Operational status information associated with a process entity in a process plant(10) is received. The operational status information is mapped into one of a plurality of status conditions. Then, an alert message associated with the process entity is generated, where the alert message is indicative of the one status condition of the plurality of status conditions.

Integrated alert generation in a process plant

A system and method for analyzing a process collects process data within a process control plant and transmits the collected process data to a remote data processing facility. The remote data processing facility analyzes the process data using a process analysis tool such as a process monitoring tool, an equipment monitoring tool, a device monitoring tool, an index generation tool, a work order generation tool and/or an accounting tool to generate analysis data. The analysis data is then transmitted to the process control plant via a communication link such as the Internet.

Remote analysis of process control plant data

A video game distribution network for use in airlines, trains, hotels, cruise ships, set top boxes, cable television systems, satellite and other wireless systems or other communications systems, distributes special purpose game binary image files to general purpose computing/display devices. Software emulators running on the general purpose computing/display devices model the game source platform and interpret and/or compile the game files to provide interactive video game play. Software emulators for emulating a handheld video game platform such as GAME BOY®, GAME BOY COLOR® and/or GAME BOY ADVANCE® on a low-capability target platform (e.g., a seat-back display for airline or train use, a personal digital assistant, a cell phone) may provide any number of features and optimizations to provide high quality graphics and sound that nearly duplicates the game playing experience on the native platform.

Video game distribution network

Smart graphic elements are provided for use as portions or components of one or more graphic displays, which may be executed in a process plant to display information to users about the process plant environment, such as the current state of devices within the process plant. Each of the graphic elements is an executable object that includes a property or a variable that may be bound to an associated process entity, like a field device, and that includes multiple visualizations, each of which may be used to graphically depict the associated process entity on a user interface when the graphic element is executed as part of the graphic display. Any of the graphic element visualizations may be used in any particular graphic display and the same graphic display may use different ones of the visualizations at different times. The different visualizations associated with a graphic element make the graphic element more versatile, at they allow the same graphic element to be used in different displays using different graphical styles or norms. These visualizations also enable the same graphic element to be used in displays designed for different types of display devices, such as display devices having large display screens, standard computer screens and very small display screens, such as PDA and telephone display screens.

Graphic element with multiple visualizations in a process environment

A process control system uses an asset optimization reporter to collect status information pertaining to the assets of a process plant from various data sources of the plant including, for example, data tools, data collectors, and data generators. This status information is used to generate reports that may be displayed to various users, including maintenance persons, process control persons and business persons. The status information may be used as the basis for further types of status information and/or be categorized in ways that are useful to the user. The reports are generally displayed via a user interface routine that enables users to view the status information and manipulate the display of the report to correspond to the user's preferences, as contained in a user profile. The user interface routine further enables the user to view reports of various types of status information for various devices, loops, units, areas, etc., including status information for the process plant, and manipulate how the status information is displayed, such as with textual, numerical or graphical depictions or any combination thereof.

Asset optimization reporting in a process plant

A system for, and method of, emulating, on a non-native computer (305), a native environment for a visual display object file for a real time process control system (100) and a real time process control system employing the emulator. The visual display object file contains a drawing command, an address pointer for communicating data with the real time process control system and a rule for interpreting data received from a touch-sensitive screen. The system includes: a display routine that causes the non-native computer (305) to control a non-native visual display (200) coupled thereto to display an image thereon as a function of the drawing command, an address mapping routine that communicates the data between the visual display object file and the real time process control system as a function of the address pointer and an input translation routine that translates data received into the non-native computer from a non-native pointing device (460) coupled thereto into data suitable for interpretation by the rule, the system thereby allowing the non-native computer to display the image, communicate the data with the real time process control system and interpret the data received from the non-native pointing device.

Emulator for visual display object files and method of operation thereof

A system (20) for handling data of a process with a primary controller (30) and a redundant controller (40). The primary controller (30) includes a primary processor that is operable to perform tracking data tasks by using a low speed bus to cooperate with a tracker controller (32) for storage of tracking data in a tracker memory. The primary processor is further operable to perform other tasks by using a high speed bus in cooperation with a primary memory (32). The second bus (37) has an operating rate considerably higher (for example, a factor of two or more) than that of the first bus (38).

Method and apparatus for a redundancy approach in a processor based controller design

A device that recognizes the time synchronization packet and substitutes a real-time value from the master internal counter into the proper place in a data packet is placed between an Ethernet Media Access Controller (MAC) and a Physical Interface Transceiver (PHY). A second device monitors the packet passing from the MAC to the PHY and determines when it is a time synchronization packet from the time master. Upon recognition of the proper packet, the second device simultaneously captures the master's time value and captures the value of a local real-time clock. The result of these captures are presented to the local host computer which controls the time base clock that increments the local real-time clock to either speed up or slow down this local clock, thereby synchronizing the local clock to the time master clock. The offset and skew of the local clock to the master clock is reduced to only the network latency plus variability due to network congestion.

Clock synchronizing method over fault-tolerant etherent

Presented is an open solution based approach to fault tolerant Ethernet for process control networks. This unique approach provides fault tolerance capability that requires no change of vendor hardware (Ethernet physical link and Network Interface Card) and software (Ethernet driver and protocol), yet it is transparent to control applications. The open fault tolerant Ethernet (OFTE) developed based on this approach performs failure detection and recovery for handling single point of network failure and serves regular IP traffic. Our experimentation shows that OFTE performs efficiently, achieving less than 1 ms end to end LAN swapping time and less than 2 sec failover time, and that concurrent application and system loads have little impact on the performance of failure detection and recovery operations.

An open solution to fault-tolerant Ethernet: design, prototyping, and evaluation

A memory unit, made up of a plurality of BY-4 memory devices, has a plurality of computer words, each computer word including a predetermined number of data bits and a predetermined number of check bits. An error detection and correction (EDAC) apparatus interfaces with the memory unit for detecting and correcting a single bit error of the computer word, detecting a two bit error of the computer word, and detecting all two, three, and four bit errors of a single memory device. Matrix logic generates the check bits from preselected participating data bits of the data bits of the computer word being fetched. Compare gate logic compares check bits from the memory unit to corresponding check bits generated by the matrix logic to generate syndrome bits. Detection logic decodes the syndrome bits in accordance with a predetermined matrix mapped to identify one and two bit errors, to identify two, three, and four bit errors of the computer word when such errors are associated with the same BY-4 memory device, and to generate status signals associated with the decoding. Correction gate logic corrects the data bit of the computer word identified as being in error.

Jay W. Gustin

Papers

Emulator for visual display object files and method of operation thereof

Method and apparatus for a redundancy approach in a processor based controller design

Clock synchronizing method over fault-tolerant etherent

An open solution to fault-tolerant Ethernet: design, prototyping, and evaluation

Error detection and correction apparatus in a BY-4 RAM Device