Digital data processing apparatus and methods for improving plant performance

• US 7,860,857 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2007
• Issued: 12/28/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schneider Electric Systems USA, Inc. (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: Invensys Systems Incorporated (Invensys PLC)
• Inventors: Hardin, David, Kagan, Harris D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Fleurantin; Jean B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MYINT, DENNIS Y
• Application Number:
  US11/731,629
• Publication Number:
  US 20070233664A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,369 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/710, 707/711
• US Class Current: 707/710
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4186 by protocol, e.g. MAP, TOP
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31457 Factory remote control, monitoring through internet
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

The invention provides, in one aspect, human machine interface (HMI) methods and apparatus that permit users to search and/or view plant and other real-time process automation data in a manner similar to that with which they search and/or view pages on the Internet (web). Related aspects of the invention provide such methods and apparatus as permit users to search and/or view such real-time process automation data concurrently with such Internet web pages. Further related aspects of the invention provide such methods and apparatus as permit users to search and/or view such real-time process automation data concurrently with business data maintained in pages on an enterprise network (e.g., a LAN, WAN or otherwise).

Claims

1. A digital data processing system comprising,

A. a web crawler search engine for indexing any of

(i) plant automation data, and

(ii) real-time automation data,

in an enterprise,

B. a web browser for execution on a first digital data processor and in communications coupling with (i) the web crawler search engine, and (ii) a public network,

C. the web browser permitting a user to any of search and view (i) pages on the public network concurrently with (ii) any of said plant automation data and real-time automation data, by responding to a user query by generating and displaying

(i) one or more interface regions comprising links to web pages from the public network, and

(ii) one or more interface regions comprising any of (a) links to and (b) displays of any of said plant automation data and said real-time automation data indexed by the web crawler search engine.

2. The digital data processing system of claim 1, wherein the web crawler search engine collects any of said plant automation data and said real-time automation data.

3. The digital data processing system of claim 2, wherein the web crawler search engine indexes one or more pages of the public network.

4. The digital data processing system of claim 2, wherein any of the plant automation data, the real-time automation data, the FDT data, and the OPC data is input into the web crawler with metadata for any of control point, state, alarm condition, description, status, and value.

5. The digital data processing system of claim 1, wherein any of the first digital data processor and another digital data processor transfers any of said plant automation data and said real-time automation data from a repository to the web crawler search engine for indexing.

6. The digital data processing system of claim 5, wherein any of said first digital data processor and said other digital data processor transfers field device tool (FDT) data and/or object linking and embedding for process control (OPC) data to the web crawler for such indexing.

7. The digital data processing system of claim 6, wherein such transfers are effected by presenting any of the plant automation data, the real-time automation data, the FDT data and the OPC data to the web crawler as if that data were web pages with related attributes.

8. The digital data processing system of claim 7, wherein the transfers are effected by an interface that updates any of the plant automation data, the real-time automation data, the FDT data and the OPC data indexed by the web crawler as change driven data.

9. The digital data processing system of claim 5, wherein the index is updated based on a schedule and/or a demand by an application programming interface (API).

10. The digital data processing system of claim 1, comprising one or more policies that direct behavior of the web crawler, wherein one or more of those policies are controlled such that the web crawler search engine can be interrupted and redirected in a new direction based on a forcing policy associated with any of process state, alarm conditions or events.

11. The digital data processing system of claim 1, wherein the web browser is configured to respond to a user query comprising a tag associated with equipment.

12. The digital data processing system of claim 11, wherein the web browser is configured to respond to the user query by displaying automation data from equipment associated with the tag and/or information regarding the tag.

13. The digital data processing system of claim 1, wherein the web browser permits a user to apply thereto a user query that returns a list with one or more instrument tagnames.

14. A digital data processing system comprising,

a web crawler search engine for execution on a first digital data processor,

the web crawler search engine configured to collect and index any of plant automation data and real-time automation data from within a plant,

the web crawler search engine also being configured to collect and index any of (i) one or more pages of an Internet or (ii) one or more pages of a wide area network, local area network, and/or other enterprise network,

said collecting and indexing by the web crawler search engine enabling a web browser to respond to a user query by generating and displaying

(i) one or more interface regions comprising any of (a) links to and (b) displays of any of said plant automation data and said real-time automation data indexed by the web crawler search engine, and

(ii) one or more interface regions comprising one or more pages indexed by the web crawler search engine from the Internet, wide area network, local area network, and/or other enterprise network, other than plant and/or real-time automation data.

