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US-12619204-B2 - Management functionalities and operations for provider of process control or automation system

US12619204B2US 12619204 B2US12619204 B2US 12619204B2US-12619204-B2

Abstract

A process control or automation system comprising a plurality of instantiated micro-encapsulated execution environments (MEEEs) includes a first one or more instantiated MEEEs communicatively connecting a provider of the plurality of instantiated MEEEs to a first enterprise operating a first one or more industrial or automation processes at a first one or more physical locations or sites. The system also includes a second one or more instantiated MEEEs communicatively connecting the provider to a second enterprise operating a second one or more industrial or automation processes at a second one or more physical locations or sites.

Inventors

  • Brian M. Capoccia
  • Brian LaMothe
  • Narayanan Doraiswamy
  • Mark J. Nixon
  • Peter Hartmann

Assignees

  • FISHER-ROSEMOUNT SYSTEMS, INC.

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20230718

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A process control or automation system comprising a plurality of instantiated micro-encapsulated execution environments (MEEEs), the plurality of instantiated MEEEs comprising: a first one or more instantiated MEEEs executing, in a first portion of the shared compute fabric, a first compute fabric functionality, the first one or more instantiated MEEEs operating to control process devices and provide other process functionalities to service a first one or more industrial or automation processes implemented via a first process control and automation system, the first one or more instantiated MEEEs communicatively connecting a provider of the plurality of instantiated MEEEs to a first enterprise operating the first one or more industrial or automation processes at a first one or more physical locations or sites; and a second one or more instantiated MEEEs executing, in a second portion of the shared compute fabric, a second compute fabric functionality, the second one or more instantiated MEEEs operating to control process devices and provide other process functionalities to service a second one or more industrial or automation processes implemented via a second process control and automation system, the second one or more instantiated MEEEs communicatively connecting the provider to a second enterprise operating the second one or more industrial or automation processes at a second one or more physical locations or sites.
  2. 2 . The process control or automation system of claim 1 , wherein a first one of the first one or more instantiated MEEEs and a second one of the first one or more instantiated MEEEs are communicatively connected via a secured point-to-point (PTP) or peer-to-peer (P2P) connection.
  3. 3 . The process control or automation system of claim 2 , wherein the secured PTP or P2P connection is a virtual private network (VPN).
  4. 4 . The process control or automation system of claim 1 , wherein one of the first one or more instantiated MEEEs communicatively connects the provider to one of (i) a physical device that performs a physical function utilized in at least one of the first one or more industrial or automation processes, or (ii) an intervening device communicatively disposed between the physical device and the one of the first one or more instantiated MEEEs, wherein the one of the one or more instantiated MEEEs communicatively connects to the physical device or the intervening device via a secured point-to-point (PTP) or peer-to-peer (P2P) connection.
  5. 5 . The process control or automation system of claim 4 , wherein the secured PTP or P2P connection is a virtual private network (VPN).
  6. 6 . The process control or automation system of claim 4 , wherein the one of the first one or more instantiated MEEEs transmits information to or receives information from the physical device or intervening device based upon access permissions defined by the first enterprise.
  7. 7 . The process control or automation system of claim 6 , wherein the access permissions enable the one of the one or more instantiated MEEEs to transmit information to or receive information from the physical device or intervening device, but do not allow the one of the one or more instantiated MEEEs to transmit information to or receive information from another one or more physical devices or intervening device at the first one or more physical locations or sites.
  8. 8 . The process control or automation system of claim 1 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs manages execution of a further plurality of MEEEs executing to operate, monitor, control or configure at least one of the first one or more industrial or automation processes of the first enterprise.
  9. 9 . The process control or automation system of claim 8 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs perform diagnostics or analytics based upon data generated by the further plurality of MEEEs or by one or more physical devices performing physical functions of the first one or more industrial or automation processes.
  10. 10 . The process control or automation system of claim 8 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs allocate execution of respective ones of the further plurality of MEEEs across a plurality of physical computing resources located across multiple physical locations or sites.
  11. 11 . The process control or automation system of claim 10 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs moves execution of a particular one of the further plurality of MEEEs from a first physical computing resource at a first one of the multiple physical locations or sites, to a second physical computing resource at a second one of the multiple physical locations or sites.
  12. 12 . The process control or automation system of claim 11 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs moves the execution of the particular one of the further plurality of MEEEs in response to a fault detection associated with the particular one of the further plurality of MEEEs or the first one of the multiple physical locations or sites.
  13. 13 . The process control or automation system of claim 8 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs monitor a security condition associated with the further plurality of MEEEs.
  14. 14 . The process control or automation system of claim 8 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs provide automatic version control or upgrades for applications or services executing via the further plurality of MEEEs.
