US 12,321,145 B2
Architecture-independent process control
Larry Oscar Jundt, Round Rock, TX (US); Gary K. Law, Georgetown, TX (US); Edward McDevitt, Olathe, KS (US); Matt Stoner, Blue Springs, MO (US); Godfrey R. Sherriff, Austin, TX (US); David R. Denison, Austin, TX (US); Mark J. Nixon, Thorndale, TX (US); James R. Balentine, Austin, TX (US); J. Michael Lucas, Leicester (GB); and Stephen Gilbert, Austin, TX (US)
Assigned to FISHER-ROSEMOUNT SYSTEMS, INC., Round Rock, TX (US)
Filed by FISHER-ROSEMOUNT SYSTEMS, INC., Round Rock, TX (US)
Filed on Mar. 6, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/178,673.
Application 16/890,182 is a division of application No. 15/211,846, filed on Jul. 15, 2016, granted, now 10,671,038, issued on Jun. 2, 2020.
Application 18/178,673 is a continuation of application No. 16/890,182, filed on Jun. 2, 2020, granted, now 11,609,542.
Prior Publication US 2024/0302809 A1, Sep. 12, 2024
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G05B 19/042 (2006.01); G05B 15/02 (2006.01); G05B 19/418 (2006.01); G06F 13/36 (2006.01); H04L 12/00 (2006.01); H04L 12/46 (2006.01)
CPC G05B 19/0423 (2013.01) [G05B 15/02 (2013.01); G05B 19/4185 (2013.01); G06F 13/36 (2013.01); H04L 12/00 (2013.01); H04L 12/4625 (2013.01); G05B 2219/1208 (2013.01); G05B 2219/31246 (2013.01); G05B 2219/31369 (2013.01); G06F 2213/40 (2013.01); Y02P 90/02 (2015.11); Y02P 90/80 (2015.11)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computer-implemented method of operating a process plant, comprising:
selecting, by one or more processors, a control module associated with a control process, wherein the control module is implemented as a software module within a process control system and has at least one input configured to receive process control data;
associating, by the one or more processors, a first signal object with the at least one input of the control module, wherein the first signal object is implemented as a data object within the process control system and wherein the first signal object has a path specifying a data source and a variable providing data obtained from the data source;
assigning, by the one or more processors, a test path to the first signal object, wherein the test path is associated with test data indicative of different operating conditions of the process plant;
executing, by the one or more processors, the control module using the test data to simulate operation of the control module;
receiving, at the one or more processors, output process control data from the control module;
recording, by the one or more processors, the received output process control data;
verifying, by the one or more processors, proper functioning of the control module using the recorded output process control data;
receiving, by the one or more processors, information indicating at least a portion of an I/O architecture of the process plant; and
assigning, by the one or more processors, a first path to the first signal object as the path, wherein the first path specifies an output of a process control device of the process plant and wherein the first path is assigned to the first signal object after proper functioning of the control module is verified and after the information indicating the at least a portion of the I/O architecture of the process plant is received,
wherein the first signal object receives output data from the process control device via one or more protocols, extracts process control data from the received output data, and provides the process control data to the control module in a standard format regardless of the one or more protocols of the received output data, and
wherein the control module receives the process control data associated with the process control device from the variable of the first signal object.