US 9,921,563 B2Granted

System for updating a control program actively controlling an industrial process

AssigneeRockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.

InventorMichael J. Viste

Life of this patent

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Abstract

The inventor has recognized that industrial controllers may be updated after they are deployed in the field, while actively controlling an industrial process and without costly downtime, by storing a replacement machine-readable component in an allocated program space, locating and modifying one or more dependent machine-readable components copied in the allocated program space to instead depend on the replacement machine-readable component, re-linking a copy of the control program in the allocated program space, and redirecting execution to the control program in the allocated program space. Replacement machine-readable components could be instructions, libraries, or subroutines of the control program, and are not limited to user logic. The control program in the allocated program space may optimally be tested by verifying an operation before redirecting execution to the control program in the allocated program space.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An industrial control system comprising:

an industrial controller having a processor executing a control program stored in a memory for actively controlling an industrial process, the processor executing to:
(a) store a first machine-readable component in an allocated program space, the first machine-readable component being stored to replace a second machine-readable component supporting the control program;
(b) locate a dependent machine-readable component having a data dependency on the second machine-readable component, and copy the dependent machine-readable component to the allocated program space;
(c) modify the dependent machine-readable component in the allocated program space to change the data dependency on the second machine-readable component to a data dependency on the first machine-readable component;
(d) copy the control program to the allocated program space, and link the control program in the allocated program space with the first machine-readable component and the dependent machine-readable component in the allocated program space;
(e) execute the control program in the allocated program space to verify an operation;
and
(f) after successfully verifying the operation, and while the control program is actively controlling the industrial process, redirect execution of the control program to execution of the control program in the allocated program space.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 14/873,386Filed 2 Oct 2015
Published: US 2017/0097624 A16 Apr 2017
Granted: 20 Mar 2018
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification7 codes

G05B 19/0426
Using digital processors: programming the control sequence
G06F 8/654
Updates: using techniques specially adapted for alterable solid state memories, e.g. for EEPROM or flash memories
G06F 8/656
Updates: while running
G06F 9/44526
Dynamic linking or loading; Link editing at or after load time, e.g. Java class loading: plug-ins; Add-ons