Proxied web access for control devices on industrial control systems

• US 8,065,358 B2
• Filed: 09/28/2001
• Issued: 11/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Inventors: Batke, Brian A., Hall, Kenwood H., Baczkowski, Gary W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Swearingen; Jeffrey R
• Application Number:
  US09/967,742
• Publication Number:
  US 20020156838A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,707 Days
• Field of Search: 709/218, 709/224, 709/246, 715/513, 700/65
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/054 Input/output
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/15038 Internet, tcp-ip, web server see under S05B219-40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

An industrial control system includes a plurality of control devices providing control signals to direct an industrial process and a web access module including a web server, an Internet interface and a control network interface. Each of the control devices includes web page data concerning a respective web page associated with the respective control device. The Internet interface is couplable to a remote device via the Internet, and the control network interface is coupled to the control devices. The web access module is able to receive requests from the remote device to access the web pages associated with the control devices. In response to the requests, the web access module obtains the web page data concerning the web pages for which access has been requested, processes the data at the server, and sends data signals related to the data onto the Internet to be received by the remote device.

Claims

1. An industrial control system for controlling an industrial process comprising:

a plurality of control devices providing control signals to direct the industrial process by outputting signals to the controlled industrial process within a predictable maximum response time, wherein each of the control devices includes web page data concerning a respective web page associated with the respective control device;

a web access module including a web server, an Internet interface and a control-network interface the control network interface providing communications on the communication link within a predictable maximum response time;

wherein the Internet interface is capable of being coupled to a remote device via the Internet, and wherein the control-network interface is coupled to a plurality of control devices through the communication link being at least a portion of a network separating the control devices with webpage data from the web access module holding the server;

wherein the web access module is capable of receiving requests from the remote device to access any of the web pages associated with a plurality of control devices identified by an Internet address unique to a control device; and

wherein, in response to receiving the requests, the web access module obtains the web page data concerning the web pages for which access has been requested, processes the web page data at the web server, and sends data signals related to the web page data onto the Internet to be received by the remote device.

2. The industrial control system of claim 1, wherein the web page data concerning the web pages includes HTML data.

3. The industrial control system of claim 1, wherein the web page data included on at least one of the plurality of control devices includes all web page information needed by the remote device in order for a browser program at the remote device to formulate the respective at least one web page.

4. The industrial control system of claim 1, wherein the web page data included on at least one of a plurality of control devices is limited to an alphanumeric text element.

5. The industrial control system of claim 1, wherein the web page data on at least one of a plurality of control devices includes a hyperlink.

6. The industrial control system of claim 1, wherein the web page data on at least one of a plurality of control devices includes at least one of a banner ad and a JAVA applet.

7. The industrial control system of claim 1, wherein each of the respective web pages associated with the respective control devices is a home page for that respective control device.

8. The industrial control system of claim 1, wherein the web page data obtained by the web access module from a first of the control devices, in response to a first request from the remote device, is not sufficient to allow a browser at the remote device to generate the respective web page associated with the first control device, and wherein the web access module provides additional information so that a combination of the web page data and the additional information is sufficient to allow the browser to generate the respective web page associated with the first control device.

9. The industrial control system of claim 8, wherein the web access module includes a memory device in which a plurality of web page templates are stored, wherein the web server of the web access module is capable of selecting an appropriate web page template corresponding to the respective web page associated with the first control device in response to the first request, and wherein the web server obtains the appropriate web page template as the additional information to determine the combination of the web page data and the additional information.

10. The industrial control system of claim 1 further comprising a remote data storage unit coupled to the web access module, wherein additional web page data is stored in the remote data storage unit.

11. The industrial control system of claim 10, wherein a portion of the additional web page data stored in the remote data storage unit is obtained by the web access module in response to a first request from the remote device, and wherein the web page data obtained by the web access module from a first of the control devices, in response to the first request from the remote device, is combined with the portion of the additional web page data obtained from the remote data storage unit, in order to provide sufficient data to a browser at the remote device to allow the browser to generate the respective web page associated with the first control device.

12. The industrial control system of claim 11, wherein the remote data storage unit is coupled to the web server by way of the Internet.

13. The industrial control system of claim 10, wherein further web page data is stored at the web access module.

14. The industrial control system of claim 1, wherein a first request from the remote device to access the respective web page associated with a first of the control devices includes an IP address followed by a port address, wherein the IP address identifies the web server, wherein the port address corresponds to the first control device, and wherein the web server establishes a connection with the first control device in response to the first request.

15. The industrial control system of claim 1, wherein each of the requests to access each of the respective web pages associated with the control devices includes only a respective IP address.

16. The industrial control system of claim 1, wherein the web page data at the control devices includes xml data.

17. The industrial control system of claim 16, wherein xslt data is stored at one of the web access module and a remote data storage unit.

18. The industrial control system of claim 1, wherein the control devices are selected from the group comprising programmable logic controllers and I/0 devices, and wherein the Internet interface is capable of being coupled to a plurality of remote devices via the Internet.

19. A method of providing, via the Internet, access to web pages associated with control devices in an industrial control network, the control devices providing control signals to direct the industrial process by outputting signals to the controlled industrial process within a predictable maximum response time, wherein each of the control devices includes web page data concerning a respective web page associated with the respective control device, the method comprising:

receiving a request at a web server from a remote device, the request being provided over the Internet;

processing the request to determine an identity of a requested web page corresponding to one of the control devices;

sending a signal in response to the request to the one of the control devices to which the requested web page corresponds via a control network operating to provide predictable maximum response time, the network separating the control devices with webpage data from the web server;

receiving web page data concerning the requested web page from the one of the control devices via the control network; and

providing the requested web page onto the Internet for transmission to the remote device.

20. The method of claim of claim 19 further comprising:

obtaining additional data concerning the requested web page from an additional device and generating the requested web page by combining the web page data and the additional data.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the additional device from which the additional data is obtained is at least one of the web server and a remote data storage unit.