  15. 15 . The process control or automation system of claim 1 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs monitor a security condition associated with at least one physical device or other physical element of at least one of the first one or more physical locations or sites.
  16. 16 . The process control or automation system of claim 1 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs monitor a safety condition associated with the first one or more physical locations or sites.
  17. 17 . The process control or automation system of claim 1 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs generate an alert associated with the first one or more physical locations or sites.
  18. 18 . The process control or automation system of claim 1 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs generate an application or service recommendation for the first enterprise.
  19. 19 . The process control or automation system of claim 18 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs generate the application or service recommendation for the first enterprise based upon process software or hardware configuration data of the first enterprise.
  20. 20 . The process control or automation system of claim 18 , wherein the first one or more instantiated MEEEs generate the application or service recommendation based upon diagnostics data, analytics data, or historical process data associated with the first one or more industrial or automation processes of the first enterprise.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/390,238, entitled “Next Generation Process Control and Automation System,” which was filed Jul. 18, 2022; U.S. Provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/398,441, entitled “Securing Next Generation Process Control and Automation Systems,” which was filed Aug. 16, 2022; U.S. Provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/417,861, entitled “Configuration Features of Next Generation Process Control and Automation Systems,” which was filed Oct. 20, 2022; and U.S. Provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/418,006, entitled “Enterprise-Level Features Provided by the NGPCAS,” which was filed Oct. 20, 2022, the entire disclosures of each of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein. TECHNICAL FIELD The present application relates generally to industrial process control systems and automation systems of industrial process plants, and in particular, a next-generation architecture for industrial process control and automation systems. BACKGROUND For decades, distributed process control systems and automation systems of various enterprises (such as distributed or scalable process control and/or automation systems used in power generation, chemical, petroleum, or other industrial processes such as pharmaceutical or other types of manufacturing) have typically included one or more dedicated process controller devices communicatively coupled to each other, to at least one host or operator workstation via a process control network, and to one or more instrumentation or field devices via analog, digital, or combined analog/digital buses. The field devices perform functions within the process or plant such as opening or closing valves, switching devices on and off, and measuring process parameters. Example field devices include valves, valve positioners, switches, and transmitters (e.g., devices including sensors for measuring temperature, pressure, or flow rate; and transmitters for transmitting the sensed temperatures, pressures, and flow rates). In many industrial processes, there may be hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of field devices operating to send data to and/or receive commands from the one or more dedicated controller devices. The process controllers, which are typically located within the plant environment (i.e., within the physical confines of plant and, in particular, in the vicinity of the field devices), receive signals indicative of process measurements made by the field devices (or other information pertaining to the field devices) and execute a controller application that runs, for example, different control modules which make process control decisions, generate control signals based on the received information, and coordinate with the control modules or blocks being implemented in smart field devices (e.g., HART®, WirelessHART®, and FOUNDATION® Fieldbus field devices). Execution of the control modules causes the process controllers to send the control signals over the communication links or signal paths to the field devices, to thereby control the operation of at least a portion of the process plant or system (e.g., to control at least a portion of one or more industrial processes running or executing within the plant or system). For example, a first set of controller(s) and field devices may control a first portion of a process being controlled by the process plant or system, and a second set of controller(s) and field devices may control a second portion of the process. Input/output (I/O) cards (sometimes called “I/O devices” or “I/O modules”), which are also typically located within the plant environment, generally are communicatively disposed between a controller and one or more field devices, enabling communications therebetween (e.g., by converting electrical signals into digital values and vice versa). Typically, an I/O card functions as an intermediary device between a process controller and one or more field devices that have inputs or outputs configured for the same communication protocol or protocols as those utilized by the I/O card. The field devices, controllers, and I/O devices are generally referred to collectively as “process control devices,” and are generally located, disposed, or installed in a field environment of a process control system or plant. The network formed by one or more controllers, the field devices communicatively connected to the one or more controllers, and the intermediary devices facilitating communication between the controllers and field devices may be referred to as an “I/O network” or “I/O subsystem.” Information from the I/O network(s) may be made available over a data highway or communication network (the “process control network”) to one or more other hardware devices, such as operator workstations, personal computers or computing devices, handheld devices, data historians, report generators, centralized data