal transmitted by a stationary element.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively allowing the user to access an element within the process control environment includes selectively allowing the user to access data pertaining to the element but stored outside of the element depending on the determined position of the user with respect to the one or more control areas.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively allowing the user to access an element within the process control environment includes selectively allowing the user to access configuration data pertaining to the element depending on the determined position of the user with respect to the one or more control areas.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein selectively allowing the user to access configuration data pertaining to the element includes allowing the user to change the configuration data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein allowing the user to access an element within the process control environment includes selectively allowing the user to access data within the element when the user is determined to be within the same control area as the element.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein defining a plurality of control areas comprises associating each control area with a geographic area defined by a plurality of geographic coordinates.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein said geographic coordinates are Global Positioning Service coordinates.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein defining a plurality of control areas comprises associating each of the plurality of control areas with at least one area communicator and defining each control area as a geographic area in which a portable communicator may establish wireless communication with the at least one area communicator associated with the control area.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein defining each control area includes defining each control area as a geographical area in which a portable communicator may establish wireless communication with the at least one area communicator by detecting a search signal at or above a predetermined signal level, wherein the search signal is emitted from one of the portable communicator or the area communicator and detected by the other one of the portable communicator and the area communicator.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein associating each of the plurality of control areas with the at least one area communicator includes assigning a radio frequency identification tag to the at least one area communicator.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein associating each of the plurality of control areas with at least one area communicator includes using one of a wireless transmitter, a wireless receiver, or a wireless transceiver as the area communicator.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the position of a user operating a portable communicator with respect to one or more of the control areas includes associating the position of the user with the position of the portable communicator, obtaining coordinates associated with a current location of the portable device, and determining whether the obtained coordinates are associated with one of the plurality of control areas.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the position of the user with respect to one or more of the control areas includes associating the position of the user with the position of the portable communicator and detecting, by the portable communicator, a search signal from each of one or more transceivers and measuring the strength of each of the received search signals.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein defining a plurality of control areas within the process control environment includes placing at least one barcode tag within each of the plurality of control areas and wherein determining the position of the user with respect to the one or more of the control areas includes associating the position of the user with a position of the portable communicator and scanning the barcode tag by the portable communicator.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively allowing the user to access an element within the process control environment includes selectively allowing the user to access data regarding one of a field device, a controller or a control loop within a process control system of the process control environment.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein allowing the user to access an element within the process control environment includes establishing a direct communication link between the portable communicator and the element.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein allowing the user to access an element within the process control environment includes establishing a communication link between the portable communicator and the element through a wireless network operatively coupled to the process control system.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing an identity of the user includes obtaining identification information from the user using the portable communicator, retrieving a record having data associated with the identification information of the user and permission levels of the user to one or more elements of the process control environment, and limiting access of the portable communicator to the element based on the data within the retrieved record.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising selectively notifying the user via the portable communicator of an event associated with the element within the process control environment depending on the determined position of the user with respect to the one or more control areas.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the event includes data indicative of the element reporting one of an abnormal function, an abnormal measurement, or an emergency condition.

25. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a notification to the user, via the portable communicator, of an event associated with the element when the position of the user is determined to be within at least one of the control areas with which the event is associated and not providing a notification to the user of an event associated with the element when the position of the user is determined to be outside of the one of the control areas with which the event is associated.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the event includes data indicative of the element reporting one of an abnormal function, an abnormal measurement, or an emergency condition.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing an identity of the user includes authorizing the user by obtaining a personal identification and a shared secret information from the user via the portable device.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing an identity of the user includes obtaining personal identification data from the user using the portable device, and reporting the position of the user and the personal identification data to a host disposed in a network associated with the process control environment, wherein the host is configured to display the position of the portable communicator and the identity of the user.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively allowing the user to access an element within the process control environment further comprises obtaining an override key from the user using the portable communicator, determining whether the override key is valid in the process control environment, and granting access to the element irrespective of the determined position of the user if the override key is valid.

30. The method of claim 1, further comprising conditionally associating the position of the user with the position of the portable device, including:

associating the position of the user with a position of an electronic tag carried by the user;

establishing a wireless link between the electronic tag and the portable device having a signal strength; and

disassociating the position of the user with the position of the portable device if the signal strength drops below a threshold value.

31. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a log entry indicative of at least the determined position of the user and the identity of the user; and

storing the log entry in a persistent memory.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein selectively allowing the user to access an element within the process control environment includes selectively allowing the user to update configuration data pertaining to the element depending on the determined position of the user with respect to the one or more control areas;

and

wherein generating the log entry includes generating the log entry further indicative of the update.

33. An access control system for use in a process environment having a plurality of devices interconnected through a communication network, the access control system comprising:

a first wireless transceiver disposed in the process environment and communicatively coupled to the communication network;

a handheld communicator having a processing unit, a computer readable memory, a graphical display unit, an input device and a second wireless transceiver, wherein the handheld communicator communicates with the communication network through the first and second transceivers;

a first database that stores control area data indicative of a plurality of control areas associated with the process environment;

a second database that stores authorization data related to one or more users; and

an access controller that provides a user operating the portable communicator access to data or functionality associated with one or more of the plurality of devices according to the location of the user relative to one or more of the control areas and on the authorization data corresponding to the user.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the access controller includes a positioner to determine a position of the portable communicator relative to one or more of the control areas and to associate the position of the user with the position of the portable communicator.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the first wireless transceiver is disposed on at least one of the plurality of devices.

36. The system of claim 34, wherein the first wireless transceiver is disposed away from at least one of the plurality of devices but is connected to the at least one of the plurality of devices via a hardwired communication connection.

37. The system of claim 34, wherein the handheld communicator further includes a Global Positioning Service unit.

38. The system of claim 33, further comprising a portable electronic device having a circuitry for establishing a location of the electronic device, wherein the access controller associated the location of the user carrying the portable electronic device with the location of the electronic device.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the portable electronic device is an electronic tag supporting at least one of a WiFi standard, a technique consistent with a WiMax Real Time Location System (RTLS) standard, a Ultra-Wide-Band (UWB) technology, or a Global Positioning Service (GPS) system.

40. The system of claim 33, further comprising a stationary wireless device that activates the circuitry of the portable electronic device when the portable electronic device is within a certain range of the stationary device.

41. The system of claim 33, wherein the second wireless transceiver is one of a radio transceiver, an infrared transceiver, or a Bluetooth transceiver.

42. The system of claim 33, wherein the access controller includes a software routine which, when executed on a processor, determines the physical location of the user.

43. The system of claim 33, further comprising a location appliance communicatively coupled to the communication network, wherein the access controller includes a software routine stored on the computer host which, when executed on a processor, determines the physical location of the handheld communicator relative to the at least one of the control areas.

44. The system of claim 33, further comprising a computer workstation having a processing unit, a computer readable memory, a graphical display unit, and an input device, wherein the computer workstation is communicatively coupled to the communication network, and wherein the computer workstation displays information indicative of the location of the user.

45. The system of claim 33, wherein the access controller grants the user access to data associated with one of the plurality of devices when the geographic position of the user is within one or more of the control areas associated with the one of the plurality of devices.

46. The system of claim 33, wherein the access controller provides the user access to data or functionality associated with one or more of the plurality of devices by selectively allowing the user to access data pertaining to the one or more of the plurality of devices stored outside of the one or more of the plurality of devices depending on the determined position of the handheld communicator with respect to the one or more control areas.

47. The system of claim 46, further comprising at least one of a controller, a data historian, or a configuration database to store the data pertaining to the one or more of the plurality of devices stored outside of the one or more of the plurality of devices.

48. The system of claim 33, wherein the access controller provides the user access to data or functionality associated with one or more of the plurality of devices by selectively allowing the user to access configuration data pertaining to the one or more of the plurality of devices depending on the determined position of the user with respect to the one or more control areas.

49. The system of claim 47, wherein the access controller allows the user to change the configuration data pertaining the one or more of the plurality of devices depending on the determined position of the user with respect to one or more of the control areas.

