Transparent support of remote I/O in a process control system
First Claim
1. A method of configuring a communication link for use in a distributed process control system having a controller, a first remote I/O interface communicatively coupled to the controller and a remote I/O communication link, a second remote I/O interface communicatively coupled to the remote I/O communication link, and an I/O device communicatively coupled to the second remote I/O interface, the method comprising the steps of:
- specifying a connection between the controller and the I/O device, wherein specifying the connection includes receiving an input from a user through a graphical user interface;
recognizing that the connection between the controller and the I/O device requires communications over the remote I/O communication link;
automatically generating a first communication object based on the connection between the controller and the I/O device that automatically routes communications between the controller and the remote I/O communication link and that receives communications having a first signal protocol and converts the communications to a second signal protocol; and
automatically generating a second communication object based on the connection between the controller and the I/O device that automatically routes communications between the remote I/O communication link and the I/O device.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method configures a communication link in a process control system having a controller connected to an I/O device via a remote I/O communication link, which has a local and a remote I/O interface communicatively coupled via a remote I/O communication bus. The system and method specifies a remote connection between the controller and the I/O device, recognizes that the remote connection requires communications over the remote I/O communication link, and automatically generates communication objects to route communications between the controller and the I/O device via the remote I/O communication link.
98 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method of configuring a communication link for use in a distributed process control system having a controller, a first remote I/O interface communicatively coupled to the controller and a remote I/O communication link, a second remote I/O interface communicatively coupled to the remote I/O communication link, and an I/O device communicatively coupled to the second remote I/O interface, the method comprising the steps of:
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specifying a connection between the controller and the I/O device, wherein specifying the connection includes receiving an input from a user through a graphical user interface;
recognizing that the connection between the controller and the I/O device requires communications over the remote I/O communication link;
automatically generating a first communication object based on the connection between the controller and the I/O device that automatically routes communications between the controller and the remote I/O communication link and that receives communications having a first signal protocol and converts the communications to a second signal protocol; and
automatically generating a second communication object based on the connection between the controller and the I/O device that automatically routes communications between the remote I/O communication link and the I/O device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for configuring a communication link for use in a process control system having a controller with a processor, a first remote I/O interface communicatively coupled to the controller and a remote I/O communication link, a second remote I/O interface communicatively coupled to the remote I/O communication link, and an I/O device communicatively coupled to the second remote I/O interface, the system comprising:
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a computer readable medium;
a first configuration routine stored on the computer readable medium and adapted to be executed by the processor that recognizes a command to form a communication link between the controller and the I/O device;
a second configuration routine stored on the computer readable medium and adapted to be executed by the processor that automatically generates a first communication object based on the communication link between the controller and the I/O device, wherein the first communication object is adapted to automatically route communications between the controller and the remote I/O communication link and to receive communications having a first signal protocol and to convert the communications to a second signal protocol; and
a third configuration routine stored on the computer readable medium and adapted to be executed by the processor that automatically generates a second communication object based on the communication link between the controller and the I/O device, wherein the second communication object is adapted to automatically route communications between the remote I/O communication link and the remote I/O device. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
a user interface communicatively coupled to the controller;
a fourth routine stored on the computer readable medium and adapted to be executed by the user interface that provides to a user a graphical interface having a process control graphic and a hierarchy graphic;
a fifth routine stored on the computer readable medium and adapted to be executed by the user interface that receives an input from the user through the graphical user interface;
a sixth routine stored on the computer readable medium and adapted to be executed by the user interface that forms a connection between the process control graphic and the hierarchy graphic based on the input from the user; and
a seventh routine stored on the computer readable medium and adapted to be executed by the user interface that generates the command to form a communication link between the controller and the I/O device based on the connection between the process control graphic and the hierarchy graphic.
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16. A method of configuring a communication link for use in a process control system having a user interface, a controller coupled to the user interface, a first remote I/O interface communicatively coupled to the controller and a remote I/O communication link, a second remote I/O interface communicatively coupled to the remote I/O communication link, and an I/O device communicatively coupled to the second remote I/O interface, the method comprising the steps of:
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specifying within the user interface a connection between the controller and the I/O device;
automatically generating a first communication object based on the connection between the controller and the I/O device, wherein the first communication object is adapted to cause the first remote I/O interface to automatically route communications between the controller and the remote I/O communication link, and wherein the first communication object is adapted to receive communications having a first signal protocol and convert the communications to a second signal protocol; and
automatically generating a second communication object based on the connection between the controller and the I/O device, wherein the second communication object is adapted to cause the second remote I/O interface to automatically route communications between the remote I/O communication link and the I/O device. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A system for configuring a remote input/output (I/O) communication link for use in a process control system having an I/O device communicatively coupled to a remote I/O communication link, the system comprising:
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a controller that automatically downloads first and second communication objects in response to a request for a connection between the controller and the I/O device;
a first remote I/O interface communicatively coupled to the controller and the remote I/O communication link, wherein the first remote I/O interface uses the first communication object to automatically route communications between the controller and the remote I/O communication link, and wherein the first communication object receives communications having a first signal protocol converts the communications to a second signal protocol; and
a second remote I/O interface communicatively coupled to the remote I/O communication link and the remote databus, wherein the second remote I/O interface uses the second communication object to automatically route communications between the remote I/O communication link and the I/O device. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification