System and method for accessing and presenting health information for field devices in a process control system

A system comprising:

• a server configured to generate a request for at least one of status information and diagnostic information associated with a field device in a process control system;
• and
• an interface component comprising (i) an emulator configured to emulate a device manager associated with the field device and (ii) a communication manager configured to communicate with the field device over a communication link using a specified protocol;
• wherein the server is configured to provide the request to the communication manager through the emulator, receive at least one of the status information and the diagnostic information from the field device through the communication manager and the emulator, interpret at least one of the status information and the diagnostic information using a device description or electronic device description (DD/EDD) file associated with the field device, and generate a user interface based on at least one of the status information and the diagnostic information.

An apparatus comprising:

• a memory configured to store at least one of status information and diagnostic information associated with a field device in a process control system;
• and
• a processor configured to:
• generate a request for at least one of the status information and the diagnostic information;
• provide the request to a communication manager through an emulator, the emulator configured to emulate a device manager associated with at least the field device, the communication manager configured to communicate the request to the field device over a communication link using a specified protocol;
• receive at least one of the status information and the diagnostic information from the field device through the communication manager and the emulator;
• interpret at least one of the status information and the diagnostic information using a device description or electronic device description (DD/EDD) file associated with the field device;
• and
• generate and present a user interface based on at least one of the status information and the diagnostic information.