US-12627736-B2 - Publish-subscribe communication architecture for field devices in control and automation systems

Abstract

A method includes receiving at a field device, from a first client device or application, a message indicating a selection of a first one of a plurality of publish categories corresponding to a type of information desired by the first client device or application. The method further includes transmitting, from the field device to the first client device or application, an identification of each of a plurality of publish lists corresponding to the first one of the selected publish category. The publish lists are stored on the field device and each includes a set of parameters associated with the field device. The method includes receiving at the field device, from the first client device or application, a selection of a publish list identified by the field device, and transmitting, from the field device to the first client device or application, the set of parameters associated with the selected publish list.

Inventors

• Mark J. Nixon
• Gary K. Law

Assignees

• FISHER-ROSEMOUNT SYSTEMS, INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20231120

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A method comprising: receiving at a field device, from a first client device or application, during run-time operations of a process plant, a message indicating a selection of a first one of a plurality of publish categories, the first one of the plurality of publish categories corresponding to a type of information desired by the first client device or application; transmitting, from the field device to the first client device or application, an identification of each of a plurality of publish lists that are pre-defined and stored on the field device prior to receiving the message from the first client device or application, corresponding to the first one of the plurality of publish categories, the plurality of publish lists stored on the field device and each publish list comprising a particular set of parameters associated with the field device; receiving at the field device, from the first client device or application, a selection of a first one of the plurality of publish lists identified by the field device; and transmitting, from the field device to the first client device or application, the particular set of parameters associated with the first one of the plurality of publish lists.
2. 2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the field device is a process control field device and wherein the first client device or application is a process controller.
3. 3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the field device is a robotic factory automation device and wherein the first client device or application is a factory automation controller.
4. 4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first client device or application is an application executing on a processor communicating with the field device through an edge gateway.
5. 5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first client device or application is an application executing on a cloud-computing platform.
6. 6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first client device or application is another field device.
7. 7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein receiving the message indicating the selection of the first one of the plurality of publish categories comprises receiving a message specifying a monitor and control category.
8. 8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein receiving the message indicating the selection of the first one of the plurality of publish categories comprises receiving a message specifying a condition monitoring category.
9. 9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein transmitting the identification of each of the plurality of publish lists comprises transmitting an identification of one or more manufacturer-defined publish lists, each of the one or more manufacturer-defined publish lists stored on the field device at the time of the field device's manufacture.
10. 10 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein transmitting the identification of each of the plurality of publish lists comprises transmitting an identification of one or more user defined publish lists.
11. 11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein transmitting the identification of each of the plurality of publish lists comprises transmitting an identification of one or more custom publish lists.
12. 12 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: receiving, at the field device, from a second client device or a second application, a second message indicating a selection of a second one of the plurality of publish categories; transmitting, from the field device to the second client device or the second application, an identification of each of a second plurality of publish lists corresponding to the second one of the plurality of publish categories received from the second client device or the second application; receiving at the field device, from the second client device or the second application, a selection of a one of the second plurality of publish lists identified by the field device; transmitting, from the field device to the second client device or the second application, the particular set of parameters associated with the selection of the one of the second plurality of publish lists received from the second client device or the second application.
13. 13 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein the second message from the second client device or the second application indicating the selection of the second one of the plurality of publish categories is a message indicating a selection of a different one of the plurality of publish categories from the first one of the plurality of publish categories.
14. 14 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein receiving from the second client device or the second application the selection of the one of the second plurality of publish lists identified by the field device comprises receiving a selection of a different one of the plurality of publish lists from the first one of the plurality of publish lists.
15. 15 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein: receiving from the first client device or application the selection of the first one of the plurality of publish lists further comprises receiving an update rate specifying a frequency with which the particular set of parameters associated with the first one of the plurality of publish lists will be transmitted from the field device to the first client device or application, and/or receiving from the second client device or the second application the selection of the one of the second plurality of publish lists identified by the field device comprises receiving a second update rate specifying a second frequency with which the particular set of parameters associated with the one of the second plurality of publish lists will be transmitted from the field device to the second client device or the second application.
