Networked facilities management system

A facilities management system configured to allow access to the system by a non-configured portable computing unit, the facilities management system including a plurality of network controllers arranged to control a process, the network controllers being configured as at least one network and being interconnected by at least one communication link, each of the network controllers including an equipment interface for receiving data related to the process, and a processor including a drop port, the processor being coupled to the equipment interface, the facilities management system being initialized so that the network controllers are configured to each have a network address indicative of a particular location in the facilities management system, the network address including a subset indicative of an associated communication link to which the network controller is connected, a local address indicative of the network controller, and a node drop ID indicating that the network controller is a configured network controller, the facilities management system comprising:

• a first configured network controller including a first processor having a first port for receiving the portable computing unit, the first configured network controller configured on the system at a first location defined by a first subset indicative of the communication link, a first local address indicative of the first configured network controller and the node drop ID;
• a second network controller having a first equipment interface, the second network controller being coupled to the communication link and being configured on the system at a second location defined by a second subset indicative of the communication link and a second local address indicative of the second configured networked controller, the second network controller having a second network address including the second subset, the second local address and the node drop ID;
• means for assigning a first network address to the portable computing unit, the first network address including the first subset, the first local address and a first drop identifier indicative of the first port;
• means for transmitting a request for data received at the first equipment interface of the second configured network controller located at the second location from the portable computing unit to the second network controller, the request including the second network address as a destination indicator and the first network address as a source indicator;
• means for transmitting the data from the second configured network controller to the portable computing unit in response to the request for data, the data including the second network address as the source indicator and the first network address as the destination indicator;
• means for receiving the data from the second configured network controller at the first processor of the first network controller according to the subset and local address of the first configured network address;
• and
• means for transmitting the data to the portable computing unit through the first drop port specified by the first drop identifier.