Reliable messaging instruction

• US 7,706,895 B2
• Filed: 02/25/2005
• Issued: 04/27/2010
• 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): Bahta; Kidest
• Application Number:
  US11/067,164
• Publication Number:
  US 20060209868A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,887 Days
• Field of Search: 700/17, 700/83, 700/86, 700/88, 700/9, 700/1, 709/201, 709217-219, 707/1, 707/8, 707/10
• US Class Current: 700/17
• 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. A system that facilitates reliable messaging with a control environment, comprising:

a component of an industrial controller that transmits and receives a message between the industrial controller and an entity external to the control environment of the industrial controller, the industrial controller controls one or more of;

industrial processes, manufacturing equipment, or plants; and

a broker located within the industrial controller that receives and stores a message sent between the industrial controller and external entity independent of a state of a recipient of the message, and the recipient obtains the message from the broker, the broker decouples a sender of the message from the recipient by enabling the sender to transmit the message when the recipient is unavailable to receive the message.

2. The system of claim 1, the recipient is one of:

the industrial controller, a second industrial controller, a robot, a state machine, a subscriber to the broker, a database, a server, a client, an integration server, a business system, a business application, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), a Manufacturing Execution System (MES), or a Machine Control (MC) system.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a broker that is located within one of:

a second industrial controller, a dedicated entity within the control environment, or an entity external to the control environment.

4. The system of claim 1, the broker dynamically adjusts its message storage capacity based on a number or a size of received messages.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a security mechanism that authorizes message posting to the broker and message retrieval from the broker.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a component that notifies the sender that the message was successfully stored in the broker.

7. The system of claim 6, the component further notifies the recipient that the message is available from the broker.

8. The system of claim 7, the notification is one of:

an event, a broadcast, a multicast, or a unicast.

9. The system of claim 1, the message stored in the broker is at least one of:

read, extracted, removed or modified by the recipient.

10. The system of claim 1, the industrial controller is one of a soft or a hard industrial controller.

11. The system of claim 1, the external entity is one of:

a robot, a state machine, a subscriber to the broker, a database, a server, a client, an integration server, a business system, a business application, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), a Manufacturing Execution System (MES), or a Machine Control (MC) system.

12. The system of claim 1, the broker is at least one of volatile or non-volatile storage within the industrial controller.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising a component that manages messages stored within the broker.

14. The system of claim 5, the authorization to send or retrieve messages from the broker is based at least in part on the privileges corresponding to the sender or recipient of the message.

15. A system that provides reliable messaging with a control environment, comprising:

a reliable message application that facilitates data exchange for an industrial controller;

a message manager that instantiates an instance of the reliable message application upon receiving a message to transmit to an entity, the instance establishes a connection with a broker and delivers the message to the broker, the broker decouples the industrial controller from the entity by enabling the industrial controller to transmit the message when the entity is unavailable to receive the message;

a component that determines a location of the broker, and

a security component that authorizes message posting to the broker and message retrieval from the broker.

16. The system of claim 15, the location is one of:

an IP address, a hostname, a link or a path to the broker.

17. The system of claim 15, farther comprising a component that determines a location of the reliable message application.

18. The system of claim 17, the location is one of:

a URL, a link, or a path to the reliable message application.

19. The system of claim 15, the message is conveyed to the message manager through a standard input port.

20. The system of claim 15, further comprising a component that notifies the industrial controller that the message was delivered to the broker.

21. The system of claim 20, the notification is conveyed to the industrial controller through a standard output port.

22. The system of claim 15, the message manager instantiates the instance to retrieve data from the broker.

23. The system of claim 22, the data is one of:

a message, an application, an instruction, control logic, an intelligent agent, a program, a routine, firmware, a patch, diagnostics, a parameter, a variable, an input, or an output.

24. The system of claim 15, the message is one of:

an instruction, control data, a history log, an error log, or a configuration.

25. The system of claim 15, the authorization to post and retrieve messages to the broker includes determining the identity of a sender or reader of the message.

26. The system of claim 15, the entity is external to the control environment of the industrial controller.

27. The system of claim 15, the broker is external to the control environment of the industrial controller.

28. A method that facilitates reliable messaging with a control environment, comprising:

transmitting a message from an industrial controller to a recipient external to the control environment of the industrial controller independent of a state of the recipient, wherein the industrial controller controls one or more of industrial processes, manufacturing equipment, or plants;

routing the message to a broker located within the industrial controller;

storing the message in the broker if the recipient is unavailable; and

decoupling the industrial controller from the recipient by enabling the industrial controller to transmit the message when the recipient is unavailable to receive the message.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising incorporating the broker in one of:

a second controller or a dedicated entity within the control environment.

30. The method of claim 28, the recipient is one of a second controller or an entity located external to the control environment.

31. The method of claim 28, further comprising obtaining data for the controller from the broker, the data is provided to the broker from one of another controller or an entity located external to the control environment.

32. The method of claim 31, the data is one of:

a message, an application, an instruction, control logic, an intelligent agent, a program, a routine, firmware, a patch, diagnostics, a parameter, a variable, an input, or an output.

33. The method of claim 28, further comprising employing an instance of a reliable messaging application to facilitate at least one of:

establishing a connection with the broker, delivering the message to the broker, or retrieving a message from the broker.

34. The method of claim 28, further comprising utilizing standard I/O for one of invoking delivery of the message to the broker or retrieving at least one of a message or an application from the broker for the controller.

35. A system that facilitates reliable messaging with a control system, comprising:

means for storing communications between an industrial controller and an entity external to a control environment of the industrial controller within a broker residing in the industrial controller, the communications sent independent of a state of the entity; and

means for retrieving the communications from the broker independent an availability of the industrial controller and the entity thereby decoupling the industrial controller from the entity,

wherein the industrial controller controls one or more of industrial processes, manufacturing equipment, or plants.