US 5,530,643 AGranted

Method of programming industrial controllers with highly distributed processing

AssigneeAllen-Bradley Company, Inc.

InventorJohn Hodorowski

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Abstract

A highly distributed industrial control system employs a number of separate control modules communicating together on a shared communications medium. Each module emulates one or more basic electrical parts having electrical terminals, such as switches and relays, and transmits production messages indicating the state of the parts, such as conducting current or not. A connection list for each part in each control module defines message identifiers of other parts whose production messages are received by the control module and interpreted as current flow to one or more of its parts. The control system is programmed by generating a schematic on a programming terminal showing connections of terminals on symbols of the parts such as would represent actual wiring of the emulated parts. A parts layout diagram is used in conjunction with the schematic to identify each part to a physical module. In this way the program is divided to run concurrently on the various modules without explicit instructions by the programmer.

Claims15

Dependent claims

A method of programming a highly distributed industrial controller comprised of a plurality of physically distinct modules communicating along a shared communications link, the modules transmitting and receiving messages on the communications link, the method of programming comprising the steps of:

(a) generating a logical diagram depicting the industrial controller in the form of an electrical schematic of electrical symbols on an electronic display screen,
the electrical symbols representing elemental electrical functions and having at least one input terminal and at least one output terminal,
the terminals representing points between which current flows according to the elemental function, each terminal having a state indicating current flow,
the terminals connected by lines representing wires to terminals of other electrical symbols and
wherein
one such electrical symbol is connected to a power source symbol;
(b) generating a physical diagram, on the electronic display screen, showing outlines representing the modules surrounding physical symbols representing the elemental functions to be performed by the modules;
(c) programming the modules to emulate the elemental function of the physical symbols associated with the module by the physical diagram;
and
(d) compiling the physical and logical diagrams to generate a communications table establishing communications between the modules on the communications link so that the elemental functions executed by a given module may communicate the state of their terminals with other elemental functions in other modules as if the electrical symbols of those elemental functions were wired together according to the logical diagram.

7 more elements

(a) writing a logical program indicating a logical operation of the industrial controller, the logical operation comprised of a purality of elemental functions;
(b) writing a physical program indicating an allocation of the elemental functions to modules;
(c) programming the modules to emulate the elemental functions indicated by the physical program;
(d) compiling the physical and logical programs to generate a communications table establishing the communications between the modules on the communications link so that the elemental functions executed by a given module may communicate with other elemental functions in other modules to execute the logical program;
wherein each module has a capability index indicating those elemental functions that can be efficiently performed by that module and wherein the compiling of step (d) reviews the physical program and the capability index of the modules to verify that the elemental functions assigned to each module can be efficiently performed by the module and if not provides an indication to an operator.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 08/360,862Filed 21 Dec 1994 · continuation in part
Priority: 24 Aug 1993
Granted: 25 Jun 1996
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification16 codes

G05B 19/0421
Using digital processors: multiprocessor system
G05B 19/0426
Using digital processors: programming the control sequence
G05B 2219/21053
Pc I-O input output: each unit, module has unique identification code, set during manufacturing, fMAC address
G05B 2219/23258
Pc programming: gUI graphical user interface, icon, function bloc editor, labview