Usage of a virtual unit
AssigneeRockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
InventorJohn Robert Parraga McNairn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Problems can occur when a controller is limited in ownership to one process. To minimize these problems, phantom Units can be used that are direct replicas of actual Units. Thus, multiple processes can own a single controller—one process can own the actual Unit while another process owns the virtual controller. At an appropriate time, such as when the actual Unit is no longer owned, bindings with the phantom Unit can transfer to the actual Unit.
Claims20
A system capable of implementation upon an industrial control configuration, comprising:
- a resolution component that determines if a phantom entity should be used for a supplemental process;
- and
- a preparation component that performs an action for the supplemental process upon the phantom entity based upon a positive determination, the phantom entity is a replication of a primary entity and performance of the action occurs while the primary entity engages a principal process.
A method capable of implementation upon an industrial control configuration, comprising:
- determining that use of a phantom unit is appropriate;
- and
- creating the phantom unit based upon an actual unit upon determining that phantom unit use is appropriate.
A system capable of implementation upon an industrial control configuration, comprising:
- means for creating a virtual entity based upon an actual entity;
- and
- means for performing an action for a supplemental process upon the virtual entity, the virtual entity is a replication of the actual entity and performance of the action occurs while the primary entity engages a principal process.
A computer program embodied upon a computer-readable medium comprising:
- program code for accessing a phantom unit based upon an actual unit;
- and
- program code for modeling of at least one rule or at least one relationship among resources based on representing states of use for the phantom unit and actual unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.