15. The digital data processing system of claim 14, wherein the index is updated based on a schedule and/or a demand by an application programming interface (API).

16. The digital data processing system of claim 14, wherein said any of plant automation data and said real-time automation data is received by the web crawler with metadata for any of control point, state, alarm condition, description, status, and value.

17. The digital data processing system of claim 14, wherein one or more other digital data processors transfers any of said plant automation data and said real-time automation data from a repository to the web crawler.

18. The digital data processing system of claim 17, wherein the one or more other digital data processors transfers field device tool (FDT) data and/or object linking and embedding for process control (OPC) data to the web crawler for such indexing.

19. The digital data processing system of claim 18, wherein the transfers are effected by an interface that updates any of the plant automation data, the real-time automation data, the FDT data and/or the OPC data indexed by the web crawler as change driven data.

20. The digital data processing system of claim 17, wherein such transfers are effected by presenting any of the plant automation data, the real-time automation data, the FDT data, and the OPC data to the web crawler as if that data were web pages with related attributes.

21. The digital data processing system of claim 14, comprising one or more policies that direct behavior of the web crawler search engine, wherein the policies are controlled such that the web crawler search engine can be interrupted and redirected in a new direction based on a forcing policy associated with any of process state, alarm conditions or events.

22. The digital data processing system of claim 14, wherein said collecting and indexing by the web crawler search engine enables the web browser to respond to a user query comprising a tag associated with equipment.

23. The digital data processing system of claim 22, wherein said collecting and indexing by the web crawler search engine enables the web browser to respond to the user query by displaying automation data from equipment associated with the tag and/or information regarding the tag.

24. The digital data processing system of claim 14, wherein the web browser permits a user to apply thereto a user query that returns a list with one or more instrument tagnames.

25. A digital data processing system comprising,

A. a web browser for execution on a first digital data processor,

B. the web browser configured to respond to a user query by generating and displaying

(i) one or more interface regions comprising any of (a) links to and (b) displays of any of plant automation data and real-time automation data, and

(ii) one or more other interface regions comprising one or more pages indexed by the web crawler search engine from any of an Internet, wide area network, local area network, and/or other enterprise network, other than plant and/or real-time automation data

C. a web crawler search engine for execution on a second digital data processor that is in communications coupling with the first digital data processor,

D. the web crawler search engine configured to collect and index any of plant automation data and real-time automation data transferred from a repository of automation data for such display and query by users.

26. The digital data processing system of claim 25, wherein the one or more other interface regions comprises one or more aspects of business data maintained on the wide area network, local area network and/or other enterprise network.

27. The digital data processing system of claim 25, wherein the web crawler search engine is configured to index one or more pages of the Internet, wide area network, local area network and/or other enterprise network.

28. The digital data processing system of claim 25, wherein a digital data processor is configured to transfer field device tool (FDT) data and/or object linking and embedding for process control (OPC) data to the web crawler for such indexing.

29. The digital data processing system of claim 28, wherein such transfers are effected by presenting the plant automation data, the real-time process automation data, the FDT data and/or the OPC data to the web crawler as if that data were web pages with related attributes.

30. The digital data processing system of claim 25, wherein such data is input into the web crawler with metadata for any of control point, state, alarm condition, description, status, and value.

31. The digital data processing system of claim 30, wherein the transfers are effected by an interface that updates the plant automation data, the real-time automation data, the FDT data and/or the OPC data indexed by the web crawler as change driven data.

32. The digital data processing system of claim 25, wherein the index is updated based on a schedule and/or a demand by an application programming interface (API).

33. The digital data processing system of claim 25, comprising one or more policies that direct behavior of the web crawler search engine, the policies controlled such that the web crawler search engine can be interrupted and redirected in a new direction based on a forcing policy associated with any of process state, alarm conditions or events.

34. The digital data processing system of claim 25, wherein the web browser is configured to respond to a user query comprising a tag associated with equipment.

35. The digital data processing system of claim 34, wherein the web browser is configured to respond to the user query by displaying automation data from equipment associated with the tag and/or information regarding the tag.

36. The digital data processing system of claim 25, wherein the web browser permits a user to apply thereto a user query that returns a list with one or more instrument tagnames.