| Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
|---|
| 700020000 | Plural controllers | 46 |
| 20080208368 | CONSTRUCTION OF AN INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEM USING MULTIPLE INSTANCES OF INDUSTRIAL CONTROL ENGINES - The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or method that facilitates optimizing a controller within an industrial automation environment. A controller can be associated with an industrial automation environment. Two or more controller engine instances can execute on the controller to enable dynamic control related to at least one of a device or a portion of a process within the industrial automation environment. | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080208369 | SERVICES ASSOCIATED WITH AN INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENT EMPLOYING CONTROLLER ENGINE INSTANCES - The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or method that facilitates providing a service to an industrial environment. A selection component can identify a portion of data hosted by a remote server. A build component can construct at least one of a portion of a customized application or a portion of a customized service based at least in part upon the portion of data, wherein at least one of the portion of customized application or the portion of customized service is utilized within the industrial environment. | 08-28-2008 |
| 20090271006 | Method for synchronizing two control devices, and redundantly designed automation system - A method for synchronizing a first control device and a second control device of a redundantly structured automation device that controls a technical process is provided. The first control device and the second control device are connected to each other. The first and second devices include functional components which implement the functions that control the technical process. The first control device performs the functions in the functional components for controlling the technical process in cycles, thus creating internal states of the functional components. During control of the technical process by the first control device, information about the internal states of the functional components is transferred, distributed over several cycles, to the second control device. The second control device assigns the transmitted information about the internal states to the functional components. In addition, a corresponding redundantly structured automation device is provided. | 10-29-2009 |
| 20100222896 | Method of Providing Data Access in an Industrial Automation System, Computer Program Product and Industrial Automation System - In an industrial automation system comprising a plurality of industrial control devices connected to an industrial communication network, control and/or supervision functions of the industrial automation system are provided by services implemented by computer-based objects in industrial control devices. A computer-based object is assigned a first qualifier enabling the computer-based object to be accessed and/or modified during configuration of the respective service and/or a second qualifier enabling the computer-based object to be accessed and/or modified during runtime of the respective service. Upon a request for access to a computer-based object by a service consumer, the service consumer's operational state is determined. Depending on a set first and/or second qualifier of a computer-based object and depending on a determined operational state of a service consumer, access to the computer-based object is granted to the service consumer. | 09-02-2010 |
| 20110054641 | CONTROLLING DEVICE, CONTROLLED DEVICE, CONTROLLING SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING CONTROLLING AUTHORITY - Systems and method for controlling a device are provided, including at least one controlling device and at least one controlled device. The controlling system includes a first controlling device which has controlling authority over the controlled device and a second controlling device which requests and receives the controlling authority over the controlled device from the first controlling device. Therefore, a controlling device may more easily and intuitively receive controlling authority from other devices. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20120179275 | Motion Control Systems - A system for allowing communication between a software application and at least one motion controller in a set of motion controllers comprising a set of selectable software modules, a software system, and a driver administrator. At least two selectable software modules expose a common software interface. The software application comprises at least one motion command associated with a primitive motion operation. The software system uses the driver administrator to select at least one selected software module and to load the selected software module. The software system commands at least one selected motion controller to perform the desired motion sequence using the plurality of motion commands of the software application and the common software interface. | 07-12-2012 |
| 20130035772 | GENERATOR REGULATING SYSTEM AND METHOD WITH DUAL CONTROLLERS - A regulating system can include a first controller configured to receive analog input and discrete input, a second controller communicatively coupled to the first controller, and configured to receive analog input and discrete input, a selector communicatively coupled to the first controller and second controller and configured to select either one of the first controller and the second controller as a master for the regulating system and state logic residing on each of the first controller and second controller to determine which of the first and second controller is the master. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20130073060 | POWER-CENTRIC SYSTEM MANAGEMENT - A plurality of controllers, each coupled to a plurality of outlets, compare values assigned to characteristic parameters or “process variables” against at least one control value on the process variable. The values for the process variables are derived from at least one signal provided to corresponding controllers. At least one of the outlets at each controller is configured to selectively provide an electrical voltage from an input voltage in accordance with the comparison of the process variable values and the control value. Remotely accessible controls may be stored at the controllers which may be retrieved through respective network interfaces at the controllers. A remote processor may use the retrieved controls to remotely specify, such as over a communication network, the control values. | 03-21-2013 |
| 20130123947 | GENERATION AND PUBLICATION OF SHARED TAGSETS - Systems and methods are provided to facilitate receipt of tag requests from one or more interfaces, based upon which a single tagset is compiled at a controller comprising all the requested tags for a given update rate, whereupon the single compiled tagset is subsequently forwarded to the one or more interfaces. A controller generates a superset of tags associated with an industrial process. Each interface can request a copy of the superset, from which the required tags are selected. The controller receives the requested tags from all of the interfaces and combines the requested tags into a single tagset, for a given update rate, comprising the various parameters associated with the tags. At the selected update rate, the tagset is forwarded to the interfaces. A masterset can be utilized to identify the sequence of tags in a tagset and check code can ensure continuity of the tags in the tagset. | 05-16-2013 |
| 20130123948 | CONTROL ENVIRONMENT CHANGE COMMUNICATION - An automation control system is provided that includes a first component that stores state information of an object of the automation control system. Additionally, the first component generates one or more delta scripts that describe one or more changes of the stored state information. Further, the first component transmits the one or more delta scripts to one or more other components of the control system and the one or more other components apply the one or more delta scripts to update state information stored on the one or more other components based upon the one or more changes. | 05-16-2013 |
| 20130211552 | METHOD FOR ELECTING AN ACTIVE MASTER DEVICE FROM TWO REDUNDANT MASTER DEVICES - The invention relates to a method for electing the item of active master equipment from two redundant primary and secondary master items of equipment ( | 08-15-2013 |
| 20130211553 | ADAPTIVE MULTI-LEVEL CONTROL FOR VARIABLE-HIERARCHY-STRUCTURE HIERARCHICAL SYSTEMS - A hierarchical multiple-level control system approach comprising subsystems, each with their own control system, that can operate in isolation but—when interconnected or networked with additional subsystems associated with other hierarchical levels, assume their respective role in a hierarchy. Applications of the implementation include, for example, hierarchical cooling and energy harvesting systems for data centers and other applications wherein various elements in the hierarchy can be introduced and/or removed in arbitrary order. Additional applications of the implementation include networked high-reliability control systems, robotics systems, networked sensor systems, adaptive communications networks, high-reliability communications networks, and command-and-control applications. Provisions are included in the hierarchical and/or subsystem control systems for model-based control, Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controllers, fractional order controllers, saturation compensators, hysteretic controllers, sliding mode controllers, and other approaches. The dynamics within various subsystems can comprise or be structured as linear systems, bilinear systems, nonlinear systems, hysteretic systems, time-delay systems, fractional order systems, etc. | 08-15-2013 |
| 20130297044 | METHOD FOR REDUNDANTLY CONTROLLING PROCESSES OF AN AUTOMATION SYSTEM - A method is provided for redundantly controlling process of an automation system having at least two controllers in which each controller consecutively carries out a plurality of task blocks, wherein output data which can be transmitted for carrying out the task blocks is stored in a plurality of work regions exceeding the number of task blocks by one. The work regions contain the respective output data for each of the task blocks. The one additional work region, which is the system work region, contains the output data. The method includes transferring the respective previously synchronized content from the system work region into the work region during the start of a task block in the redundant controllers, updating the content while task block is carried out and, if the updated content is identical, then returning the updated content to the system work region again before the next task block is started. | 11-07-2013 |
| 20130310954 | CONTROLLER AND PROGRAM - A specification of one of a plurality of controls is accepted, a specification of a plurality of items is accepted with respect to parameters, and among the plurality of controls, a plurality of controls to which parameter items are to be assigned are determined with reference to the control for which the specification is accepted. To each of the determined plurality of controls, one of the plurality of items for which the specification is accepted is assigned, and each of the plurality of controls is made to function as a control for operating the set value of the item assigned to this control. | 11-21-2013 |
| 20130325146 | System For The Central Control Of Devices Used During An Operation - The present invention relates to a system for the central control of devices used during an operation, including a first control unit for control of the devices. The system is characterized in that a second control unit is provided which is connected to the first control unit for exchange of information. The first control unit may be embodied as closed system for control of at least those devices which carry out safety-related functions (safety-related devices), and the second control unit may be embodied as open system for control of the remaining devices which carry out non safety-related functions (non safety-related devices). The invention further relates to a method for the central control of devices. | 12-05-2013 |
| 20140005803 | Automation System | 01-02-2014 |
| 20140100670 | METHOD AND A SYSTEM FOR ONLINE AND DYNAMIC DISTRIBUTION AND CONFIGURATION OF APPLICATIONS IN A DISTRIBUTED CONTROL SYSTEM - Exemplary embodiments are directed to a method and system of online and dynamic distribution and configuration of applications in a Distributed Control System (DCS) of a plant. One or more applications of at least one controller of the DCS is divided into a plurality of blocks. The application is changed by managing each of the blocks. The one or more blocks is dynamically distributed to at least one other controller of the DCS. The data distributed to the at least one other controller is synchronized between the other controllers. The application associated with the distributed data is managed based on an operation schedule of the DCS. | 04-10-2014 |
| 20140156030 | REMOTE CONTROLLER MANAGING DEVICE, CONTROL METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT - According to one embodiment, a remote controller managing device is configured to output an operation instruction signal for controlling a target control device in accordance with operation instructions from a plurality of remote controllers, respectively, for controlling the target control device. The remote controller managing device includes a conflict determining module and a controller. The conflict determining module is configured to determine whether the operation instructions of the remote controllers conflict with each other when the operation instructions are issued by the remote controllers. The controller is configured to control the target control device so as to correspond to one of the operation instructions of one of the remote controllers with a higher priority order based on predetermined priority orders when the conflict determining module determines that the operation instructions conflict with each other. | 06-05-2014 |
| 20140180440 | DEMAND RESPONSE SYSTEM, TERMINAL APPARATUS, SERVER, CONTROLLING METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM - A DR controller includes: an activation and verification unit which accepts a first identifier identifying a server and a second identifier identifying a contract unique to each user; a communication unit which transmits the second identifier to the server; a communication unit which receives a control schedule for an energy consumption device generated based on the contract by the server as a response to the transmitted second identifier; and an interface unit which controls the energy consumption device to reduce energy consumption by the energy consumption device based on the control schedule. The server includes: a communication unit which receives the second identifier from a terminal apparatus; a pairing management unit which generates a control schedule unique to each user, for the energy consumption device based on a contract identified by the second identifier; and a communication unit which transmits the generated control schedule to the terminal apparatus. | 06-26-2014 |
| 20140188253 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR REPROGRAMMING - The system for reprogramming a plurality of control units includes a first control unit and a second control unit connected by one CAN bus, and a diagnosing unit. The diagnosing unit includes a first controller configured to reprogram the first control unit and a second controller configured to reprogram the second control unit. The diagnosing unit is configured to perform bidirectional reprogramming for the first control unit and the second control unit while sharing information between the first controller and the second controller. | 07-03-2014 |
| 20140214180 | COOPERATIVE OPERATING DEVICE AND METHOD - A cooperative operating device includes primary controlling units that are provided for individual primary control systems, and calculate operating variables and outputting them to the actuators of the corresponding primary control systems, a selector that combines operating variables by performing a weighting calculation on the operating variables calculated by the primary controlling units, and an operating variable adjustment controlling unit that is provided to correspond to a single secondary control system for controlling an equilibrium point that is a desirable operating variable output with the primary control in a steady-state, inputs a specific operating variable setting value that indicates the equilibrium point, and inputs, as a controlled variable input, the operating variable after combination, outputted from the selector, to calculate an adjustment operating variable and output it to the actuator of the secondary control system. | 07-31-2014 |
| 20140277598 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRANSMITTING SIGNALING AND MEDIA FROM A HYBRID CONTACT CENTER OPERATIONS ENVIRONMENT - A system and method for providing contact center services in a hybrid operations environment including a first operations environment and a second operations environment. A controller in the first operations environment receives information on a call involving an end user device. A first media service is provided during a first portion of the call, and second media service is provided during a second portion of the call. The providing of the first media service includes transmitting by the controller a request for the first media service to a first media resource in the second operations environment. The first media resource transmits first media to the end user device in response. The providing of the second media service includes transmitting by the controller a request for the second media service to a second media resource in the first operations environment. The second media resource transmits second media to the end user device in response. | 09-18-2014 |
| 20140316539 | DRIVERS AND CONTROLLERS - Disclosed herein is a technique to transfer at least one unfinished operation from one controller to a second controller, if the first controller has ceased. | 10-23-2014 |
| 20140330398 | Production Process Monitoring System And Control Method Therefor - A production process monitoring system is used to monitor a set of production parameters in a production process of a plurality of production units that perform parallel production operation. The production units comprise at least one reference production unit and at least one distribution production unit. The reference production unit comprises a first sensor, a second sensor, and a reference control unit. The distribution production unit comprises a second sensor and a distribution controller. The first and second sensors of the reference production unit is configured to monitor a first and second parameters in the production parameters in the reference production unit and output a first and second signals corresponding to the first and second parameters. The second sensor of the distribution production unit is configured to monitor the second parameter in the distribution production unit and output a second parameter distribution signal corresponding to the second parameter. | 11-06-2014 |
| 20140371880 | METHODS FOR CHANGING AN AUTHORITY OF CONTROL FOR A CONTROLLER IN ENVIRONMENT HAVING MULTIPLE CONTROLLERS - Disclosed is a method for changing a role over control authorization performed in a communication apparatus. The method may comprise receiving, from a second controller, a role-request message requesting a role change of the second controller to a master controller; transmitting a role status request message for confirmation of the role change of the second controller to a first controller which is a previous master controller; and determining whether to accept the role change of the second controller according to a role status response message received from the first controller. Therefore, reliability may be guaranteed when a role of master controller is changed. | 12-18-2014 |
| 20140379100 | METHOD FOR REQUESTING CONTROL AND INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS FOR SAME - In an information processing apparatus, a selection unit selects one of a plurality of controller apparatuses to control a controlled apparatus, based on transmission rates of communication links between the controlled apparatus and the plurality of controller apparatuses. A requesting unit then requests the selected controller apparatus to control the controlled apparatus. | 12-25-2014 |
| 20150018980 | Method for the Fail-Safe Operation of a Process Control System with Redundant Control Devices - A process control system is provided which has at least one OPC client and one OPC server which communicate via a standardized OPC interface. Furthermore the process control system has at least two redundantly operated control devices which each communicate with the OPC server by means of a coupling device. Each control device is designed to provide process variables and status information. The status information contains the current role of the respective control device, wherein the current role is either that of a main control device or an auxiliary control device. The OPC server is designed to detect the main control device in response to the status information of at least one control device, to register a list of variables generated by the OPC client at the main control device and/or to transmit to the OPC client only the process variables which have been provided by the main control device. | 01-15-2015 |
| 20150025656 | SUPPORT DEVICE, RECORDING MEDIUM HAVING SUPPORT PROGRAM RECORDED THEREON, AND METHOD FOR GENERATING EXECUTABLE PROGRAM - Provided is a support device that supports easier data exchange between PLCs without relying on a type of a PLC of the other communication party. The support device includes: a first input unit for receiving information defining, on a data-by-data basis, variables for data handled by the first programmable logic controller; a second input unit for receiving a source program expressing processing executed on the first programmable logic controller using the defined variables; a third input unit for receiving information that identifies a type of a second programmable logic controller in association with a first variable; and a generation unit that generates the executable program using the information defining the variables and the source program. The generation unit adapts a data structure of first data secured in the memory in correspondence with the first variable in accordance with the type of the second programmable logic controller. | 01-22-2015 |
| 20150066161 | Controller for actuating a micromechanical actuator, actuating system for actuating a micromechanical actuator, micro-mirror system and method for actuating a micromechanical actuator - A controller for a micromechanical actuator, and corresponding actuating system, micro-mirror system and method, including a first input for a reference signal, a second input for a measuring signal denoting a recorded response to a control signal, a first controller element to filter/attenuate predefined frequency modes and/or predefined frequency components in the received reference signal and to output a filtered/attenuated reference signal, a second controller element to modify the received measuring signal to minimize the quality of the first/further modes by processing the received measuring signal and to output a modified measuring signal, a third controller element to minimize deviation between the filtered/attenuated reference and received measuring signals and to output a minimized reference signal, a fourth controller element to rotate the phase of the difference between the minimized reference and modified measuring signals for at least one predefined frequency and to transmit the modified reference as the control signal. | 03-05-2015 |
| 20150088276 | DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING A WORKING MACHINE - A device for controlling a working machine has at least two control levers which are each operatively connected to at least one control device via an actuation unit. The actuation unit comprises a switching device with which the assignment between control levers and control devices is interchangeable. The switching device comprises at least four levers, of which every two levers are assigned to a control lever. Each of the four levers has a stop point for an actuation element. Each actuation element engages on the stop point with the respective assigned lever via couplings that can be detached without tools. | 03-26-2015 |
| 20150142138 | PHYSICAL PRESENCE VERIFICATION BY AN INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEM CONTROLLER - Physical presence verification by an industrial control system controller is described herein. One industrial control system controller includes a mechanism configured to verify that a user of the industrial control system controller is physically present at a location of the controller, a memory, and a processor configured to execute executable instructions stored in the memory to permit the user to perform industrial control operations using the controller only if the user is physically present at the location of the controller. | 05-21-2015 |
| 20150323910 | REDUNDANT PROCESS CONTROLLERS FOR SEGREGATED SUPERVISORY AND INDUSTRIAL CONTROL NETWORKS - A system includes redundant first process controllers configured to communicate over redundant supervisory networks in an industrial process control and automation system. Each first process controller is configured to operate in primary or secondary mode. The system also includes redundant second process controllers configured to communicate over redundant industrial control networks in the industrial process control and automation system. Each second process controller is configured to operate in primary or secondary mode. The system further includes a private network configured to communicatively couple the first and second process controllers. Each controller could be associated with at least three Media Access Control (MAC) addresses. | 11-12-2015 |
| 20150355610 | MODULARIZED SELF-ADDRESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD - A method performed by a control unit in an array of multiple self-addressable control units arranged in at least two dimensions involves obtaining information to be used to determine a self-address, determining a self-address value based upon the information, storing the determined self-address value, based upon the self-address value, specifying first data to be provided to a next self-addressable control unit in a first group of self-addressable control units for a first dimension of the array, providing the first data to the next self-addressable control unit in the first group, based upon the self-address value, specifying second data to be provided to a different self-addressable control unit in a second group of self-addressable control units for a second dimension of the array different from the first dimension of the array, and providing the second data to the different self-addressable control unit in the second group. | 12-10-2015 |
| 20150355614 | CONTROL SYSTEM AND RECEPTION DEVICE - A control system includes: a first transmitter; a second transmitter; and a reception device. The first transmitter includes a transmission unit configured to transmit radio waves to the reception device, the second transmitter includes a transmission unit configured to transmit radio waves to the reception device; and the reception device includes: a reception unit configured to receive radio waves transmitted from the first transmitter and the second transmitter; an identification unit configured to identify whether a transmission source of the radio waves is the first transmitter or is the second transmitter based on the radio waves received by the reception unit; a measurement unit configured to measure the distance between the device and the transmission source of the radio waves identified by the identification unit; and a control unit configured to perform a first control that sets a limitation on the device or a second control that does not set a limitation on the device based on the distance, measured by the measurement unit, between the device and the transmission source of the radio waves. | 12-10-2015 |
| 20150378335 | CONTROL DEVICE DESIGN METHOD AND CONTROL DEVICE - The present invention relates to a control device design method for a control device that determines a manipulation amount of a control object having a dead time by feedback control so as to bring a control amount of the control object closer to a target value. The method according to the present invention includes a step of designing a feedback loop that computes a correction amount for the manipulation amount using a plurality of controllers including a prediction model of the control object, a step of deriving the same number of delay elements as the plurality of controllers from a dead time element of the prediction model, and a step of allocating the plurality of controllers associated with the delay elements to a plurality of arithmetic units so that the computation of the feedback loop is performed by parallel computation by the plurality of arithmetic units that operate in parallel. | 12-31-2015 |
| 20160011576 | DATA PROCESSING DEVICE | 01-14-2016 |
| 20160018802 | Measuring device and a measuring method for the synchronisation of measurement procedures - A measuring device contains a measuring unit, a control unit and a communications unit. In this context, the measuring unit is embodied to be controlled by means of the communications unit and the control unit by control computers in order to execute measurement procedures. The measuring unit and/or the control unit accordingly have at their disposal at least one unit of a resource which can be used only by one measurement procedure at a time. The control unit is further embodied, after a reservation of the at least one unit of the resource by a control computer, to use the reserved unit of the resource only for measurement procedures triggered by the reserving control computer. | 01-21-2016 |
| 20160062350 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ON-PROCESS MIGRATION OF INDUSTRIAL CONTROL AND AUTOMATION SYSTEM ACROSS DISPARATE NETWORK TYPES - An apparatus includes a first network controller configured to communicate over a higher-level industrial process control network, a second network controller configured to communicate over a first lower-level industrial process control network, and a third network controller configured to communicate over a second lower-level industrial process control network. The first network controller is configured to provide first data messages from the higher-level control network to the second and third network controllers for transmission over the lower-level control networks. The second and third network controllers are configured to provide second data messages from the lower-level control networks to the first network controller for transmission over the higher-level control network. Each of the second and third network controllers is configured to provide third data messages from one of the lower-level control networks to another of the second and third network controllers for transmission over another of the lower-level control networks. | 03-03-2016 |
| 20160091880 | Control Device and Control Method - A control device includes a primary control unit which computes a manipulated variable and outputs it to an actuator of the primary control system; a secondary control unit which takes as input an equilibrium point setpoint representing an equilibrium point which is the desired manipulated variable output in steady state of primary control, takes the manipulated variable of the primary control system as process variable input, computes an adjusted manipulated variable, and outputs it to an actuator of the secondary control system; and an equilibrium point setpoint determination functional unit which detects a state in which the setpoint of the primary control system is maintained at the same value for a pre-specified period of time or longer as a steady state, computes an equilibrium point, and sets this equilibrium point setpoint in the secondary control unit. | 03-31-2016 |
| 20160098037 | DATA PIPELINE FOR PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEM ANAYTICS - A data pipeline is used as a fundamental processing element for implementing techniques that automatically or autonomously perform signal processing-based learning in a process plant or monitoring system. Each data pipeline includes a set of communicatively interconnected data processing blocks that perform processing on one or more sources of data in a predetermined order to, for example, clean the data, filter the data, select data for further processing, perform supervised or unsupervised learning on the data, etc. The individual processing blocks or modules within a data pipeline may be stored and executed at different devices in a plant network to perform distributed data processing. Moreover, each data pipeline can be integrated into one or more higher level analytic modules that perform higher level analytics, such as quality prediction, fault detection, etc. on the processed data. The use of data pipelines within a plant network enables data collected within a plant control or monitoring system to be processed automatically and used in various higher level analytic modules within the plant during ongoing operation of the plant. | 04-07-2016 |
