Configuration tool and method for scheduling at least one control application on an industrial controller

A configuration tool for scheduling at least one cyclic control application on a controller, each cyclic control application comprising at least one function blocks, the configuration tool comprising:

• a) a network interface connected to the controller and a data repository comprising a plurality of function blocks;
• b. at least one processor connected to a memory module and storing at least one instruction, the at least one processor, upon execution of the at least one instruction, being configured to:
• i. receive a plurality of function blocks associated with the controller from the data repository via the network interface;
• ii. define a plurality of function block clusters by clustering the plurality of function blocks of cyclic control applications based on a sampling time of each function block from the plurality of function blocks, each function block cluster of the plurality of function block clusters comprising at least one function block having the sampling time within a corresponding range;
• iii. create a plurality of organization blocks from the plurality of function block clusters, each organization block of the plurality of organization blocks comprising at least one function block from a respective function block cluster and an organization block record including a sampling time value and next deadline time value associated with a corresponding organization block of the plurality of organization blocks;
• and
• iv. deploy the plurality of organization blocks for execution on the controller, said deploying the plurality of organization blocks including execution of organization blocks based on at least one of (i) the sampling time value and (ii) the next deadline time value;
• wherein the sampling time value of an organization block is based on at least one sampling time of at least one function block of the corresponding organization block.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having machine-readable instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processing unit, cause the processing unit to:

• a) define a plurality of function block clusters by clustering a plurality of function blocks of cyclic control applications based on a sampling time of each function block from the plurality of function blocks, each function block cluster of the plurality of function block clusters comprising at least one function block having the sampling time within a corresponding range;
• b) create a plurality of organization blocks from the plurality of function block clusters, each organization block of the plurality of organization blocks comprising at least one function block from a respective function block cluster and an organization block record including a sampling time value and next deadline time value associated with the corresponding organization block;
• and
• c. scheduling the plurality of organization blocks for execution on the controller, based on at least one of (i) the sampling time value and (ii) the next deadline time value of each organization block from the plurality of organization blocks;
• wherein the sampling time value of an organization block is based on at least one sampling time of at least one function block of the corresponding organization block.