Extensible manufacturing/process control information portal server

Abstract

A manufacturing / process control system information access provider architecture is disclosed. Manufacturing / process control system data provider flexibility is achieved through a user-configurable manufacturing / process control information portal server that comprises multiple selectable data provides (sources) and / or data types that a particular data provider accommodates. A user configures the portal server to deliver manufacturing / process control information associated with a controlled process environment, such as a food processing plant floor or an oil refinery reactor, to the user via a browser client over the Internet or a corporate intranet. Furthermore, an extensible architecture is provided that enables adding new components to the portal server. Such extensions include new data sources and new data types / handlers. The new architecture enables a user to select particular ones of the available data handlers and then their associated data sources thereby facilitating customizing the configuration of the portal server to the particular needs / interests of the user.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims priority of Formey et al. U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60 / 232,733, filed on Sep. 15, 2000, entitled “Extensible Manufacturing Portal Server,” the contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety including the contents and teachings of any references contained therein.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention generally relates to the field of computerized manufacturing / process control networks. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems for providing access by supervisory level applications and users to manufacturing / process control information. The present invention concerns the provision of such information from multiple, potentially differing sources having differing data types. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Significant advances in industrial process control technology have vastly improved all aspects of factory and plant operation. Befor...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0014] The present invention offers a flexible manufacturing / process control information provider architecture. This flexibility is achieved through a user-configurable manufacturing / process control information portal server that comprises multiple selectable data types (handlers) and data sources that a particular selected data handler accommodates. A user configures the portal server to deliver manufacturing / process control information associated with a controlled process environment such as a food processing plant floor or an oil refinery reactor to the user via a browser client over the Internet or a corporate intranet.

[0015] Furthermore, an extensible architecture is provided that enables adding new components to the portal server. Such extensions include new data sources, new data types, and new generic data handlers. The new architecture enables a user to select particular ones of the available data handlers and then their associated data sources thereby facilitating customizing the configuration of the portal server to the particular needs of the user.

Problems solved by technology

As a consequence, the complexity and degree of control over a process was limited by the speed with which one or more people could ascertain a present status of various process state variables, compare the current status to a desired operating level, calculate a corrective action (if needed), and implement a change to a control point to affect a change to a state variable.

Such accessibility can save an enterprise considerable time and costs and avoid travel delays.

Notwithstanding the significant benefits of providing Web access to a process control network, significant challenges are faced with regard to connecting such systems to the manufacturing / process control systems with which they communicate, and there is a substantial cost in time and effort to link the various resources to manufacturing / process control information portal servers.

Yet another obstacle in the deployment and maintenance of manufacturing / process control information portal servers is the presence of a wide variety of information types.

Installing a new portal server when a new data transmission protocol or format is needed can greatly disrupt operation of the manufacturing / process control system for which it provides its services.

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