16. 16 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein each of the publish lists includes an update rate parameter specifying a frequency with which the particular set of parameters associated with a corresponding publish list will be transmitted from the field device to the client device or application subscribed to the corresponding publish list.
17. 17 . A field device comprising: a processor; and a memory device, coupled to the processor, the memory device storing (I) a plurality of pre-defined publish lists, each pre-defined publish list corresponding to one of at least two available publish categories, each pre-defined publish list comprising a particular set of parameters associated with the field device, and (ii) a set of instructions executable by the processor to cause the processor to: receive, from a client device or application, during run-time operations of a process plant, a message indicating a one of the at least two available publish categories, the one publish category indicating a category of information desired by the client device or application; transmit, to the client device or application, an identification of each of the plurality of pre-defined publish lists that are stored in the memory device prior to receiving the message from the client device or application, corresponding to the indicated publish category; receive, from the client device or application, a selection of one of the plurality of pre-defined publish lists identified by the field device; and transmit, to the client device or application, the particular set of parameters associated with the selected one of the plurality of pre-defined publish lists.
18. 18 . The field device according to claim 17 , wherein the client device or application is another field device.
19. 19 . The field device according to claim 17 , wherein the plurality of pre-defined publish lists include one or more manufacturer-defined publish lists.
20. 20 . The field device according to claim 17 , wherein the plurality of pre-defined publish lists include one or more user-defined publish lists.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/017,399, filed on Sep. 10, 2020 and entitled “Security Systems for Use in Implementing Highly-Versatile Field Devices and Communication Networks in Control and Automation Systems,” which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,824,934 on Nov. 21, 2023, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. TECHNICAL FIELD The present application relates generally to process control and factory automation systems and, more particularly, to enhanced field devices used in these systems that are capable of simultaneously performing various different functions in different contexts and of communicating with different or separate client devices or applications using one or more different communication protocols. BACKGROUND Distributed process control systems, like those used in chemical, petroleum, industrial or other process plants to manufacture, refine, transform, generate, or produce physical materials or products, typically include one or more process controllers communicatively coupled to one or more field devices via physical layers that may be analog, digital or combined analog/digital buses, or that may include one or more wireless communication links or networks. The field devices, which may be, for example, valves, valve positioners, switches and transmitters (e.g., temperature, pressure, level and flow rate sensors), are located within the process environment and generally perform physical process control functions such as opening or closing valves, measuring process and/or environmental parameters such as flow, temperature or pressure, etc. to control one or more processes executing within the process plant or system. Smart field devices, such as the field devices conforming to the well-known FOUNDATION® Fieldbus protocol may also perform control calculations, alarming functions, and other control functions commonly implemented within the controller. The process controllers, which are also typically located within the plant environment, receive signals indicative of process measurements made by the field devices and/or other information pertaining to the field devices and execute a control application that runs, for example, different control modules which make process control decisions, generate process control signals based on the received information and coordinate with the control modules or blocks being performed in the field devices, such as HART®, WirelessHART®, and FOUNDATION® Fieldbus field devices. To perform this communication, the control modules in the process controller send the control signals to various different input/output (I/O) devices, which then send these control signals over specialized communication lines or links (communication physical layers) to the actual 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. The I/O devices, which are also typically located within the plant environment, are generally disposed between a process controller and one or more field devices, and enable communications there-between, e.g., by converting electrical signals into digital values and vice versa. Different I/O devices are provided to support field devices that use different specialized communication protocols. More particularly, a different I/O device is provided between a process controller and each of the field devices that uses a particular communication protocol, such that a first I/O device is used to support HART field devices, a second I/O device is used to support Fieldbus field devices, a third I/O device is used to support Profibus field devices, etc. As utilized herein, field devices, controllers, and I/O devices are generally referred to as “process control devices,” and are generally located, disposed, or installed in a field environment of a process control system or plant. Still further, information from the field devices and the process controller is usually made available through the process controllers over a data highway or communication network to one or more other hardware devices, such as operator workstations, personal computers or computing devices, data historians, report generators, centralized databases, or other centralized administrative computing devices that are typically placed in control rooms or other locations away from the harsher field environment of the plant, e.g., in a back-end environment of the process plant. Each of these hardware devices typically is centralized across the process plant or across a portion of the process plant. These hardware devices run applications that may, for example, enable an operator to perform functions with respect to controlling a process and/or operating the process plant, such as changing settings of the process control routine, modify