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Adaptive hybrid wireless and wired process control system with hierarchical process automation field network sets

  • US 8,942,098 B2
  • Filed: 11/03/2010
  • Issued: 01/27/2015
  • Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2009
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A process control and/or automation network carrying source-destination traffic for a commercial or industrial processing facility, the network comprising:

  • a distributed control system in a central control room within the facility;

    a first tier comprising a plurality of wireless end devices receiving instructions from and/or providing data to the distributed control system, the instructions and/or data in the form of packets, each wireless end device being associated with one or more meters, remote terminal units, diagnostic devices, pumps, valves, sensors, or tank level measuring devices;

    a second tier comprising a plurality of wireless routers each including a memory that stores a routing table and a processor that routes packets;

    a third tier comprising a master wireless gateway device operably connected to receive packets from and transmit packets to the distributed control system; and

    a plurality of field network sets each containing one or more of the plurality of wireless routers or one or more wireless gateway devices, wherein at least one of the wireless routers or wireless gateway devices in each field network set serves as an anchor packet selection device, such that once a particular anchor packet selection device is designated for a particular source-destination pair, all traffic between that source-destination pair will pass through that particular anchor packet selection device until either an operator action or a predetermined condition results in a re-designation of the traffic for that particular source-destination pair to a different anchor packet selection device;

    wherein the processor of each of the plurality of wireless routers routes packets across the three tiers between the plurality of end devices and the wireless gateway devices based on the stored routing table.

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