Method and Apparatus for Wireless Communications in a Process Control or Monitoring Environment
First Claim
1. A method in a communication device that implements a communication stack to wirelessly communicate with a remote device according to a general purpose wireless communication protocol, wherein the remote device operates in a process control environment, the method comprising:
- receiving a request from a software application to establish a wireless communication link with the remote device;
establishing a direct connection between the software component and the communication stack, wherein the direct connection is free of intermediate services; and
communicating process data between the software component and the remote device in accordance with an industrial automation protocol over the wireless communication link;
wherein the wireless communication link utilizes the general purpose wireless communication protocol.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method in a communication device that implements a communication stack to wirelessly communicate with a remote device according to a general purpose wireless communication protocol, where the remote device operates in a process control environment, includes receiving a request from a software module to establish a wireless communication link with the remote device, establishing a direct connection between the software module and the communication stack, where the direct connection is free of intermediate services, and communicating process data between the software module and the remote device in accordance with an industrial automation protocol over the wireless communication link, where the wireless communication link utilizes the general purpose wireless communication protocol.
-
Citations
26 Claims
-
1. A method in a communication device that implements a communication stack to wirelessly communicate with a remote device according to a general purpose wireless communication protocol, wherein the remote device operates in a process control environment, the method comprising:
-
receiving a request from a software application to establish a wireless communication link with the remote device; establishing a direct connection between the software component and the communication stack, wherein the direct connection is free of intermediate services; and communicating process data between the software component and the remote device in accordance with an industrial automation protocol over the wireless communication link; wherein the wireless communication link utilizes the general purpose wireless communication protocol. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A software module for use in a communication device, the communication device having a memory and a processor, wherein the communication device implements a communication stack to wirelessly communicate with a remote device operating in a process control environment according to a general purpose wireless communication protocol, and wherein the software module is stored in the memory as computer-executable instructions and executed by the processor to:
-
receive a request from a software application executing in the communication device to establish a wireless communication link with the remote device; establish a direct connection between the software application and the communication stack, wherein the direct connection is free of intermediate services; and communicate process data between the software application and the remote device in accordance with an industrial automation protocol over the wireless communication link; wherein the wireless communication link utilizes the general purpose wireless communication protocol. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A communication device comprising:
-
a processor; a wireless communication module configured to establish a wireless communication link between the communication device and a remote device operating in a process control environment, wherein the wireless communication link operates according to a general purpose wireless communication protocol; and a memory to store computer-executable instructions that include; a communication stack that implements the general purpose wireless communication protocol; and a software module executable by the processor and configured to (i) establish a direct connection between the communication stack and a software application executed by the processor in response to a request from the software application, wherein the direct connection is free of intermediate services, and (ii) communicate process data between the software application and the remote device in accordance with an industrial automation protocol over the wireless communication link using the wireless communication link. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
-
Specification