Directory structure in distributed data driven architecture environment

• US 8,321,591 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2004
• Issued: 11/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Farchmin, David W., Baier, John J., Kalan, Michael D., Marquardt, Randall A., Morse, Richard A., Briant, Stephen C., Chand, Sujeet
• Primary Examiner(s): BURGESS, BARBARA N
• Application Number:
  US10/955,856
• Publication Number:
  US 20060075066A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,980 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 709/203, 709/227, 709/245, 707/1, 707/3, 707/4
• US Class Current: 709/245
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/05 Programmable logic controllers, e.g. simulating logic interconnections of signals according to ladder diagrams or function charts
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4185 characterised by the network communication
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23301 Load program from file system of a controller
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25057 Configuration stored in distributed database for real time use
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32006 Operator addresses machines to give commands or retrieve data
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32158 Object groups, for object replication, naming, messaging and retrieving
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4541 Directories for service discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1012 based on compliance of requirements or conditions with available server resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1014 based on the content of a request
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

The invention employs systems and methods to provide addressing for appropriate access to data in automation devices. Data attributes can be related to a number of various factors in a data driven architecture such as the source of the data, the data subscriber and/or the path employed to convey the data from the source to the subscriber. In addition, data attributes can refer to the format, scale, units, length, visualization and transactional capabilities of the data. The subject invention can point to the appropriate address of the requested data wherein the data can have desired attributes associated therewith. In this manner, data can be selected based on the requirements of the requestor and/or the loading demands of network communication.

Claims

1. An industrial automation system that facilitates data exchange, comprising:

an interface that receives a request for data related to an industrial process in a factory from a requestor of a type within the industrial automation system;

a memory that stores a source locator; and

a processor that facilitates execution of the source locator to;

determine the type of the requestor from a plurality of types;

infer, based on the type of the requestor, a first metadata and a first timestamp that the requestor requires to be associated with the data;

determine a first source to provide the data related to the industrial process, the first metadata and the first timestamp to the requestor by consultation of a directory that provides a hierarchical logical view of a plurality of sources that store the data, wherein the plurality of sources store the data with different metadata and timestamps related to different types; and

retrieve the data from the first source for the requestor;

wherein the source locator employs an artificial intelligence algorithm to infer the first metadata and the first timestamp.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of sources that store the data is an industrial controller.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the requestor is an enterprise resource planning application.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the source locator provides a network address to the data from the first source to facilitate retrieval of the data, wherein the network address corresponds to a physical location or a logical location.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the first metadata pertains to at least one of visualization, transaction services, scale, units, data quality parameters, transactional processing support capabilities, channels employed to convey the data or formatting.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of sources that store the data is a controller, an intelligent controller, a server or a proxy server.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the type of the requestor is an industrial controller.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the source locator further determines the first source based on network loading demands.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sources that store the data correspond to a plurality of devices in the factory.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the logical view is a Unified Plant Model.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor executes the source locator as a background process.

12. A method, comprising:

employing a processor to facilitate execution of computer-executable instructions stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium, to perform operations, comprising;

receiving a request for data related to an industrial process within a factory from a requestor;

determining a role of the requestor from a plurality of roles based on the request;

inferring that the requestor requires a first metadata and a first timestamp to be stored with the data based on the role;

consulting a directory that provides a hierarchical logical view of a plurality of sources for the data, wherein the plurality of sources store the data associated with different metadata and timestamps, and determining a first source from the plurality of sources that will provide the data with the first metadata and the first timestamp; and

retrieving the data with the first metadata and the first timestamp from the first source and providing the data with the first metadata and the first source to the requestor, wherein the source locator employs an artificial intelligence algorithm to infer the first metadata and the first timestamp.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the first source further comprises determining the first source based on network loading demands at the time the data is accessed, wherein the network loading demands are based on network resources and type of requestor.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the requestor is an industrial controller or a proxy server.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the metadata relates to data format, length, scale, units, visualization, data quality parameters, transactional processing support capabilities, channels employed to convey the data, or transactional capabilities.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause a computing system to perform operations, comprising:

determining a role of an entity requesting data related to an industrial process from a plurality of roles based on a request for the data;

inferring that the entity requesting the data requires a first metadata and a first timestamp based on the role of the entity;

consulting a directory that provides a hierarchical logical view of a plurality of sources for the data, wherein the plurality of sources store the data associated with different metadata and timestamps;

determining a first source from the plurality of sources that will provide the data with the first metadata and the first timestamp; and

retrieving the data with the first metadata and the first timestamp from the first source, wherein the source locator employs an artificial intelligence algorithm to infer the first metadata and the first timestamp.

17. An apparatus comprising:

a memory that stores computer-executable components, including;

an interface configured to receive a request for data from an entity within an industrial automation system; and

a source locator comprising an artificial intelligence component configured to determine a role of the entity within the industrial automation system from a plurality of roles, search a directory that stores information regarding a plurality of sources for the data in a hierarchical logical representation, wherein the plurality of sources store data with different metadata and timestamps and the information relates to the different metadata and time stamps and addresses for the plurality of sources, match a source for the data from the plurality of sources with the entity based on a first metadata and a first time stamp associated with the data and the role of the entity, and retrieve the data with the first metadata and the first time stamp from the source for the data, wherein the source locator employs an artificial intelligence algorithm to infer the first metadata and the first timestamp; and

a processor that executes at least one of the computer-executable components.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the first metadata is related to a processing requirement.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the first metadata is related to a visualization requirement.