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AssigneeFisher-Rosemount Systems, Inc.
InventorsRusty Shepard, Ken Krivoshein, Dan Christensen, Gary Law, Kent Burr, Mark Nixon
Estimating the term…
A versatile controller that can he used as either a stand-alone controller in a relatively small process plant or as one of numerous controllers in a distributed process control system depending on the needs of the process plant includes a processor adapted to be programmed to execute one or more programming routines and a memory, such as a non-volatile memory, coupled to the processor and adapted to store the one or more programming routines to be executed on the processor. The versatile controller also includes a plurality of field device input/output ports communicatively connected to the processor, a configuration communication port connected to the processor and to the memory to enable the controller to be configured with the programming routines and a second communication port which enables a user interface to be intermittently connected to the controller to view information stored within the controller memory. When used in a distributed process control system, the controller platform may be used as a remote input/output device and the ports of this remote input/output device may be logically mapped to controllers within the distributed process control system in a manner that is different than the physical connection between such controllers and the remote input/output device.
A controller for use in controlling a plurality of devices within a process, the controller comprising:
The controller of claim 15 wherein the processor is a general purpose processor.
A controller for use in controlling a plurality of devices within a process, the controller comprising:
A controller for use in controlling a plurality of devices within a process, the controller comprising:
A method of configuring a distributed process control system having one or more controllers and one or more remote input/output devices, wherein each of the controllers has a field device input/output port associated therewith, the method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.