Method and apparatus for proxy execution and computation with an industrial controller

A method of coordinating execution of an external processing device with an industrial controller, the method comprising the steps of:

• executing a plurality of control instructions on a processor of an industrial controller, wherein:
• the plurality of control instructions access a state machine and data from a plurality of data fields stored in memory of the industrial controller,
• the plurality of data fields includes at least one data structure utilized by the control program, the at least one data structure selected from a hardware table, a connection list, an association list, and an I/O table;
• the plurality of control instructions includes at least one proxy instruction, and
• the plurality of control instructions includes a plurality of additional instructions other than the at least one proxy instruction, wherein at least one of the plurality of additional instructions is configured to change a state of the state machine;
• executing the at least one proxy instruction on the processor of the industrial controller, wherein:
• the at least one proxy instruction obtains metadata defining the external processing device and communication between the external processing device and the industrial controller,
• the at least one proxy instruction defines at least one function to be executed on an external processing device,
• the at least one proxy instruction defines the data from the plurality of data fields,
• the data obtained by the at least one proxy instruction is shared data,
• at least one of the plurality of additional instructions is configured to access the shared data, and
• the shared data is required for execution of the at least one proxy instruction;
• reading the shared data and a state of the state machine with an inter-processor interface executing on the industrial controller responsive to executing the at least one proxy instruction;
• reading metadata from the memory with the inter-processor interface responsive to executing the at least one proxy instruction, wherein the metadata defines the external processing device and communication between the external processing device and the industrial controller;
• transmitting the shared data to the external processing device with the inter-processor interface according to the communication defined in the metadata;
• executing at least one of the plurality of additional instructions configured to change a state of the state machine in tandem with the external processing device processing the shared data;
• receiving at the inter-processor interface a response from the external processing device indicating a status of executing the at least one function defined by the at least one proxy instruction;
• and
• changing the state of the state machine with the at least one proxy instruction as a function of the response received from the external processing device.

A processor module for an industrial controller configured to coordinate execution of an external processing device with the industrial controller, the processor module comprising:

• a memory operative to store a control program, a plurality of data fields, and a state machine;
• and
• a processor operative to execute the control program, wherein:
• the control program includes at least one proxy instruction,
• the control program includes a plurality of control instructions other than the at least one proxy instruction,
• at least one of the plurality of control instructions changes a state of the state machine,
• the plurality of data fields includes shared data changed by both the plurality of control instructions and the at least one proxy instruction,
• the shared data includes the state of the state machine;
• the at least one proxy instruction obtains shared data required for execution of the corresponding proxy instruction,
• the at least one proxy instruction defines at least one function to be executed on an external processing device, and
• the processor is further operative to execute the at least one proxy instruction by:
• reading the shared data,
• transmitting the shared data to the external processing device,
• continuing execution of the plurality of control instructions to change the state of the state machine during execution of the at least one proxy instruction,
• receiving a response from the external processing device indicating a status of processing the at least one proxy instruction, and
• changing the state of the state machine responsive to receiving the response from the external processing device.