Wireless handheld communicator in a process control environment
First Claim
1. A method of communicating with a field device in a process control environment, comprising:
- wirelessly communicating between a handheld communicator and a repository to obtain communication information for the field device at the handheld communicator prior to communicating with the field device, the communication information defining communication data associated with implementing a two-way communication protocol, said communication data being useful to implement two-way wireless communications between the handheld communicator and the field device using the two-way communication protocol, wherein the field device is separately disposed within the process control environment with respect to the handheld communicator;
storing the communication information in the handheld communicator; and
wirelessly communicating between the handheld communicator and the field device using the communication data and the communication protocol.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A handheld communicator wirelessly interfaces or communicates with individual devices in a process control system, such as field devices, controllers, etc., to wirelessly perform monitoring, maintenance, configuration and control activities with respect to those devices. The wireless handheld communicator includes a housing adapted for handheld operation, a processing unit disposed within the housing, a computer readable memory disposed within the housing and coupled to the processing unit and a display, a keypad and a radio frequency transceiver. The handheld communicator may be adapted to communicate with a host system to receive information needed to communicate with various field devices in the process plant and may then be used to wirelessly communicate with each of the various field devices directly while in close proximity to the field devices to perform monitoring and configuration activities with respect to the field devices. Thereafter, information obtained from the field devices may be wirelessly communicated to the host system or to a repository, such as a data historian or a configuration database.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method of communicating with a field device in a process control environment, comprising:
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wirelessly communicating between a handheld communicator and a repository to obtain communication information for the field device at the handheld communicator prior to communicating with the field device, the communication information defining communication data associated with implementing a two-way communication protocol, said communication data being useful to implement two-way wireless communications between the handheld communicator and the field device using the two-way communication protocol, wherein the field device is separately disposed within the process control environment with respect to the handheld communicator; storing the communication information in the handheld communicator; and wirelessly communicating between the handheld communicator and the field device using the communication data and the communication protocol. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A communication system for use in a process environment having a plurality of field devices distributed in a process plant, the communication system comprising:
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a handheld communicator disposed apart from and separately movable with respect to the plurality of field devices, the handheld communicator having a processing unit, a computer readable memory, a graphical display unit, an input device and a first wireless transceiver; and a second wireless transceiver disposed in the process environment and communicatively coupled to at least one of the plurality of field devices; wherein the handheld communicator further includes a communication routine stored in the memory and adapted to be executed on the processing unit to wirelessly retrieve communication information from a database repository disposed apart from the handheld communicator, wherein the communication information includes data for communicating with the at least one of the plurality of field devices, and to store the communication information in the memory, and wherein the communication routine is further executable on the processing unit to perform two-way wireless communications with the at least one of the plurality of field devices through the first and second transceivers using the communication information. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A communication system for use in a process environment, comprising:
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a plurality of field devices distributed in the process environment for performing one or more process control or measurement activities within the process environment; a first wireless transceiver disposed in the process environment and communicatively connected to at least one of the plurality of field devices; a handheld communicator having a processing unit, a computer readable memory, a graphical display unit, an input device, and a second wireless transceiver, the handheld communicator further including a communication routine to be executed on the processing unit to wirelessly retrieve, from a repository, communication information that includes data for use in communicating with the at least one of the plurality of field devices based on an identity associated with the at least one of the plurality of field devices and to store the communication information in the memory, and wherein the communication routine is further executable on the processing unit to perform two-way wireless communications with the at least one of the plurality of field devices through the first and second transceivers using the communication in formation. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification