High speed data historian

• US 7,853,568 B2
• Filed: 03/01/2007
• Issued: 12/14/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Air Liquide Large Industries U S LP (L'Air Liquide SA)
• Original Assignee: Air Liquide Large Industries U S LP (L'Air Liquide SA)
• Inventors: Mukhi, Sulton Q.
• Primary Examiner(s): LeRoux; Etienne P
• Assistant Examiner(s): Le; Jessica N
• Application Number:
  US11/681,063
• Publication Number:
  US 20080215641A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,384 Days
• Field of Search: 707/200, 707202-204, 707600-704
• US Class Current: 707/661
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 21/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0264 Control of logging system, e.g. decision on which data to store; time-stamping measurements

Abstract

Techniques for operating an archival database, referred to as a historian, are disclosed. The historian may be used to archive values from a real-time database. Data values to be archived in the historian are first written to a short-term, high-availability repository, such as a memory-mapped database. As data values “fill” the short-term repository, an archival processor application may be configured to “drain” them from the short-term repository and store them in a high-capacity, long-term archive, such as a disk-based database. Thus, the short-term repository may be used to provide fast access to the recent operational history of a monitored system, (e.g., a complex pipeline network), where long-term archive may be used to provide access to a comprehensive operational history of the monitored system.

Claims

1. A method of archiving a plurality of data values from a real-time database in a historian system, wherein the historian system includes a short-term repository and a long-term archive, comprising:

obtaining one of the plurality of data values from the real-time database, wherein the real-time database monitors a current operational state of an industrial system, wherein the plurality of data values correspond to information reflecting an operational state of one or more monitored devices of the industrial system, and wherein the obtained data value is stored in a tag that includes a timestamp and a tag ID identifying a monitored parameter in the real-time database;

evaluating the tag to determine whether to store the tag in the historian system;

upon determining to store the tag in the historian system, storing the tag in the short-term repository;

evaluating a set of tags in the short-term repository to determine whether to store any of the set of tags in the long-term archive; and

upon determining to store one or more of the set of tags in the long-term archive, copying the tag from the short-term repository to the long-term archive and removing the tag from the short-term repository;

monitoring a rate at which data values are obtained by the historian system and monitoring a number of tags of a given type in the short-term repository;

upon determining that one of (i) the rate at which data values are obtained by the historian system exceeds a rate at which the historian system is able to process the data values and (ii) the number of tags of the given type in the short term repository exceeds an allocated number of tags of the given type, writing the data values to an overflow file.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the short-term repository is a memory-mapped database.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the long-term archive is a disk-based database.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining one of the plurality of data values from the real-time database comprises periodically retrieving a then current value of the data value from the real-time database.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining one of the plurality of data values from the real-time database comprises receiving a previous value of the data value, after the data value has changed by a predetermined amount in the real-time database.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising, copying the one or more tags copied from the short-term repository to the long-term archive to a backup database.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating the set of tags in the short-term repository to determine whether to store any of the set of tags in the long-term archive comprises determining whether any of the set of tags have been in the short-term repository for a pre-determined time period.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating the set of tags in the short-term repository to determine whether to store any of the set of tags in the long-term archive comprises, determining whether the short-term repository has a maximum number of tags of a given type.

9. A computer-readable storage medium containing a program for archiving a plurality of data values from a real-time database in a historian system, the program including instructions for performing an operation, comprising:

obtaining one of the plurality of data values from the real-time database, wherein the real-time database monitors a current operational state of an industrial system, wherein the plurality of data values correspond to information reflecting an operational state of one or more monitored devices of the industrial system, and wherein the obtained data value is stored in a tag that includes a timestamp and a tag ID identifying a monitored parameter in the real-time database;

evaluating the tag to determine whether to store the tag in the historian system;

upon determining to store the tag in the historian system, storing the tag in the short-term repository;

evaluating a set of tags in the short-term repository to determine whether to store any of the set of tags in the long-term archive; and

upon determining to store one or more of the set of tags in the long-term archive, copying the tag from the short-term repository to the long-term archive and removing the tag from the short-term repository;

monitoring a rate at which data values are obtained by the historian system and monitoring a number of tags of a given type in the short-term repository;

upon determining that one of (i) the rate at which data values are obtained by the historian system exceeds a rate at which the historian system is able to process the data values and (ii) the number of tags of the given type in the short term repository exceeds an allocated number of tags of the given type, writing the data values to an overflow file.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the short-term repository is a memory-mapped database.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the long-term archive is a disk-based database.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein obtaining one of the plurality of data values from the real-time database comprises periodically retrieving a then current value of the data value from the real-time database.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein obtaining one of the plurality of data values from the real-time database comprises receiving a previous value of the data value, after the data value has changed by a predetermined amount in the real-time database.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the operation further comprises, copying the one or more tags copied from the short-term repository to the long-term archive to a backup database.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein evaluating the set of tags in the short-term repository to determine whether to store any of the set of tags in the long-term archive comprises determining whether any of the set of tags have been in the short-term repository for a pre-determined time period.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein evaluating the set of tags in the short-term repository to determine whether to store any of the set of tags in the long-term archive comprises, determining whether the short-term repository has a maximum number of tags of a given type.

17. A system for archiving a plurality of data values from a real-time database in a historian system, comprising:

the real-time database, wherein the real-time database stores a current value for the plurality of monitored data values, and wherein each of the plurality of data values correspond to information reflecting an operational parameter of one or more monitored devices of an industrial system;

the historian system, wherein the historian system includes a short-term repository and a long term archive, and wherein the historian system performs an operation comprising;

obtaining one of the plurality of data values from the real-time database, wherein the obtained data value is stored in a tag that includes a timestamp and a tag ID identifying a monitored parameter in the real-time database,

evaluating the tag to determine whether to store the tag in the historian system,

upon determining to store the tag in the historian system, store storing the tag in the short-term repository,

evaluating a set of tags in the short-term repository to determine whether to store any of the set of tags in the long-term archive, and

upon determining to store one or more of the set of tags in the long-term archive, copying the tag from the short-term repository to the long-term archive and removing the tag from the short-term repository;

monitoring a rate at which data values are obtained by the historian system and monitoring a number of tags of a given type in the short-term repository; and

upon determining that one of (i) the rate at which data values are obtained by the historian system exceeds a rate at which the historian system is able to process the data values and (ii) the number of tags of the given type in the short term repository exceeds an allocated number of tags of the given type, writing the data values to an overflow file.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the short-term repository is a memory mapped database.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the long-term archive is a disk-based database.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the operation performed by the historian system wherein obtaining one of the plurality of data values from the real-time database comprises periodically retrieving a then current value of the data value from the real-time database.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the operation performed by the historian system further comprises obtaining one of the plurality of data values from the real-time database comprises receiving a previous value of the data value, after the data value has changed by a predetermined amount in the real-time database.

22. The system of claim 17, wherein the operation performed by the historian system further comprises copying the one or more tags copied from the short-term repository to the long-term archive to a backup database.

23. The system of claim 17, wherein the operation performed by the historian system wherein evaluating the set of tags in the short-term repository to determine whether to store any of the set of tags in the long-term archive comprises determining whether any of the set of tags have been in the short-term repository for a predetermined time period.

24. The system of claim 17, wherein the operation performed by the historian system wherein evaluating the set of tags in the short-term repository to determine whether to store any of the set of tags in the long-term archive comprises determining whether the short-term repository has a maximum number of tags of a given type.