50. The system of claim 33, wherein the database stores geographic characteristics of each geographic area.

51. The system of claim 33, further comprising a location appliance communicatively coupled to the access controller for estimating the location of the user relative to one or more of the control areas

52. A control system for use in a process control environment in a process plant, the control system comprising:

a plurality of control devices distributed in the process control environment to perform one or more control or measurement activities within the process control environment;

a first wireless transceiver disposed in the process control environment and communicatively coupled to the at least one of the plurality of control devices;

a host communicatively coupled to the at least one of the plurality of control devices, the host having a processing unit and a computer readable memory;

a handheld communicator having a processing unit, a computer readable memory, a graphical display unit, an input device and a second wireless transceiver, wherein the handheld communicator operates to communicate with the at least one of the plurality of control devices through the first and the second transceivers;

a database storing an association between each of the plurality of control devices and one or more areas of control, wherein each area of control is associated with at least one geographic area; and

an access control system that determines a physical location of a user operating the handheld communicator with respect to the areas of control and prevents the user from accessing data pertaining to the at least one of the plurality of devices if the physical location of the handheld communicator is outside of each of the areas of control with which the at least one of the plurality of devices is associated.

53. The system of claim 52, wherein the access control system selectively allows the user to access data pertaining to the at least one of the plurality of devices if the physical location of the handheld communicator is within at least one of the areas of control with which the at least one of the plurality of devices is associated.

54. The system of claim 53, wherein the host receives data indicative of an operation of the at least one of the plurality of devices and to direct the data to the at least one user located within one of the areas of control with which the at least one of the plurality of devices is associated.

55. The system of claim 54, wherein the host determines whether a user associated with the handheld communicator is authorized to access the data based on a data record associated with the user.

56. The system of claim 54, wherein the host determines which of a multiplicity of users is located within one of the areas of control with which the at least one of the plurality of devices is associated, and selects one or more of the multiplicity of users to whom to send the data indicative of an operation of the at least one of the plurality of devices based on the physical proximity of the one or more of the multiplicity of users to the at least one of the plurality of devices.

57. The system of claim 52, wherein the host determines the time at which the users is determined to be within one or more areas of control.

58. The system of claim 57, wherein the host determines the time at which the user is determined to leave the one or more areas of control if the users has been previously determined to be within the one or more of the areas of control.

59. An access control system for use in a process environment, the access control system comprising:

a computer readable medium; and

a first routine stored on the computer readable medium which, when executed by a processor, determines the geographic position of an authorized user operating a portable communicator within the process environment based on data received from one of the portable communicator or electronic location device carried by the authorized user; and

a second routine stored on the computer readable medium which, when executed by a processor, limits access of the authorized user to data within the process environment based on the determined geographic position of the portable communicator with respect to the plurality of control areas.

60. The access control system of claim 59, further comprising a third routine stored on the computer readable medium which, when executed by a processor, stores data indicative of a plurality of control areas.

61. The access control system of claim 60, wherein the third routine is stored in a portable communicator and the third routine is stored on a computer host communicatively coupled to a wireless communication network within the process environment.

62. The access control system of claim 60, wherein the second routine and the third routine are stored on a computer host communicatively coupled to a wireless communication network within the process environment.

63. The access control system of claim 59, further including a fourth routine stored on the computer readable medium which, when executed by a processor, selectively notifies a portable communicator of an event associated with an element within the process environment depending on the position of the portable device with respect to the plurality of control areas.

64. The access control system of claim 59, further including a fifth routine stored on the computer readable medium which, when executed by a processor receives from a user of a portable communicator data indicative of the authorization information of the user.

65. The access control system of claim 64, wherein the third routine retrieves a user record from a database and further limits access of the authorized user to data within the process environment according to the user record and to the data received by the fifth routine, wherein the user record includes data associated with an authorization information of the user and a permission level of the user to the element in the process control system.

66. The access control system of claim 59, wherein the set of data received from the portable communicator includes a set of Global Positioning Service coordinates or a data indicative of a search signal transmitted from a transceiver within the process environment.

67. The access control system of claim 59, further including a fourth routine stored on the computer readable medium which, when executed by a processor, records a time when the second routine determines the position of the user and the determined position of the user in a registry.