System for merging wireless data into an established process control system

• US 8,611,250 B2
• Filed: 09/22/2010
• Issued: 12/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fisher-Rosemount Systems Incorporated (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: Fisher-Rosemount Systems Incorporated (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Chen, Deji, Yang, Shenling, Nixon, Mark J., Aneweer, Tom, Shepard, John R., Mok, Aloysius K.
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, RAMESH B
• Application Number:
  US12/888,380
• Publication Number:
  US 20110015764A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,182 Days
• Field of Search: 370/252, 370/254, 370/310, 370/328, 370/406, 700 1- 2, 700/83, 709/203, 709/213, 709/223
• US Class Current: 370/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup

Abstract

A method and system of communicating between a wireless network and a process control system communicatively coupled to a server, such as OPC. The server receives data from the wireless network, where the data is generated from an input/output data point within the wireless network. The server maps the data between the input/output data point and a data point placeholder within the process control system. The server writes the mapped data to the corresponding data point placeholder of the process control system via a process control interface, and the mapped data is provided to the process control system as process control data native to the process control system. Process control data may also be provided to the server, mapped between a data point placeholder of the process control system and an input/output data point of the wireless network, and written to the corresponding input/output data point.

Claims

1. A system within a process plant comprising:

a mesh network comprising a plurality of input/output data points, wherein the mesh network is adapted to generate mesh network data from an input/output data point within the mesh network;

a process control interface, wherein the process control interface comprises a common interface for entities within a process control system which is unable to access the input/output data points within the mesh network; and

a mesh server communicatively coupled to the mesh network and to the process control interface, wherein the mesh server is adapted to map mesh network data read from the mesh network between the input/output data point and a data point placeholder within a process control system, wherein the data point placeholder provides a reference within the process control system for the mesh network data from the input/output data point within the mesh network, and wherein the mesh server is further adapted to write the mapped mesh network data to the process control system via the process control interface.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the mesh server is adapted to call into a mesh driver of the mesh network to access the mesh network data.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of mesh networks each comprising a plurality of input/output data points and a mesh driver, wherein each mesh network is adapted to generate mesh network data from an input/output data point within each mesh network, wherein the mesh server comprises a mesh network interface for each type of mesh network drivers and wherein each mesh network interface is adapted to call into the corresponding mesh driver to access the mesh network data from the mesh network.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of mesh networks each comprising a plurality of input/output data points and a mesh driver, wherein each mesh network is adapted to generate mesh network data from an input/output data point within each mesh network, wherein the mesh server comprises a mesh network interface adapted to call into each mesh network driver to access the mesh network data from each mesh network.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the mesh server is adapted to invoke the process control interface and is adapted to read/write mesh network data directly to the process control system.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the mesh server is adapted to read the mesh network data from the mesh network for each input/output data point within the mesh network, wherein the mesh server is adapted to map mesh network data read from the mesh network between each input/output data point and a corresponding data point placeholder within a process control system, and wherein the mesh server is adapted to write the mapped mesh network data to the process control system for each input/output data point via the process control interface.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the mesh server is adapted to store configuration data relating to a data point map corresponding each input/output data point within the mesh network to a data point placeholder within the process control system.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the mesh server is adapted to store configuration data relating to a plurality of data point maps each corresponding at least one input/output data point within the mesh network to a data point placeholder within the process control system, wherein the mesh server is adapted to update the mesh network data to the process control system according to different rate for each data point map.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the mesh server is adapted to store configuration data relating to a rate for updating the mesh network data to the process control system.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the mesh server is adapted to store configuration data relating to information for connecting to the process control system.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the mesh server is adapted to store configuration data relating to attributes of the mesh network data.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the mesh server is adapted to create a data point placeholder within the process control system for an input/output data point within the mesh network.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising a process control system which comprises a process control server communicatively coupled to the mesh server and adapted to define the data point placeholder for each input/output data point in the mesh network.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the process control server comprises an object linking and embedding (OLE) for process control (OPC) server, and wherein the process control interface comprises OPC.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the process control server is adapted to utilize the data point placeholder as an input/output data point native to the process control system.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the mesh server is adapted to write the mapped mesh network data to the process control server.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the mesh network at least partially overlaps with the process control system, wherein the input/output data point relates to an entity within the process control system and wherein the mesh network data comprises process control data.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein process control system comprises the mesh network, wherein the input/output data point within the mesh network and the data point placeholder within the process control system relate to an entity within the process control system, and wherein the process control system is adapted to use the data point placeholder to interact with the entity.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the mesh server is adapted to map process control data read from the process control system between a data point placeholder within the process control system and an input/output data point with the mesh network, and wherein the mesh server is further adapted to write the mapped process control data to the mesh network via a mesh network interface.

