System and method for communicating negotiated groups of parameters

A communication system configured for dynamically negotiating groups of machine operational parameters to be communicated from a producer of the parameters to a consumer of the parameters on a machine, and periodically communicating updated parameter data to the consumer of the parameters, the communication system comprising:

• a processor associated with the consumer of the parameters on the machine, the processor being configured to:
• send a first request for a parameter negotiating session from the consumer to the producer using HTTP;
• specify the consumer's desired session timeout for the session in the first request;
• receive at the consumer an XML-formatted message sent from the producer via HTTP specifying whether the producer is able to support the requested session;
• send from the consumer a second request with an XML-formatted message via HTTP for a group of parameters desired from the producer, wherein the message includes the consumer's desired destination address, the consumer's desired update period for receiving updated parameter data, identification of a UDP port of the consumer for receipt of updated parameter data from the producer in a UDP datagram, and identifiers of parameters desired by the consumer;
• receive at the consumer an XML-formatted message sent from the producer via HTTP specifying whether the producer is able to support the second request received from the consumer;
• if the producer is able to support the second request, receive at the consumer via HTTP an XML-formatted message from the producer including a producer-supported group of parameters based on the parameters desired by the consumer;
• and
• receive at the UDP port of the consumer a UDP datagram including updated data corresponding to each of the producer-supported parameters after a producer-supported update period corresponding to the consumer's desired update period.

A machine, comprising:

• a machine component;
• a client processor associated with the machine component, the client processor being configured to:
• consume a first group of machine operational parameters for controlling and monitoring functioning of the machine component;
• communicate with a server processor, wherein the server processor is configured to produce a second group of machine operational parameters related to the functioning and status of the machine component;
• send a first request for a parameter negotiating session from the client processor to the server processor using HTTP;
• specify the client processor's desired session timeout for the session in the first request;
• receive at the client processor an XML-formatted message sent from the server processor via HTTP specifying whether the server processor is able to support the requested session;
• send from the client processor a second request with an XML-formatted message via HTTP for a group of parameters desired from the server processor, wherein the message includes the client processor's desired destination address, the client processor's desired update period for receiving updated parameter data, identification of a UDP port of the client processor for receipt of updated parameter data from the server processor in a UDP datagram, and identifiers of parameters desired by the client processor;
• receive at the client processor an XML-formatted message sent from the server processor via HTTP specifying whether the server processor is able to support the second request received from the client processor;
• if the server processor is able to support the second request, receive at the client processor via HTTP an XML-formatted message from the server processor including a server processor-supported group of parameters based on the parameters desired by the client processor;
• and
• receive at the UDP port of the client processor a UDP datagram including updated data corresponding to each of the server processor-supported parameters after a server processor-supported update period corresponding to the client processor's desired update period.