SYSTEM AND APPROACH TO MANAGE VERSIONING OF FIELD DEVICES IN A MULTI-SITE ENTERPRISE
First Claim
1. An energy management and control system comprising:
- a supervisor controller having a first versioning service component;
one or more site controllers, having a second versioning service component, connected to the supervisor controller; and
one or more field devices, having firmware, connected to the one or more site controllers; and
wherein;
the first versioning service component has a configuration that enables automatic detection by the supervisor controller of new version firmware;
a query is made by the first versioning service component to the second versioning service component for an inventory of the one or more field devices to determine which field devices, if any, are appropriate for receipt of the new version firmware;
the first versioning service component launches a versioning job process and transfers the new version firmware to the second versioning service component to continue the versioning job process; and
the versioning job process comprises installing the new version firmware in the one or more field devices determined as appropriate for receipt of the new version firmware.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An energy management and control system that may manage versioning firmware for devices. The system may be structured in a hierarchy of enterprise, site and field levels, with one or more computing platforms at the various levels. An enterprise supervisor may detect and obtain new version firmware for the devices at the field level. The new version firmware may be transferred from the supervisor to one or more site controllers. The one or more site controllers may transfer the new version firmware to eligible field devices. The devices may report to their respective site controllers a status of a transfer of the new version hardware. The site controllers may report to the supervisor the status of the transfer. Detection of new version firmware may be automatic. Transfer of the new version firmware to virtually all of the eligible devices may be automatic.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An energy management and control system comprising:
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a supervisor controller having a first versioning service component; one or more site controllers, having a second versioning service component, connected to the supervisor controller; and one or more field devices, having firmware, connected to the one or more site controllers; and wherein; the first versioning service component has a configuration that enables automatic detection by the supervisor controller of new version firmware; a query is made by the first versioning service component to the second versioning service component for an inventory of the one or more field devices to determine which field devices, if any, are appropriate for receipt of the new version firmware; the first versioning service component launches a versioning job process and transfers the new version firmware to the second versioning service component to continue the versioning job process; and the versioning job process comprises installing the new version firmware in the one or more field devices determined as appropriate for receipt of the new version firmware. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An energy management and control system having a mechanism for versioning firmware of field devices, comprising:
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an enterprise supervisor; one or more site controllers connected to the enterprise supervisor; and one or more field devices connected to the one or more site controllers; and wherein; the one or more field devices comprise firmware that controls an operation of the one or more field devices, respectively; the enterprise supervisor detects new version firmware for one or more field devices; the enterprise supervisor queries the one or more site controllers for an inventory of appropriate field devices qualified to receive the new version firmware; upon a launch initiated by a user, the enterprise supervisor transfers the new version firmware to the one or more site controllers; the new version firmware is transferred by the one or more site controllers to virtually all of the appropriate field devices; and a transfer of the new version firmware replaces or upgrades the firmware in the appropriate field devices. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An energy management and control system comprising:
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a supervisor having a first versioning service component; at least one site controller, connected to the supervisor, having a second versioning service component; and one or more field devices connected to the at least one site controller; and wherein; the first versioning service component is loaded with new version firmware; the new version firmware is transferred by the first versioning service component to the second versioning service component; and the second versioning service component transfers the new version firmware to replace or upgrade firmware in the one or more field devices. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification