Accessing and updating a configuration database from distributed physical locations within a process control system
First Claim
1. A process control system distributed between a first physical location and a second physical location wherein the first and second physical locations are substantially geographically separated, the process control system comprising:
- a first database located at the first physical location to store a first set of data, the first set of data including configuration data pertaining to the process control system;
a second database located at the second physical location to store a second set of data, the second set of data including configuration data pertaining to the process control system;
a slow communication link that communicatively couples the first physical location and the second physical location; and
a communication routine that uses the slow communication link to copy a portion of the first set of data from the first database and to store the copied portion of the first set of data as the second set of data in the second database.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A configuration database includes multiple databases distributed at a plurality of physical locations within a process control system. The configuration database may include a master configuration database that stores all of the configuration data for all of the sites and one or more briefcase databases that download and reserve configuration data from the master database. The briefcase database is used at other sites to perform configuration activities and, thereafter, changed configuration items are promoted back to the master configuration database where these changed items are stored.
187 Citations
46 Claims
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1. A process control system distributed between a first physical location and a second physical location wherein the first and second physical locations are substantially geographically separated, the process control system comprising:
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a first database located at the first physical location to store a first set of data, the first set of data including configuration data pertaining to the process control system;
a second database located at the second physical location to store a second set of data, the second set of data including configuration data pertaining to the process control system;
a slow communication link that communicatively couples the first physical location and the second physical location; and
a communication routine that uses the slow communication link to copy a portion of the first set of data from the first database and to store the copied portion of the first set of data as the second set of data in the second database. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A process control system distributed between a first physical location and a second physical location wherein the first and second physical locations are substantially geographically separated, the process control system comprising:
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a first database located at the first physical location to store a first set of configuration data pertaining to the process control system;
a second database located at the second physical location to store a second set of configuration data pertaining to the process control system;
a slow communication link that communicatively couples the first physical location and the second physical location; and
a configuration application adapted to perform a configuration activity and to communicate with the first database to retrieve a first item of the configuration data stored in the first database and to communicate with the second database to retrieve a second item of the configuration data stored in the second database and wherein the configuration application communicates with one of the first and the second databases via the slow communication link. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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22. A process control system distributed between a first physical location and a second physical location wherein the first and second physical locations are substantially geographically separated, the process control system comprising:
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a first database located at the first physical location to store a first set of configuration data pertaining to the process control system;
a second database located at the second physical location to store a second set of configuration data pertaining to the process control system;
a slow communication link that communicatively couples the first physical location and the second physical location; and
a configuration application adapted to perform a configuration activity and to communicate with the first database to retrieve a first item of the configuration data stored in the first database and to communicate with the second database to retrieve a second item of the configuration data stored in the second database and wherein the configuration application communicates with one of the first and the second databases via the slow communication link;
wherein a first element of the first set of configuration data is a first textual string in a first language and a second element of the second set of configuration data is a second textual string in a second language and the configuration application includes conversion software for converting the first element from the first language to the second language. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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25. A configuration database system adapted to be used in a process control system, the configuration database system comprising:
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a master database located at a first physical location within the process control system that stores configuration data for the process control system;
a briefcase database adapted to store a copy of a portion of the configuration data, wherein the copy of the configuration data stored in the briefcase database can be used at a second physical location that is substantially geographically separated from the first physical location; and
a communication routine that copies the portion of the configuration data from the master database and that stores the copied portion of the configuration data in the briefcase database. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method of using configuration data in a process control system having a first physical location and a second physical location wherein the first and second physical locations are substantially geographically separated, the method comprising the steps of:
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storing a first set of configuration data in a first database located at the first physical location;
storing a second set of configuration data in a second database located at the second physical location; and
communicating a portion of the first set of configuration data within the first database to the second database via a slow communication link. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A method of performing a configuration activity in a process control system having a first physical location and a second physical location, wherein the first and second physical locations are substantially geographically separated, the method comprising the steps of:
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storing a master copy of configuration data within a master configuration database at the first location;
copying a portion of the master configuration data from the master configuration database to a briefcase database; and
causing the briefcase database to perform a configuration activity at the second physical location. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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Specification