Virtual wireless transmitter
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring a distributed system having a plurality of deployed field devices and at least one computer at a control room, each field device containing a transducer and a wireless transceiver, the method comprising:
- sensing information with the deployed field devices to produce ungroomed digital transducer data;
wirelessly transmitting the ungroomed digital transducer data from each field device to a base station;
receiving the transmitted information ungroomed digital transducer data from each field device at the base station;
storing the received information ungroomed digital transducer data in a database on a computer network;
storing in the database, for each field device, secondary information needed to groom raw data from that field device;
running a virtual transmitter application program on a server connected to the computer network, the server being remote from the field devices;
receiving at the server a request by a computer at the control room for a measurement value from a selected field device;
retrieving to the server from the database stored ungroomed digital transducer data generated by the selected field device and the stored secondary information for the selected field device;
programmatically grooming at the server the stored ungroomed digital transducer data with the virtual transmitter application using the stored secondary information to derive the measurement value; and
transmitting over the network the measurement value from the server to the computer at the control room that requested the measurement value.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A distributed control system has a plurality of distributed field devices, each of which contains a transducer and a wireless transceiver. The distributed control system includes a base station transceiver, a database and a virtual transmitter application in communication with the database. Each field device transmits and receives data via wireless signals between the communications boards and the base station. The data is stored in the database for later retrieval and evaluation by the virtual transmitter application. The deployed field device senses information and transmits the sensed information wirelessly to a base station. The sensed information is stored in memory on a computer system, and programmatically groomed to provide a measurement value, upon request by a user.
51 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring a distributed system having a plurality of deployed field devices and at least one computer at a control room, each field device containing a transducer and a wireless transceiver, the method comprising:
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sensing information with the deployed field devices to produce ungroomed digital transducer data; wirelessly transmitting the ungroomed digital transducer data from each field device to a base station; receiving the transmitted information ungroomed digital transducer data from each field device at the base station; storing the received information ungroomed digital transducer data in a database on a computer network; storing in the database, for each field device, secondary information needed to groom raw data from that field device; running a virtual transmitter application program on a server connected to the computer network, the server being remote from the field devices; receiving at the server a request by a computer at the control room for a measurement value from a selected field device; retrieving to the server from the database stored ungroomed digital transducer data generated by the selected field device and the stored secondary information for the selected field device; programmatically grooming at the server the stored ungroomed digital transducer data with the virtual transmitter application using the stored secondary information to derive the measurement value; and transmitting over the network the measurement value from the server to the computer at the control room that requested the measurement value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A distributed monitoring system comprising:
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a plurality of field devices, each field device comprising; a transducer for producing raw digital data based upon a physical measurement of a sensed parameter, the raw digital data being ungroomed; and a wireless transceiver for wirelessly transmitting the raw digital data; a base transceiver for receiving the transmitted raw digital data from each field device; a file for storing the raw digital data for each field device and for storing secondary information needed to groom the raw digital data from that field device, the file being accessible over a network; and a server on the network, the server being remote from the field devices and having a virtual transmitter application for retrieving, upon a request received over the network from a computer at a control room, the stored raw digital data and the secondary information, generating a measurement value having a recognizable relationship to the sensed parameter for each field device identified in the request by grooming the stored raw digital data using the stored secondary information for that field device, and transmitting the measurement value to the computer at the control room that made the request. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of monitoring a distributed system having a plurality of deployed field devices, each field device containing a transducer and a wireless transceiver, the method comprising:
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sensing a parameter with one of the deployed field devices to produce raw digital data; wirelessly transmitting the raw digital data from the field device to a base station, the raw digital data representing an ungroomed numerical value produced by a physical measurement of the parameter taken by the transducer; receiving the measurement information from the field device at the base station; storing the raw digital data in memory on a computer network; storing secondary information for each field device in memory on the computer network; programmatically grooming, upon request from computer at a control room, the stored raw digital data to derive a measurement value representative of the parameter, the grooming being performed by a virtual transmitter application running on a server on the network using the stored secondary information for the field device that produced the stored raw digital data, the server being remote from the field devices; and transmitting the measurement value over the network from the server to the computer at a control room that made the request. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A distributed system comprising:
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a distributed network of field devices, each field device having a transducer and an associated first wireless transceiver for transmitting wireless signals comprising raw digital data representing an ungroomed numerical value produced by a physical measurement made by the transducer; a second wireless transceiver for receiving the wireless signals; a database for storing the raw digital data based on the wireless signals received by the second wireless transceiver and for storing secondary information associated with each field device; and a virtual transmitter application running on a server connected to a network at a location remote from the field devices for retrieving from the database the stored data and secondary information associated with each field device, for generating on request from a computer at a control room a groomed measurement value based on the raw digital data and secondary information, wherein the transmitter application grooms the raw digital data according to the secondary information, and for transmitting the measurement value over the network to the computer at the control room making the request. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A method of monitoring a distributed system having a plurality of deployed field devices, each field device containing a transducer and a wireless transceiver, the method comprising:
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sensing a parameter with one of the deployed field devices to produce raw digital data; wirelessly transmitting the raw digital data from the field device to a base station, the raw digital data representing an ungroomed numerical value produced by a physical measurement of the parameter taken by the transducer; receiving the measurement information from the field device at the base station; storing the raw digital data in memory on a computer network; programmatically grooming, upon request from a computer at the control room, the stored raw digital data to derive a measurement value representative of the parameter, the grooming being performed by a virtual transmitter application running on a server on the network, the server being remote from the field devices; transmitting the measurement value over the network from the server to the computer at the control room that made the request; evaluating the derived measurement value against predetermined parameter values; generating an adjustment signal; and transmitting the adjustment signal to the field device for altering a parameter associated with the field device.
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Specification