| 20160103431 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR POINT BY POINT HOT CUTOVER OF CONTROLLERS AND IOS - A method includes translating at least one control strategy associated with a first controller into an equivalent translated control strategy compatible with a second controller, where the first and second controllers represent controllers in an industrial process control and automation system. The method also includes selecting one or more spare locations on the second controller to configure one or more corresponding points. The method further includes loading the at least one translated control strategy into a control environment associated with the second controller. In addition, the method includes moving a slot configuration of each of the one or more points from the first controller to the second controller. | 04-14-2016 |
| 20160103435 | Control System for Process Equipment with Prioritized Instructions - Disclosed is a system for controlling process equipment. In particular, the disclosure relates to system for prioritizing instructions to process equipment over a common serial or parallel port. By way of the system, process equipment to be monitored and controlled by one or more remote users. The prioritized instructions can relate to, for example, data logging and control functions. The system also employs a web client that permits the requesting user to monitor the process equipment via a web browser. | 04-14-2016 |
| 20160109862 | MULTIPLEX CONTROL DEVICE - In one embodiment, a multiplex control device includes three or more control modules to execute same operations for same input signals, and a majority decision module to output an output signal that matches majority of output signals outputted by the control modules. Each control module includes an input module to convert an input signal into an input value, a first determination module to obtain input values from input modules of respective control modules to determine whether majority of input values among the obtained input values match, an operation executing module to execute an operation using the matched input value to generate an output value, a second determination module to obtain output values from operation executing modules of respective control modules to determine whether majority of output values among the obtained output values match, and an output module to convert the matched output value to generate an output signal. | 04-21-2016 |
| 20160147206 | PROCESS PLANT NETWORK WITH SECURED EXTERNAL ACCESS - A process control system having an external data server that provides process control data to external networks via one or more firewalls implements a cost-effective security mechanism that reduces or eliminates the ability of the external data server to be compromised by viruses or other security attacks. The security mechanism includes a DMZ gateway disposed outside of the process control network that connects to an external data server located within the process control network. A configuration engine is located within the process control network and configures the external data server to publish one or more preset or pre-established data views to the DMZ gateway, which then receives the data/events/alarms as defined by the data views from the control system automatically, without performing read and write requests to the external data server. The DMZ gateway then republishes the data within the data views on an external network to make the process control data within the published data views available to one or more client applications connected to the external network. Because this security mechanism does not support client read, write, or configuration access to the external data server within the control system, this security mechanism limits the opportunity of viruses to use the structure in the DMZ gateway device to access the process control network. | 05-26-2016 |
| 20160161931 | FUNCTION CONTROL DEVICE, APPARATUS INCLUDING SAME, AND COMMUNICATION ESTABLISHING METHOD - An apparatus includes a function control device to provide a specific function to the apparatus, a network control device to control communication between the apparatus and other apparatus via a network, and a main control device to control operation of the apparatus. The network control device operates while communication with the function control device is being cut off when the function control device is not supplied with power, The function control device includes a user circuit to detect restarting of a power supply to the function control device, and establish communication with the network control device in response to detection of restarting of the power supply to the function control device. The main control device controls communication between the apparatus and the other apparatus, through communication established between the main control device and the function control device and communication established between the function control device and the network control device. | 06-09-2016 |
| 20160195863 | CONTROL DEVICE, STORAGE DEVICE, AND CONTROL METHOD | 07-07-2016 |
