Industrial control system having multi-layered control logic execution

A process control system, comprising:

• a process controller level including at least one process controller and
• an input/output (I/O) module level including at least one I/O module coupled to the process controller;
• wherein the process controller level and the I/O module level are communicatively coupled and both include control logic comprising control hardware or algorithm blocks;
• and
• wherein the control logic in the process controller level and in the I/O module level are configured to execute and exchange data to perform process control for a process run by the process control system in a distributed fashion across the process controller level and the I/O module level, wherein the process controller level, a scanner level, and the (I/O) module level, are configured to execute operations simultaneously and exchange data.