Instant messaging for event notification and exchanging data in an industrial controller environment

• US 7,539,724 B1
• Filed: 11/18/2002
• Issued: 05/26/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2002
• 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 Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Blair; Douglas B
• Application Number:
  US10/298,366
• Time in Patent Office: 2,381 Days
• Field of Search: 709/205, 700/9, 714/4
• US Class Current: 709/205
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4185 characterised by the network communication
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31082 NDDS network data delivery service, producers and consumers model
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1822 Conducting the conference, e.g. admission, detection, selection or grouping of participants, correlating users to one or more conference sessions, prioritising transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/06 Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/80 Management or planning

Abstract

The present invention relates to systems and methods for distributing control information such as event notifications and status in a substantially real time manner. Such information can be provided in a parallel and concurrent manner to many locations/devices and/or users. In addition, multi-directional network communications are provided to facilitate system diagnosis, status, and troubleshooting among various parties and/or devices. In one aspect of the present invention, messaging components may be installed on local control components and remote diagnostic equipment that communicate across a network such as the Internet. If an event is detected, various parties can be contacted by the control components, wherein the parties may communicate in a concurrent manner while receiving control information from the control components. In this manner, diagnosis, troubleshooting, and/or routine maintenance can be performed collaboratively between various control components and remote systems/parties interacting therewith.

Claims

1. An industrial control system, comprising:

an industrial controller comprising a first instant messenger installed thereon that facilitates communication between the industrial controller and a network; and

a remote system of the industrial controller that is adapted to employ, at least a second instant messenger, the industrial controller establishes a real-time chat room session with the remote system based at least in part on an event including one of a detected fault and a diagnostic problem and notifies the remote system of a pending problem or other status via instant messages, and the remote system modifies at least one industrial operation via the industrial controller according to decision taken by multiple users in collaboration during the real time chat room session between the first and second instant messengers.

2. The system of claim 1, the second instant messenger is operable on a hand-held device.

3. The system of claim 1, the event further comprising at least one of a status, and communication of data associated with the industrial controller.

4. The system of claim 1, the remote system is at least one of a computer, a work station, a laptop, a hand held device, a cell phone, a pager and a personal digital assistant.

5. The system of claim 1, the second instant messenger is a web service providing multi-entity communications capabilities.

6. The system of claim 1, the industrial controller notifies an operator of a pending problem or other status via messages or codes provided in the communications session.

7. The system of claim 1, the communications session is at least one of bi-directional and multi-directional if other parties or devices are involved, the communications session facilitates at least one of access to industrial controller information, perform further diagnosis, send commands, and initiate further procedures.

8. The system of claim 1, the communications session is established in order to observe current operating status or other controller activities.

9. The system of claim 1, the network includes at least one of a local factory network, a public network including the Internet, an Intranet, a phone network, and a wireless network.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising an operating system in the industrial controller, the operating system including at least one of Windows®

NT/2000/XP, Windows CE, Linux, .NET, OS-9, UNIX, VRTX, QNX, VxWorks, CE.NET, custom-designed.

11. The system of claim 1, the industrial controller further comprises at least one of an Input/Output module (I/O), a communications module, a network module, a programmed module, an intelligent module, software modules, web services, and a programmable logic controller (PLC).

12. The system of claim 11, the I/O module participates in a communications session through at least one of the PLC and the communications module.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one network server to facilitate communications between the instant messengers.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising an interface dialog that is provided to exchange information between one or more parties of a communications session, the parties including at least one of a user, a remote system, and the industrial controller.

15. The system of claim 14, the information includes at least one of automated information driven from at least one of systems and industrial controller.

16. The system of claim 14, the information includes at least one of type-written messages, voice encoded messages, diagrams, video data, pictures, sounds, symbols, icons, emoticons, reports, files, procedures, manuals, hypertext links, web information, factory information, status data, control data, configuration data, mathematical data, and program data.

17. The system of claim 14, the communications session is established based in part on at least one of a remote system initiation, a user-driven initiation, an industrial controller initiation, an event initiation, a maintenance initiation, and a status initiation.

