Integrated communication network for use in a field device management system
First Claim
1. A field device management system adapted for communicating with a field device having device data associated therewith and with a device description storing a subset of the device data therein, the system comprising:
- means for communicating with the field device;
means for interpreting the device description to obtain the subset of the device data stored therein;
means for storing a hierarchy of categories of information associated with the device data, including means associated with each of the categories for defining communication procedures related to the device data associated with that category;
means for initiating a command related to a portion of the device data;
means for categorizing the command as related to one of the categories of the predetermined hierarchy of categories of information; and
means responsive to the categorizing means for controlling the communicating means and the interpreting means in accordance with the communication procedures associated with the one of the categories.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A field device management system includes an interface which provides communication between a software application implemented on the system and a set of smart field devices coupled to the system. The interface accesses information from and/or writes information to the smart field devices, a database and device descriptions associated with the smart field devices to provide a consistent communication connection with such devices, database and device descriptions, irrespective of the types of smart field devices connected to the system. The interface is based on a predefined hierarchy of categories of information defining the device data associated with the smart field devices, and is implemented using an OLE object for each of the predefined categories of information. In particular, each OLE object stores device data associated with one of the predefined categories of information and includes instructions for communicating with one of the smart field devices, one of the device descriptions and/or the database to effect a command related to the stored device data.
487 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A field device management system adapted for communicating with a field device having device data associated therewith and with a device description storing a subset of the device data therein, the system comprising:
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means for communicating with the field device; means for interpreting the device description to obtain the subset of the device data stored therein;
means for storing a hierarchy of categories of information associated with the device data, including means associated with each of the categories for defining communication procedures related to the device data associated with that category;means for initiating a command related to a portion of the device data; means for categorizing the command as related to one of the categories of the predetermined hierarchy of categories of information; and means responsive to the categorizing means for controlling the communicating means and the interpreting means in accordance with the communication procedures associated with the one of the categories. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A device management system adapted to be coupled to a plurality of field devices that perform process control activities in a process environment and that have field device information associated therewith, comprising:
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a library that stores a device description associated with each of the plurality of field devices, wherein each of the device descriptions stores a portion of the field device information comprising a parameter associated with the field device and a property associated with the parameter; means for identifying a hierarchy of categories of information using the parameters and the properties associated with the parameters; means for communicating with the plurality of field devices based on the hierarchy of categories of information; and means for retrieving field device information from the device descriptions based on the hierarchy of categories of information. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for communicating with a plurality of field devices, each of which has device information associated therewith, comprising:
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a library which stores a device description for each of the plurality of field devices, wherein each of the device descriptions includes a portion of the device information pertaining to one of the plurality of field devices; means for communicating with the plurality of field devices and with the device descriptions stored in the library; and means for categorizing the device information associated with each of the plurality of field devices into a multiplicity of predetermined categories, wherein each of the multiplicity of predetermined categories includes; means for storing device information associated with the category, and means for controlling the communicating means with respect to the device information associated with the category. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method of communicating with a plurality of field devices having device information associated therewith, comprising the steps of:
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storing a device description for each of the plurality of field devices in a memory, wherein each of the device descriptions stores a portion of the device information; identifying a hierarchy of categories of information describing the device information associated with the plurality of field devices and the interrelation between each of the categories of information; associating a method of communicating with one of the plurality of field devices or one of the device descriptions for each of a multiplicity of the identified categories of information; and using the method of communicating associated with one of the multiplicity of the identified categories of information to communicate with one of the plurality of field devices or one of the device descriptions. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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Specification