Systems and apparatus for distribution of process control data to remote

A system for securely disseminating information relating to a process control plant, the system comprising:

• a process control node of a distributed control system (DCS) comprising a plurality of process control field devices including valves and/or valve positioners, controlling a continuous or batch production process in the process control plant, and a controller, coupled to the plurality of process control field devices, the process control node further comprising a communicator module transmitting, via a first network, information of the process plant received from the controller;
• a data services module receiving from the communicator module, via the first network, the information of the process plant and selectively transmitting, according to a set of requested data, some or all of that information via a second network;
• and
• a mobile server, coupled to the second network, and receiving streamed process control data from the data services module, the streamed process control data received from the data services module including the information transmitted by the data services module, the mobile server coupled to a third network and:
• communicating with a plurality of mobile computing devices via the third network to configure the mobile server to provide to each of the plurality of mobile computing devices respective sets of streamed data;
• receiving from each of the mobile computing devices a selection of a respective set of data including one or more process control parameters to be transmitted to the respective mobile computing device from the mobile server, the respective sets of data collectively forming the set of requested data transmitted by the data services module;
• transmitting to each of the mobile computing devices data of the selected process control parameters according to the selection received from the respective mobile computing device;
• configured to receive search queries from individual ones of the mobile computing devices, and to identify and retrieve information related to notifications, alarms, devices, control modules, and/or process control parameters according to the search queries using a searchable index;
• and
• maintaining a plurality of lists, each list corresponding to a set of items to which at least one of the mobile computing devices is subscribed, and each list including one or more of:
• a set of processes, a set of equipment, a set of alarms, a set of process values, a set of key performance indicators, and/or a set of batches.