System and method for high-availability control of an industrial process

A method for controlling an industrial process implemented by a system for high-availability control of the industrial process, wherein the system comprises

• a plurality of computers,
• a plurality of operator stations comprising a graphical interface with a display configured to receive instructions from an operator via the graphical interface;
• display, on said display, at a current time and on request from the operator,
• a subset of information of an information set relating to the industrial process, the information set comprising an information group for each acquisition time from a plurality of acquisition times preceding the current time,
• an interface configured to collect data from a plurality of programmable logic controllers each having a controller model, each item of data from said data being associated with an acquisition time from the plurality of acquisition times, wherein the interface includes at least one pair of computers of said plurality of computers for each controller model,
• a processor including a pair of computers of the plurality of computers,
• a computer of said plurality of computers of the system each associated with each operator station of the plurality of operator stations to manage the plurality of operator stations, and
• a duplicate communication network comprising a first channel, a second channel that is separate from the first channel, and a redundancy device distributed over each computer of the plurality of computers of the system;
• wherein the method comprises:
• for each computer of each pair of computers of the at least one pair of computers of the interface, collecting said each item of data that is received by each controller of the plurality of programmable logic controllers having a corresponding controller model and eliminating each duplicate data received, wherein said each item of data is associated with an acquisition time from the plurality of acquisition times preceding the current time;
• receiving by each computer of the pair of computers of the processor at least a portion of the data that is collected by the interface, sorting the data that is received as a function of the acquisition time, eliminating the each duplicate data that is received and calculating said information group for said each acquisition time from the data that is sorted;
• receiving by said computer of said plurality of computers each associated with each operator station of the plurality of operator stations, each information group that is calculated and sending to said each operator station, said each information group that is received in a subset of information that is requested by said operator;
• displaying, on said display, the subset of information that is requested by said each operator station at the current time;
• if the operator provides an instruction via the graphical interface of an operator station of the plurality of operator stations, sending the instruction to the interface;
• sending by the interface at least one data-dependent command that is one or more of received and from the instruction to at least one controller of the plurality of programmable logic controllers;
• exchanging of at least one message between a first computer and a second computer of the plurality of computers of the system, wherein said exchanging comprises
• simultaneously sending on the first channel and the second channel of the duplicate communication network, the at least one message by the second computer to the redundancy device;
• receiving, by the redundancy device, the at least one message that is sent;
• if the at least one message is received via the first channel and via the second channel, deleting by the redundancy device the at least one message that is received via the second channel;
• modifying by the redundancy device, the at least one message that is received by adding an acknowledgment request;
• simultaneously disseminating on the first channel and the second channel, the at least one message that is modified to the second computer by the redundancy device;
• receive the at least one message by the second computer and sending an acknowledgment to the redundancy device.

A non-transitory computer program-product comprising instructions which, when executed on a plurality of computers, enable the plurality of computers to implement a method for controlling an industrial process implemented by a system for high-availability control of the industrial process, wherein the system comprises

• said plurality of computers,
• a plurality of operator stations comprising a graphical interface with a display configured to
• receive instructions from an operator via the graphical interface;
• display, on said display, at a current time and on request from the operator,
• a subset of information of an information set relating to the industrial process, the information set comprising an information group for each acquisition time from a plurality of acquisition times preceding the current time,
• an interface configured to collect data from a plurality of programmable logic controllers each having a controller model, each item of data from said data being associated with an acquisition time from the plurality of acquisition times, wherein the interface includes at least one pair of computers of said plurality of computers for each controller model,
• a processor including a pair of computers of the plurality of computers,
• a computer of said plurality of computers of the system each associated with each operator station of the plurality of operator stations to manage the plurality of operator stations, and
• a duplicate communication network comprising a first channel, a second channel that is separate from the first channel, and a redundancy device distributed over each computer of the plurality of computers of the system;
• wherein the method comprises:
• for each computer of each pair of computers of the at least one pair of computers of the interface, collecting said each item of data that is received by each controller of the plurality of programmable logic controllers having a corresponding controller model and eliminating each duplicate data received, wherein said each item of data is associated with an acquisition time from the plurality of acquisition times preceding the current time;
• receiving by each computer of the pair of computers of the processor at least a portion of the data that is collected by the interface, sorting the data that is received as a function of the acquisition time, eliminating the each duplicate data that is received and calculating said information group for said each acquisition time from the data that is sorted;
• receiving by said computer of said plurality of computers each associated with each operator station of the plurality of operator stations, each information group that is calculated and sending to said each operator station, said each information group that is received in a subset of information that is requested by said operator;
• displaying, on said display, the subset of information that is requested by said each operator station at the current time;
• if the operator provides an instruction via the graphical interface of an operator station of the plurality of operator stations, sending the instruction to the interface;
• sending by the interface at least one data-dependent command that is one or more of received and from the instruction to at least one controller of the plurality of programmable logic controllers;
• exchanging of at least one message between a first computer and a second computer of the plurality of computers of the system, wherein said exchanging comprises
• simultaneously sending on the first channel and the second channel of the duplicate communication network, the at least one message by the second computer to the redundancy device;
• receiving, by the redundancy device, the at least one message that is sent;
• if the at least one message is received via the first channel and via the second channel, deleting by the redundancy device the at least one message that is received via the second channel;
• modifying by the redundancy device, the at least one message that is received by adding an acknowledgment request;
• simultaneously disseminating on the first channel and the second channel, the at least one message that is modified to the second computer by the redundancy device;
• receive the at least one message by the second computer and sending an acknowledgment to the redundancy device.