WO2008155596A1

WO2008155596A1 - Standardized protocol independent configuration tool for intelligent electronic devices

Info

Publication number: WO2008155596A1
Application number: PCT/IB2007/001632
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rituraj Khare; Wilhelm Wiese
Original assignee: Abb Research Limited
Priority date: 2007-06-18
Filing date: 2007-06-18
Publication date: 2008-12-24

Abstract

The present invention provides a system, method and apparatus for protocol independent configuration of Intelligent Electronic Devices in industrial automation. One or more intelligent electronic devices (37, 38, 39, 40, 41 ) communicate via standard FIELDBUS protocols and are controlled by industrial controllers programmed with the IEC standard. The controllers and devices interact with entities including HMI stations and a virtual controller (30) to utilize inputs from various device manufactures (22) to construct reusable faceplates to control the Intelligent Electronic Devices and configure the Intelligent Electronic Devices via the virtual controller.

Description

STANDARDIZED PROTOCOL INDEPENDENT CONFIGURATION TOOL FOR INTELLIGENT ELECTRONIC DEVICES

BACKGROUND

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to providing protocol independent configuration of Intelligent Electronic Devices.

DISCUSSION OF PRIOR ART

In the present state of the art, IEC 61131 is used to configure complex industrial controllers. The IEC standard is an open international standard equipped with several programming languages, in particular two graphical and two textual PLC programming languages, in order to enable the PLC to control multiple devices (such as sensors, switches etc.) in a complex automation setup. The primary function of these standard programming languages is to organize programs for a variety of devices and execute these programs for sequential and parallel control processing. The programs thus written and executed enable process control in automation systems.

The Ole for Process Control (OPC) standard is another open standards specification developed in order to enable communication between Windows based setups and process control hardware/software applications. This standard ensures consistent access to field data from plant floor devices. OPC servers are used to provide a method for many different software packages to access data from process control devices including PLCs and DCS'. Before the advent of OPC, anytime a package needed access to data from a device, a device-specific driver needed to be written. Alternatively, the OPC standard allows the creation of reusable common interfaces, which can be employed by a variety of packages such as SCADA, HMIs, business packages etc. Since IEDs have become more complex with time and are more resource-intensive, greater control can be rendered over these devices by developing device specific. In the present state of the art, Field Device Tool (FDT) and Electronic Device Descriptor (EDD) technology are well coupled to field devices and support a proper life-cycle management.

FDT technology presently standardizes the communication interface between device configuration tools and engineering workstations. This technology is communication protocol independent and can work on any platform, irrespective of the software environment of both devices and host systems. FDT aims to allow access to any device, from any device through any protocol. In the use of FDT technology, a device supplier typically develops a new Device Type Manager (DTM) for each of its devices or groups of devices. The DTM captures all device-specific data, functions and rules such as device structure, communication capabilities, dependencies, HMI structure etc. The DTMs are functional in providing access to device parameters, configuring and operating the devices and diagnosing problems. The Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL) is a text-based language, which is used to describe the communication characteristics of IEDs and equipment parameters in Operating Systems (OS) and Human Machine Interface (HMT) neutral environments. Similar to FDT technology, EDD technology (by using the EDDL) also seeks to create a unified engineering environment that can support devices from any supplier, using any communications protocol, without the need of custom drivers for each device. FDT and EDD technology therefore lend themselves well to a holistic life-cycle management of devices, which are used with it. Independent of both these technologies is the concept of function blocks, which are traditionally used to model the process logic of a plant, rather than the business logic of an IED.