18. The system of claim 1, further comprising an XML schema to exchange the data, the schema including at least one of a diagnostic schema, a status schema, and an update schema.

19. The system of claim 1, the network communications further comprising at least one of Bluetooth, RF transmissions, video transmissions, visible and non-visible spectrum modalities of transmitting data, an IrDa standard for infrared communications, DSL, CableModem, power line carrier, and carrier-band data transfer.

20. The system of claim 1, the instant messengers are adapted with a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) that describes how to interact with a web service.

21. The system of claim 20, the web service is at least one of a .NET service, an alerting service, an event service, and a messenger service.

22. The system of claim 20, further comprising a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) to communicate with the web service.

23. The system of claim 20, further comprising a discovery component to facilitate locating the web service and determining web service functionality.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein the second instant messenger is installed on the remote system.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein the industrial controller notifies a plurality of remote systems of the pending problem or other status via instant messages and establishes a real-time chat room session with the plurality of the remote systems.

26. A method to facilitate real time communications in an industrial controller environment, comprising:

installing a web messenger service on an industrial controller;

establishing communications with the web messenger service; and

adapting an interface dialog with the web messenger service to facilitate substantially real time communications between the industrial controller and a remote system of the industrial controller based on an instant message sent from the industrial controller to the remote system, regarding at least one of a detected fault and diagnostic problem, the remote system modifies at least one process associated with the industrial controller in real time via the web messenger service in according to decision taken by multiple users in collaboration via the web messenger service.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising adapting multiple communications protocols to operate with the web messenger service.

28. The method of claim 26, facilitating the real-time communications comprising establishing a chat session via the interface dialog.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising automatically establishing the chat session further based upon at least one of, a maintenance activity, and a status check.

30. The method of claim 26, the industrial controller is at least one of a programmable logic controller, an I/O module, a communications module, and a software module.

31. A system to facilitate multi-party communications in an industrial controller environment, comprising:

means for initiating event-driven real-time communications by an industrial controller via an instant messenger service installed on the industrial controller;

means for solving a pending problem in collaboration by multiple users in a chat room session via the instant messenger service;

means for interfacing to the instant messenger service; and

means for facilitating remote control of an industrial process associated with the industrial controller in real time by at least one other entity in accordance with decision taken by multiple users via the instant messenger service.

32. The system of claim 31, further comprising means for exchanging information between the industrial controller and the at least one other entity.

33. The system of claim 31, the entity is at least one of a remote system of the industrial controller, a user, and another industrial controller.

34. A system for establishing a communications session associated with an industrial control system, comprising:

at least one industrial controller comprising an interface to facilitates communication with an entity wherein the industrial controller establishes a chat room session with the entity to notify the entity of a pending problem or other status via an instant messenger service installed on the industrial controller;

at least one network server to support the interface; and

a chat room service associated with the interface to allow the entity to modify at least one industrial operation via the at least one industrial controller in accordance to a decision taken by multiple users in collaboration in the chat room session.

35. The system of claim 34, the entity is at least one of a remote system of the industrial controller, a user, and another industrial controller.

36. The system of claim 34, the chat room session is driven from at least one of an event, a time, a period, a calendar, a maintenance activity, a status activity, a diagnostic activity, and a troubleshooting activity.

37. The system of claim 34, the industrial controller at least one of reports an event type to the chat room service, contacts a system, contacts a user, transmits data to the chat room service in response to a query, and receives data from the chat room service.

38. The system of claim 34, further comprising at least one of:

multiple users collaborating in the chat room service; and

multiple industrial controllers exchanging data in the chat room service.

39. The system of claim 34, the chat room service is adapted with at least one of an RFC 1459 Internet Relay Chat Protocol, an RFC 2810 Internet Relay Chat:

Architecture, an RFC 2811 Internet Relay Chat;

Channel Management, an RFC 2812 Internet Relay Chat Client Protocol, and an RFC 2813 Internet Relay Chat;

Server Protocol.