20. A process control system within a plant comprising:

a database adapted to store a plurality of data point placeholders, wherein a data point placeholder references an input/output data point of an entity communicatively coupled to a wireless mesh network and relates to a place reserved within the process control system for data from the input/output data point; and

a process control system server communicatively coupled to the database and to a mesh server, the process control system server adapted to receive mesh network data from an input/output data point via a mesh server, wherein the input/output data point relates to a process control entity communicatively coupled to a wireless mesh network, wherein the process control system server is further adapted to use the data and the data point placeholder to perform a function within the plant without using an input/output data point.

21. The process control system of claim 20, further comprising a process control interface communicatively coupled to process control server and the mesh server.

22. The process control system of claim 21, wherein the process control interface comprises an object linking and embedding (OLE) for process control (OPC) interface.

23. The process control system of claim 20, wherein the process control system server comprises an object linking and embedding (OLE) for process control (OPC) server.

24. The process control system of claim 20, wherein the process control system server is adapted to write data to the mesh server for communicating with the entity.

25. The process control system of claim 20, wherein the entity comprises a process control entity.

26. The process control system of claim 20, further comprising:

a plurality of process control entities each associated with one or more input/output data points;

a mesh network comprising a plurality of input/output data points, wherein each of the plurality of process control entities comprises one or more of the plurality of input/output data points;

wherein the process control server is adapted to receive mesh network data and send data to the mesh network from each of the input/output data points via the mesh server and further adapted to use the mesh network data and the data point placeholders to perform a function within the plant without using any input/output data points.

27. A server system for communicating between a mesh network and a process control system comprising:

a processor;

a database adapted to store a data point map which correlates data point placeholders within the process control system with input/output data points within the mesh network;

an interface routine adapted to be executed by the processor which calls into a mesh driver of the mesh network to access mesh network data of one or more of the input/output data points within the mesh network; and

a service routine adapted to be executed by the processor which connects with the mesh network via the interface routine, which reads the mesh network data from the mesh network, which maps the mesh network data of an input/output data point to a corresponding data point placeholder according to the data point map, and which writes the mapped mesh network data to the process control system.

28. The server system of claim 27, wherein the database is adapted to store a plurality of data point maps which correlate data point placeholders within the process control system with input/output data points within one or more mesh networks, and

wherein the service routine is adapted to be executed by the processor to update data from the mesh network to the process control system in accordance with an update rate for each of the plurality of data point maps.

29. The server system of claim 27, wherein the interface routine is further adapted to be executed by the processor to receive a request from the service routine, translate the request into a request understood by the mesh driver, and transmit the translated request to the mesh network driver.

30. The server system of claim 27, wherein the database is adapted to store a plurality of application programming interfaces, and wherein the interface routine is further adapted to be executed by the processor to call into a plurality of mesh drivers using one of the plurality of application programming interfaces for each mesh driver, wherein each mesh driver corresponds to a mesh network to access mesh network data of one or more of the input/output data points within each mesh network.

31. The server system of claim 27, wherein the interface routine is further adapted to be executed by the processor to call into a plurality of mesh drivers using the same application programming interface.

32. The server system of claim 27, wherein the service routine is further adapted to write the mapped mesh network data to the process control system via an object linking and embedding (OLE) for process control (OPC) interface of the process control system.

33. The server system of claim 27, wherein the service routine is further adapted to read process control data from the process control system, map the process control data of a data point placeholder within the process control system to a corresponding input/output data point within the mesh network according to the data point map and write the mapped process control data to the input/output data point within the mesh network via the interface routine.