Reliable messaging instruction

• US 8,402,101 B2
• Filed: 04/23/2010
• Issued: 03/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Callaghan, David M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Follansbee, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): MADAMBA, GLENFORD J
• Application Number:
  US12/766,073
• Publication Number:
  US 20100205271A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,061 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 719/315
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management

Abstract

The subject invention provides reliable messaging with and within a control environment. The systems and methods utilize a message broker that facilitates message exchange. The message broker can be located within an industrial controller, as a dedicated entity within a control environment and/or an entity external to the control environment. Messages transmitted from an industrial controller and/or the external entity can be routed through the message broker prior to reaching a destination, wherein the message can be stored in the message broker and subsequently obtained by a recipient. The message broker decouples the message sender (e.g., an industrial controller, an external entity . . . ) from the message recipient (e.g., an industrial controller, an external entity . . . ) such that messages can be successfully transmitted (to the message broker) regardless of a state of the recipient, and messages can be retrieved (from the message broker) regardless of a state of the sender.

Claims

1. An industrial controller that facilitates decoupled transmission of messages between a sender and a recipient in an industrial automation environment, comprising:

a processor;

a memory device communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory device having stored therein computer-executable components configured to implement the industrial controller, including a first broker, residing on the industrial controller, that receives and stores a message generated by the industrial controller in a message data queue, and delivers the message to at least one entity subscribed to receive the message in accordance with at least one notification policy specified by the at least one entity, wherein the first broker receives a schema from the industrial controller defining a format for the message and publishes the schema to a message revision queue.

2. The industrial controller of claim 1, wherein the first broker receives and stores the message independent of a state of the at least one entity.

3. The industrial controller of claim 1, wherein the at least one notification policy includes at least an instruction to send messages relating to a data change within an industrial process to the entity in response to a determination that the data change is greater than a threshold value.

4. The industrial controller of claim 1, wherein the at least one notification policy includes at least a specified minimum time delay between message transmissions to the at least one entity.

5. The industrial controller of claim 1, wherein the at least one notification policy includes at least an instruction that the broker is to delete unhandled messages after a specified elapsed time.

6. The industrial controller of claim 1, wherein the first broker is transmits a notification to the at least one entity in response to receipt of a new message from the industrial controller, wherein the notification includes an indication that that the new message is available for retrieval.

7. The industrial controller of claim 1, wherein the first broker delivers the schema to the at least one entity.

8. The industrial controller of claim 1, wherein the first broker exchanges messages with a second broker associated with the at least one entity, wherein notification policies are individually configurable for the first broker and the second broker.

9. The industrial controller of claim 1, wherein the first broker segregates messages received from the at least one industrial controller into two or more topics.

10. The industrial controller of claim 9, wherein the first broker processes a subscription request from the at least one entity to subscribe to a subset of the two or more topics, and delivers a message associated with the subset to the at least one entity based on the subscription request.

20. The industrial controller of claim 1, wherein the industrial controller controls one or more of an industrial process, manufacturing equipment, or a plant.

11. A method for decoupled delivery of messages in an industrial control environment, comprising:

receiving, at a broker residing on an industrial controller, a message from the industrial controller;

storing the message in a message data queue;

receiving, at the broker, a schema, from the industrial controller, specifying a format for the message;

storing the schema in a message revision queue; and

delivering, by the broker, the message and the schema, according to at least one notification policy, to at least one entity subscribed to receive the message.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the receiving the message comprises receiving the message independent of an availability of the at least one entity to receive the message.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the delivering comprises delivering the message in response to a determination that a data change reported by the message is greater than a threshold value.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising deleting the message in response to a determination that the message remains unhandled after at least an elapsed time specified by the at least one entity.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising transmitting a notification to the at least one entity in response to the receiving the message, the notification containing an indication that the message is available for retrieval.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the storing the message comprises storing the message in one of at least two topic-specific queues based on a topic of the message.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving a request from the at least one entity to subscribe to a selected queue of the at least two topic-specific queues; and

delivering messages stored in the selected queue to the at least one entity in response to detecting that the at least one entity is available to receive messages.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable components that, in response to execution, cause a broker residing on an automation controller to perform operations, including:

receiving a message generated by the automation controller;

storing the message in a message data queue;

receiving a schema indicating a format of the message;

publishing the schema in a message revision queue; and

delivering the message and the schema according to at least one notification policy to at least one entity subscribed to receive the message.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the receiving the message comprises receiving the message independent of an availability of the at least one entity to receive the message.