In the present state of the art, device configuration data and device internal logic is covered by electronic device description (EDD) or capability files (CFF) and is available for a majority of devices. An interpreter is commonly utilized to generate the device logic from the EDD or CFF representations, which are ultimately used for device configuration. Siemens has a product SIMATIC PCS that does this. In some cases, a high level language (HLL) is used to program the device logic. Devices are used for several purposes including monitoring and controlling a variety of physical parameters. These devices need to be configured in order to set the limits within which they are capable of operating. Configuring IEDs in large systems is typically done offline, owing to the multitude of IEDs present. At the commissioning stage, an engineer or an operator is often responsible for configuring the device. For the sake of discussion, we consider the case of a temperature transmitter or sensor, which has an upper and lower limit which is linked to the sensor and therefore written to the IED during manufacturing, for example -30 deg to 100 deg Celsius. One class of device (such as the temperature sensor) can be used to measure the temperature of several apparatus such as steam pipes or those responsible for cooling water. During commissioning of this device, a field engineer needs to configure a span according to the needs of the process in which he/she is utilizing the device. In the case of the device being used for several measurements, the engineer may accordingly configure the parameters of the device to 20-80 deg C for the cooling water and 90-130 deg C for a steam pipe. Since the device parameters have been set at -30 to 100 deg C at the time of manufacture, the engineer will encounter an error message in the configuration of the steam pipe stating that the parameters are out of range. In online configuration, this error message would come from the device. In offline configuration interpreting the business logic described, for example, in the EDDL generates this message. In order to observe or control input/output to devices, automation systems have evolved to a stage wherein several faceplates are used. These faceplates are designed on the HMI station using graphical tools. Faceplates refer to the user-interface that is made available to a plant operator or an engineer, in order to allow them to execute such functions as control, configuration and monitoring of the multitude of field devices, in a site.

US Patent 7,054,694 discloses a Process Control System wherein the engineering unit value scale data is managed centrally to ameliorate a lag (and consequent errors) between the operation values and the display values. In this system, a soft PLC is proposed in which functions are written in software. In this invention, the soft PLC receives I/O data associated with devices (usually analog signals). The received data is then normalized and sent to the display unit, with the end goal of removing any transience in the data which is collected and that which is displayed.

US Patent 7,024,665 discloses Control Systems and Methods for translating code from one format into another format. In this invention, a control system and metibod is used to convert code received in a first format (say a non-function bloc logic language, such as an IEC 61131-x language) into a second format, which might exemplarily be used in implementing an analog control within the network. In this invention, the system is capable of monitoring field devices even though the devices are potentially configured using different languages, such as one device having been configured by implementing binary logic using any IEC-61131 language and another device having been configured by using a Foundation Block Language, such as a Foundation FIELDBUS Function Block language.

US Patent 5,828,851 discloses a set of process controllers which implement and execute a standard set of function blocks defined by standard protocols, to allow for uniformity across devices programmed using different programming languages.

US Patent 5,801,942 discloses a user-interface that supports multiple IEC-61131 standard control languages and allows user-selection amongst these. US Patent 6369836 discloses the use of a cause-effect matrix diagram to develop a function block diagram program, which is a standard EEC 1131-3 language.

Conventional configuration and control systems for Intelligent Electronic Devices typically do not have a protocol independent capability to render greater control over

IEDs, in the offline mode. For example, state of the art configuration and control systems are unable to generate configuration error messages even when the EED is not available, i.e. during offline configuration, until they have implemented EDDL or FDT until additional tools such as an FDT or EDDL interpreter are implemented. Offline configuration is common practice because a plant might have thousands of EEDs and the configuration process begins much before the hardware is available. Further conventional configuration and control systems have to surmount the problems posed by the use of several programming languages for the devices themselves. IEC applications typically run on a process controller and have a limitation that there does not exist a methodology or system to simulate the IEDs for offline configuration. Further, reusable faceplates, for a class of devices are not readily available to the plant operator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention proposes a system, apparatus and method resulting in a standardized, protocol independent configuration tool for intelligent electronic devices.

The system of the present invention is comprised of one or more intelligent electronic devices communicating via several standard FIELDBUS protocols (such as PROFIBUS,

HART etc.) being controlled by one or more industrial controllers, programmed using the

IEC standard. In specific, controllers, which have been programmed using accepted standards in automation such as the EEC 61131, the IEC 61499 and the IEC 61580 standards are considered. The controllers and devices in the system interact with several other logical and functional entities including Engineering Stations, Operator Stations,

HMI stations (used to monitor the working of devices, enable the construction of faceplates to control devices etc.), a virtual controller etc. The system of the present invention comprises:

1. Means for taking input from device vendors providing device configuration details and the internal logic details of the device:

2. Means to construct applications using standard IEC-61131 editors for Intelligent Electronic Devices: 3. Means to construct reusable faceplates to control Intelligent Electronic Devices:

4. Means for configuring the intelligent electronic devices by means of said faceplates using the virtual controller:

In the present invention, the virtual controller is a logical and functional abstraction and is comprised of: a. An IEC-61131 Interface, which is utilized to run the applications or the business logic for the IEDs. b. A connectivity client and a connectivity server are used to interface with the devices and the operator stations that are a part of the system of the present invention. In one embodiment of this invention, the connectivity components could belong to the OPC Standard.

Further, the present invention includes a method to enable standardized protocol independent configuration of Intelligent Electronic Devices comprising the steps of: a. Receiving input from device vendors providing device configuration details and the internal logic details of the device. b. Parsing the inputs received in order to build device-specific applications. c. Building IEC applications for IEDs including: i. Exporting the name space used for online communication with the IEDs. ii. Exporting the name space used for faceplate construction, iϋ. Providing the values for Input/Output for the .1131 Engine d. Constructing applications using standard IEC-61131 editors for Intelligent

Electronic Devices. e. Generating binaries for the applications written for the IEDs (in step .c.) f. Deploying or downloading the components (including binaries and name spaces) onto the virtual controller. g. Configuring IEDs and re-using the components as desired including: i. Generating alarms and other events on the virtual controller, that are transmitted to the operator station or the HMI station, via the connectivity components, where they get displayed for further action (including display on alarm lists, configuration errors as described before etc.).

The system of the present invention extends the role of the IEC specification (including standard and widely used IEC editors) to providing protocol independent configuration of Intelligent Electronic Devices. By building applications for IEDs using the IEC-61131 standard, the present invention removes the need for device specific applications. Another advantage of the present invention is that the faceplates designed using the IEC- 61131 standard for the IEDs are re-usable across several sites and lend themselves to enabling a coherent workflow for the management of IEDs. Another advantage of the present invention is that offline configuration of devices is enabled with greater control by means of a virtual controller (or a virtual controller).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 shows the prior art's use of interpreters and HLLs to design the device logic. Fig. 2 shows the system of the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows the apparatus of the present invention, the virtual controller. Fig. 4 shows the steps in the method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

This invention discloses a system and method resulting in a standardized, protocol independent configuration tool for intelligent electronic devices. The system of the present invention is comprised of one or more intelligent electronic devices communicating via several standard FIELDBUS protocols (such as PROFIBUS, HART etc.) being controlled by one or more industrial controllers, programmed using the IEC standard, m specific, controllers, which have been programmed using the IEC-x standard are considered. The controllers and devices in the system interact with several other logical and functional entities including Engineering Stations, Operator Stations, HMI stations (used to monitor the working of devices, enable the construction of faceplates to control devices etc.), a virtual controller etc.

The primary components of the system of the present invention are:

The system of the present invention has the means to take device details, from individual vendors, in a plurality of formats, including EDDL, CFF, Text files etc. Unlike systems of prior art, depicted in Fig.l, which had device configuration files 1,

4 pass through an interpreter 2 or a HLL 5 to arrive at the final device logic, used to control the device 3, 6, the system of the present invention directly constructs device- specific IEC applications. Fig. 2 shows the system of the present invention wherein the device details are accepted from the device manufacturers 22 in any known format, including EDDL «» etc.

2. Means to construct applications using standard IEC-61131 editors for Intelligent Electronic Devices:

This device specification 22 is parsed by a parser 23 of the present invention, and sent to an Engineering Workstation 24. At the Engineering Workstation 24, IEC applications are built for a class of devices. This happens prior to the runtime handling of the device. Once the IEC applications have been built for the device, the namespace for the construction of faceplates 43, the I/O for the .1131 interface 44 and the namespace to communicate online with the IEDs 45 are downloaded in binary form, onto the virtual controller.

3. Means to construct reusable faceplates to configure Intelligent Electronic Devices:

The faceplates are built on the operator workstation 21, that has a connectivity client 29, which is used to interface with other functional components (such as the virtual controller). The faceplates 26 are built for a class of devices and provide a user- friendly interface for the operator who is responsible for controlling the devices. For example, in Fig. 2, three variables A, B and C are depicted to have the values 0.05, 0.09 and 1, respectively. Ultimately, the faceplates run on the Operator Work Station (or a HMI station). They communicate with the virtual controller via the connectivity components (including OPC) for example to change an input value of a device. Thus, any Operator or HMI station can be used to configure the IEDs, which implies that the customer can take the same Operator or HMI station which he uses to run the plant for configuring the BED. This ameliorates the training for the commissioning engineers and operators and faceplates can be according to the industry standard or customer requirements for chemical industry, power plants, oil and gas etc. 4. Means for configuring the intelligent electronic devices by means of said faceplates using the virtual controller:

The logic that controls the values of the variables associated with a device, are specific to each class of devices. The virtual controller 30 is comprised of a connectivity server 31, a .1131 neutral interface 32 that has the device logic 33 in it.

With the device logic, we note that the inputs to the variables A, B associated with a device are obtained from the exported I/O values 44. The device logic is modeled here to produce the appropriate outputs C, for the device. Further, the virtual controller 30 has a connectivity client 34 that is used to interface with an external connectivity server 35 that talks to a device driver/communication layer 36. This is used to communicate with a multitude of field devices 37, 38, 39,40, and 41 that may be connected using different FIELDBUS protocols such as HART 37,38, PROFIBUS 39, 40 and FF 41, 42. The connectivity component allows configuring the devices transparently. Changing for example an input value using the faceplates, that communicate with the virtual controller via the connectivity components will cause that the 1131 engine calculates an output value C according to the simulated business logic 33 of the IED. This output value gets transferred to the IED if it is valid, or the virtual controller creates an alarm if the value is not valid. These alarms generated by the virtual controller are sent by the controller, via the connectivity component to the Operator Station or a HMI station where they get displayed in the alarm list.

In one embodiment of the invention, the connectivity components (both server and client) could belong to the OPC standard.

An integral functional component of the present invention is the virtual controller, shown in Fig. 3. In the present invention, the virtual controller 50 is a logical and functional abstraction and is comprised of: a. An IEC-61131 Interface 51 which is utilized to run the applications or the business logic 53 for the IEDs. b. A connectivity client 54 and a connectivity server 51 are used to interface with the devices and the operator stations that are a part of the system of the present invention. In one embodiment of this invention, the connectivity components could belong to the OPC standard.

Functionally, the virtual controller provides an environment wherein the IED can be simulated for proper offline configuration. The task of the virtual controller is in providing responsive error messages, which ameliorate the time to commission the device, since the configuration is much more accurate, as enabled by the virtual controller. In the case of the temperature sensors, measuring two different ranges of values as detailed above, the virtual controller of the present invention raises an alarm in lieu of an error message, which is communicated to the operator station via 29 by engaging the connectivity components. The virtual controller further accepts the namespace for the construction of faceplates 43, the I/O for the .1131 interface 44 and the namespace to communicate online with the IEDs 45 as inputs. If the configuration of the device has been done using correct values mat are within the operating parameters of the device, the values are finally written onto the device via 46 using the connectivity components.

Another advantage presented by the present invention is the incorporation of off-the shelf components (COTS) to reduce the system cost appreciably. The IEC-61131 Engineering station, the OPC server, the device drivers (in the communication layer) and the HMI station can all be pre-existing components and special components to serve the same function(s) need not be built for this system to work. Only a minor amount of development is required for producing the device typicals and macros and further the faceplates for the devices. The control and monitoring of devices can also be enabled with minor development to existing components. The components of the system requiring major development only once for the parser, and the OPC client. These modifications are encapsulated in various embodiments of the present invention.

Further, the present invention includes a method to enable standardized protocol independent configuration of Intelligent Electronic Devices, shown in Fig. 4, comprising the configuration 101 and runtime 102 steps of: a. Receiving input from device vendors providing device configuration details and the internal logic details of the device 104. b. Parsing the inputs received in order to build device-specific applications 105. c. Exporting the output of the parsed inputs to: i. The engineering workstation 106; ii. The CS 107; and in. The operator stations 108. d. Upon exporting to the engineering workstation 106, generating/developing a .1131 application 109. e. Upon exporting to the CS 107 generating a namespace 110 that is used to construct faceplates 111, which are downloaded 117. f. Upon developing a .1131 application 109, generating a binary 112 and generating a namespace 113, which is downloaded via a connectivity client 116 to an operator station 120, which opens the downloaded faceplate 117. g. The namespace generated 110 is further downloaded via a connectivity server

115, which connectivity server extends the namespace 119, to enable the read/write of I/O values in the namespace 121, which is used in device configuration 122. h. The binary generated 112 is downloaded to the virtual controller 114, which controller runs the .1131 application 118, which is also used to read/write I/O values in the name space 121, and to read/write the IED 123.

Claims

We Claim:

L A system for enabling standardized, protocol independent configuration tool for intelligent electronic devices having one or more intelligent electronic devices communicating via several standard FIELDBUS protocols (such as PROFIBUS, HART etc.) being controlled by one or more industrial controllers, programmed using the IEC standard, said controllers and devices in the system interacting with several other logical and functional entities including HMI stations (used to monitor the working of devices, enable the construction of faceplates to control devices etc.) and a virtual controller comprising: i. Means for taking input from device vendors providing device configuration details and the internal logic details of the device; ii. Means to construct applications using industrial standards in automation for Intelligent Electronic Devices; iii. Means to construct reusable faceplates to control Intelligent

Electronic Devices; and iv. Means for configuring the intelligent electronic devices by means of the virtual controller.

2. A system of claim 1 wherein the industrial standards in automation could be any of the IEC 61131, IEC 61499 or IEC 61580 standards.

3. A system of claim 1 wherein the means for accepting input from device vendors include accepting the files in a variety of formats including

EDDL, CFF and text files.

4. A system of claim 1 wherein the means to construct applications using the IEC-61131 standard for Intelligent Electronic Devices is resident on an engineering workstation, which is a distinct functional entity.

5. A system of claim 1 wherein the means to construct applications using the IEC-61131 standard for Intelligent Electronic Devices produces the business logic of the Intelligent Electronic Devices, as an end product.

6. A system of claim 1 wherein the means to construct applications using the IEC-61131 standard for Intelligent Electronic Devices produces the business logic of the Intelligent Electronic Devices, by utilizing Function Blocks to do so.

7. A system of claim 5 wherein the function blocks can be represented by a macro function block to simplify the view or/and to hide the internal logic.

8. A system of claim 6 wherein one or more macro function blocks exist, per

IED type.

9. A system of claim 1 wherein the means to construct applications using the IEC-61131 standard for Intelligent Electronic Devices accepts inputs from aparser, which processes the input received from the device vendors.

10. A system of claim 1 wherein the means to construct applications using the

IEC-61131 standard for Intelligent Electronic Devices is further comprised of: i. Means to export the name space used for online communication with the IEDs. ii. Means to export the name space used for faceplate construction. iii. Means to provide the values for Input/Output for the .1131 Engine

11. A system of claim 1 wherein the means to construct reusable faceplates to control Intelligent Electronic Devices resides on an Operator Workstation or a HMI station, which is a distinct functional entity.

12. A system of claim 10 wherein the faceplates are used to configure, control and monitor the devices through the virtual controller

13. A system of claim 11 wherein the connectivity components belong to the OPC standard.

14. A system of claim 1 wherein the means to construct reusable faceplates to control Intelligent Electronic Devices, resident on the Operator

Workstation or the HMI station is reused between different lifecycle stages of operation of the plant including offline and online configuration and during commissioning and runtime.

15. A system of claim 1 wherein the means for configuring the intelligent electronic devices by means of using the virtual controller engages in two- way communication, via a set of connectivity components, with both the

Operator Workstation that has the faceplates used to configure devices and the devices themselves.

16. A system of claim 1 wherein the means for configuring the intelligent electronic devices by means of using the virtual controller will record a change in the Input/Output values of the devices, when the values are changed by means of the faceplates corresponding to the device, said changes being computed according to the business logic of the device.

17. A system of claim 1 wherein the means for configuring the intelligent electronic devices by means of using the virtual controller will communicate a change in the Input/Output values of the devices, to the devices by means of connectivity components including device drivers, if the Input/Output values are deemed error-free.

18. A system of claim 1 wherein the means for configuring the intelligent electronic devices by means of using the virtual controller will raise an error message (including alarms and events) in case the change in the

Input/Output values of the devices is invalid.

19. An apparatus to enable configuration of devices also referred to the virtual controller comprised of: i. An IEC-61131 Interface, which is utilized to run the applications for the business logic for the IEDs;

Mr A connectivity client and a connectivity server are used to interface with the devices and the operator stations, that are a part of the system of the present invention; and

20. An apparatus of claim 19, which can accept as input: i. The exported name space used for online communication with the

IEDs; ii. The exported name space used for faceplate construction; and iii. The values for Input/Output for the .1131 Engine, from the Engineering Workstation.

21. An apparatus of claim 19, which can establish two-way communication via connectivity components with: i. An operator workstation wherein the faceplates for the devices are resident, to accept device configuration values from the operator workstation and to communicate device values to the operator workstation that enable display of the status of the devices, including alarms; and ii. A set of device drivers or a device communication layer, which talks to a multitude of field devices, to enable device configuration

22. An apparatus of claim 19, whose connectivity components can belong to the OPC standard.

23. An apparatus of claim 19 that can be used in different lifecycle stages of operation of the plant including configuration and runtime.

24. A method to enable standardized protocol independent configuration of Intelligent Electronic Devices comprising the configuration and runtime steps of: a. Receiving input from device vendors providing device configuration details and the internal logic details of the device. b. Parsing the inputs received in order to build device-specific applications. c. Exporting the output of the parsed inputs to: d. The engineering workstation; e. The CS; and f. The operator stations. g. Upon exporting to the engineering workstation, generating/developing a .1131 application. h. Upon exporting to the CS generating a namespace that is used to construct faceplates, which are downloaded. i. Upon developing a .1131 application, generating a binary and generating a namespace, which is downloaded via a connectivity client to an operator station, which opens the downloaded faceplate. j. The namespace generated is further downloaded via a connectivity server, which connectivity server extends the namespace, to enable the read/write of I/O values in the namespace, which is used in device configuration. k. The binary generated is downloaded to the virtual controller, which controller runs the .1131 application, which is also used to read/write VO values in the name space, and to read/write the IED.

25. A method of claim 24 wherein the step of parsing the inputs received yields the device specification in a format, for use in building the IEC applications for the IEDs.