Graphical display method and device for configuration data signal flow of multiple industrial control systems

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method and device for graphically displaying the signal flow of configuration data of multiple industrial control systems. Specifically, the method for graphical display includes: obtaining the device configuration data signal flow data as input data; reducing various input data into a unified data structure and storing it; and drawing a signal flow graph based on the stored data structure. It displays the complete signal flow from instrument data, to hardware channels, to control logic, and then to the monitoring view display from the perspective of the device. Displaying the cross-system signal flow graph between multiple systems inside the device can help engineers understand the current signal flow status of the device and provide a basis for fault location and troubleshooting. It realizes the display of configuration data common to multiple industries, and has a wide range of application industries and scenarios.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of industrial control systems, and particularly to a method and device for graphically displaying the signal flow of configuration data of multiple industrial control systems. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous increase in the scale of factories and the complexity of processes, the control of large-scale factory areas requires process management based on multiple control systems. For example, the safety instrument system (SIS) is responsible for the alarm and interlock parts in the engineering control system, and implements alarm actions, regulation, or active shutdown control on the detection results in the control system. It is an important part of the automatic control of engineering enterprises; the distributed control system (DCS) adopts the design principle of decentralized control functions, centralized display and operation, and combines the principles of divide and conquer and comprehensive coordination to implement a multi-level and cooperative autonomous control system to realize the operator's monitoring and control of the process system.

[0003] Generally, a set of devices will include a set of safety instrument systems, a set of distributed control systems, and other auxiliary control systems. There are data nodes through which signal flow nodes such as instruments, channels, control logics, and upper computer monitoring screen displays pass within each system. At the same time, there will also be intersections of signal data between systems. Currently, there is no method to view such a complete signal flow. Engineers need to view instrument data, hardware configuration data, control logic data, and upper computer monitoring screen configuration data in each system and organize such a complete signal flow in their imagination space by themselves, which brings great obstacles to the fault location and troubleshooting of engineers. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In order to overcome the above deficiencies in technology, the present invention provides a method and device for graphically displaying the signal flow of configuration data of multiple industrial control systems, which display a complete signal flow from instrument data to hardware channels, to control logic, and then to monitoring view displays from the perspective of the device. Displaying the cross-system signal flow graph between multiple systems inside the device can help engineers understand the signal flow status of the current device and provide a basis for fault location and troubleshooting.

[0005] To achieve the above invention purposes, the present invention provides the following technical solutions.

[0006] The first aspect of the present invention provides a method for graphically displaying the signal flow of configuration data of multiple industrial control systems, which specifically includes: obtaining device configuration data signal flow data as input data; reducing various input data into a unified data structure and storing it; and drawing a signal flow graph based on the stored data structure.

[0007] Organize the data inside each control system of the device, support the display of signal flow in a general form, convert the configuration data into a signal flow diagram, and have a wider range of applications in industries and scenarios.

[0008] Furthermore, the signal flow data of the device configuration data at least includes: the communication mapping relationship between industrial control systems, the mapping relationship between field instruments and the tag numbers of input / output channels inside the control system, the operation logic program after the input tag number enters the control logic program and the relationship with the output tag number and logic tag number, and the inclusion relationship between the monitoring screen and the tag number.

[0009] Furthermore, obtain the signal flow data of the device configuration data as input data, specifically including: based on the communication mapping relationship between industrial control systems, obtain the data of the communication tag number mapping relationship between control systems; based on the mapping relationship between field instruments and the tag numbers of input / output channels inside the control system, obtain the data of the mapping relationship between field instrument tag numbers and control system input / output tag numbers; based on the operation logic program after the input tag number enters the control logic program and the relationship with the output tag number and logic tag number, obtain the data between the function block and the control system tag number; based on the inclusion relationship between the monitoring screen and the tag number, obtain the data between the monitoring screen and the tag number.

[0010] Obtain the data related to the relationship and tag number, which serves as the basis for subsequent drawing of the signal flow diagram.

[0011] Furthermore, reduce multiple input data into a unified data structure and store it, specifically including: convert the input data into a data structure related to the tag number based on the uniqueness of the tag number; store the data structure in the storage mode of a database or a file.

[0012] Furthermore, draw the signal flow diagram based on the stored data structure, specifically including: based on the stored data structure, and based on the data block mapping relationship between control systems, the relationship between the control system and the tag number, the relationship between the function block and the tag number, and the relationship between the monitoring screen and the tag number, connect them in series according to the data flow direction to obtain the signal flow diagram of multiple systems.

[0013] Furthermore, the graphic block types of the signal flow diagram are at least divided into field instruments, control system tag numbers, function block tag numbers, and monitoring screens.

[0014] Furthermore, any graphic block in the signal flow diagram at least includes a head part, a middle part, and a foot display area. Among them, the head of the graphic block at least includes the name, type, type name, and attribution of the corresponding data block, the middle part at least includes the inflow / outflow or tag number of the data block, and the foot at least includes the data block type and additional information.

[0015] The display of graphic blocks adopts a general data block form, which clarifies the specific meanings of the various parts of the data block and is more reasonable in the graphic display mode.

[0016] Furthermore, the input and output signal flows of the signal flow diagram adopt a loop line to represent the loop circuit.

[0017] For the signal loop circuit, it is displayed in the form of a loop line, which is more intuitive.

[0018] Furthermore, based on the current graphic block, the signal flow diagrams of the upper and lower graphic blocks are respectively expanded until they are respectively expanded to the endpoints of the upper and lower signals.

[0019] The second aspect of the present invention provides a device for displaying the signal flow diagram of the configuration data of a multi-industrial control system, which is used to run the method for displaying the signal flow diagram of the configuration data of the multi-industrial control system described above.

[0020] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:

[0021] 1. The input data does not need to be in a fixed PDF or CAD format, and the required configuration data is directly obtained from inside the control system;

[0022] 2. The data inside each control system of the device is organized together, supporting the display of signal flows in a general form. The configuration data of control systems such as the safety instrument system (SIS) and distributed control system (DCS) in the general industry can be converted into signal flow diagrams, and the application industries and scenarios are more extensive;

[0023] 3. It is helpful for engineers to analyze the process and the data of signal flow transfer;

[0024] 4. There is no need to convert the data inside the device, and the required configuration data is directly obtained from inside the control system;

[0025] 5. For the signal loop circuit, it is displayed in the form of a loop line, which is more intuitive;

[0026] 6. A general data block form is defined, which clarifies the specific meanings of the various parts of the data block and is more reasonable in the graphic display mode;

[0027] 7. In addition to introducing hardware such as field instrument devices and control system input / output tag numbers, logical data blocks such as function block control logic and monitoring views are also introduced, making the definition of data types richer. Description of the Drawings

[0028] Figure 1 It is a flowchart of the method for displaying the diagram of the present invention's embodiment;

[0029] Figure 2For the communication mapping relationship between multiple industrial control systems in the embodiments of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 3 For the data between the field instrument and the control system in the embodiments of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 4 For the graphical relationship between the function block and the tag number in the embodiments of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 5 For the data between the function block and the control system tag number in the embodiments of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 6 For the graphical relationship between the monitoring screen and the tag number in the embodiments of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 7 For the data between the monitoring screen and the tag number in the embodiments of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 8 For the data block structure after data reduction in the embodiments of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 9 For the schematic diagram of the signal flow spectrum in the embodiments of the present invention. Detailed implementation manners

[0037] To facilitate better understanding of the present invention by those skilled in the art, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. The following is only exemplary and does not limit the protection scope of the present invention.

[0038] Before describing a method and device for displaying a spectrum of configuration data signal flow of a multi-industrial control system of the present invention, some proper nouns are first explained:

[0039] Production equipment: A complete set of equipment that can complete a specified production process (such as refining, chemical engineering, etc.).

[0040] Industrial control system: A set of control systems based on computer technology, communication technology, and control technology, which can realize the functions of collecting signal data of production equipment, performing operation of control logic, and then controlling the production equipment through signals.

[0041] Device: A complete set of production equipment that can complete a specified production process (such as refining, chemical engineering, etc.) and the supporting industrial control system are collectively referred to as a set of devices.

