SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ACCESSING AND CONFIGURING FIELD DEVICES IN A PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEM

• US 20090292995A1
• Filed: 05/20/2008
• Published: 11/26/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Raghavendra, Prasad T. S., Anne, Gowtham
• Granted Patent: US 8,731,895 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/736
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0426 Programming the control sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31132 FDT interfacing profibus field device drivers DTM with engineering tool
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/413 with random access, e.g. carrier-sense multiple-access with collision detection [CSMA-CD]

Abstract

A system includes a client that presents a user interface to a user, where the user interface is associated with a field device in a process control system. The system also includes an interface component having (i) an emulator that emulates a device manager associated with at least the field device and (ii) a communication manager that communicates with the field device over a communication link using a specified protocol. The system further includes a server that provides a request to the emulator based on input from the user provided through the user interface, where the emulator provides the request to the communication manager for communication to the field device. The communication manager could include a communication DTM, and the emulator could emulate at least some functions of a device DTM. A device description (such as a DD/EDD file) could also be used to generate the user interface.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

generating a request associated with a field device in a process control system;

providing the request to an emulator, the emulator emulating a device manager associated with at least the field device; and

providing the request from the emulator to a communication manager, the communication manager configured to communicate the request to the field device over a communication link using a specified protocol.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the communication manager comprises a communication Device Type Manager (DTM); and

the emulator emulates at least some functions of a device DTM.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the field device is associated with a device description;

and

further comprising generating a user interface for a user, the user interface based on the device description.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the device description comprises a device description or electronic device description (DD/EDD) file.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the request to the emulator comprises:

providing the request to a converter;

converting the request into a specified format; and

providing the request with the specified format to the emulator.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving a response to the request from the field device through the communication manager and the emulator;

extracting data from the response; and

updating the user interface based on the extracted data.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the request is associated with a configuration of the field device; and

the response indicates whether the field device has been configured as requested.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein:

both the device manager and the emulator are available for communicating with the field device; and

further comprising selecting one of the device manager and the emulator.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving a selection of one of the device manager and the emulator from a user.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

providing a second request from the device manager to the communication manager without using the emulator when the device manager is selected; and

providing the second request from the communication manager to the field device.

11. An apparatus comprising:

an emulator configured to emulate at least one device manager associated with at least one field device in a process control system; and

a plurality of communication managers, each communication manager configured to communicate with the at least one field device over a communication link using a specified protocol;

wherein the emulator is configured to receive a request for the at least one field device and to provide the request to one of the communication managers for communication to the field device.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein:

the communication managers comprise communication Device Type Managers (DTMs) configured to communicate with the at least one field device using at least one of;

different communication links and different protocols; and

the emulator emulates at least some functions of at least one device DTM.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein:

the request is associated with a configuration of the at least one field device; and

the emulator is further configured to receive a response from the at least one field device through one of the communication managers, the emulator configured to provide the response to a converter configured to extract data from the response, the response indicating whether the field device has been configured as requested.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein:

both the at least one device manager and the emulator are available for communicating with the at least one field device; and

at least one of the communication managers is further configured to receive a second request from one of the at least one device manager without using the emulator.

15. A system comprising:

a client configured to present a user interface to a user, the user interface associated with a field device in a process control system;

an interface component comprising (i) an emulator configured to emulate a device manager associated with at least the field device and (ii) a communication manager configured to communicate with the field device over a communication link using a specified protocol; and

a server configured to provide a request to the emulator based on input from the user provided through the user interface, the emulator configured to provide the request to the communication manager for communication to the field device.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein:

the request is associated with a configuration of the field device; and

the server is configured to generate the request and the user interface using a device description.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the device description comprises a device description or electronic device description (DD/EDD) file associated with the field device.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein:

the interface component is configured to receive a response to the request from the field device; and

the server comprises a converter configured to convert the request into a format suitable for the communication manager and to extract data from the response, the server configured to update the user interface based on the extracted data.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein:

both the device manager and the emulator are available for communicating with the field device; and

the communication manager is further configured to receive a second request from the device manager without using the emulator.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein at least one of the client and server is further configured to automatically select a device description or the device manager for use in communicating with the field device.