[0042] Configuration data: In order for the control system to realize data collection and control of production equipment, it is necessary to preset analog data of production equipment, write control logic programs, etc. The pre-set data is called configuration data.

[0043] Signal flow: The configuration data describes the control logic within the control system, as well as the complete data flow and calculation logic of how data travels from the sensors of production equipment to the control system logic and then to the control system data display.

[0044] Field instrument: An instrument installed at the production site for measuring various process parameters, executing various control instructions, or converting signals and enabling communication.

[0045] Tag number: A definition within the control system used to refer to a piece of data. For example, process parameters such as the flow rate of liquid nitrogen product, the speed of the high-pressure oxygen pump numbered XXXX, etc. Within the control system, it can usually be divided into types such as input tag numbers, output tag numbers, communication tag numbers, and logic tag numbers. Among them, the input tag number refers to the data signal accessed from the field instrument, the output tag number refers to the data signal written back by the control system to the field instrument, the communication tag number refers to the access tag number point after the communication interaction between this control system and other external control systems or software, and the logic tag number refers to the tag number within the control system used for functions such as control logic operations and monitoring screen display.

[0046] Function block: Also known as Function Block, it is a way to define control logic within the control system. The control logic can be defined graphically, and the control system can perform operations on these corresponding logics and further process them.

[0047] Monitoring screen: A screen within the control system used to display process or other information. For example, a flow chart is used to display the simulation of on-site process equipment and the corresponding tag numbers and signal data, and a trend chart is used to display the historical change trend curve of a tag number over a certain period of time.

[0048] Based on the above explanations, the technical solution of the present invention will be described in detail below.

[0049] As Figure 1 shown, the flowchart of a method for graphically displaying the configuration data signal flow of a multi-industrial control system described in this embodiment includes the following steps:

[0050] Step S1, obtain the device configuration data signal flow data as input data.

[0051] The data obtained is mainly related to the configuration data signal flow of the device. Based on the communication mapping relationship between industrial control systems, the data of the communication signal mapping relationship between control systems is obtained; based on the mapping relationship between field instruments and the input / output channel signal names inside the control system, the data of the mapping relationship between the field instrument signal names and the control system input / output signal names is obtained. Based on the operation logic program of the input signal entering the control logic program and the relationship between the output signal and the logic signal, the data between the function block and the control system signal is obtained. Based on the inclusion relationship between the monitoring screen and the signal, the data between the monitoring screen and the signal is obtained.

[0052] In an embodiment of the present invention, when the obtained data is the communication mapping relationship of the industrial control system, specifically, it refers to the communication signal hardware configuration data between two control systems and the mapping relationship between the systems. Taking Figure 2 as an example, the two control systems are the SIS system and the DCS system respectively.

[0053] The two control systems use MODBUS communication. Therefore, it is necessary to give the corresponding relationship between the MODBUS data offset inside the control system and the communication signal, and then identify the communication signal mapping relationship between the control systems according to the corresponding relationship.

[0054] If the SIS system and the DCS system communicate through the serial communication hardware card, the data of the communication card includes: controller address, communication module address, rack address, communication device address, data block length and other information, which is used to identify the communication data blocks of both sides. At the same time, from each address information such as the controller address, communication module address, rack address, and communication device address, a unique device identifier within the system can be generated, such as

[001]

[002]

[003]

[004] generated as shown in the figure. Then, the data information offset information inside the data block is required to identify each logical data, and finally, the data association between the two systems can be determined through a group of device identifier mappings between the SIS system and the DCS system.

[0055] In an embodiment of the present invention, when the obtained data is the mapping relationship between field instruments and the input / output channel signal names inside the control system (DCS or SIS), a field instrument generally has an instrument signal name, and at the same time, the input / output channel signal name also has a signal name. The signal name is usually defined by a group of common symbols such as English letters, numbers, underscores, etc., and has a special meaning related to the process. This group of relationships defines the simple mapping relationship between the field instrument signal name and the control system input / output signal name. Taking Figure 3The data structure shown as an example includes the ID of the instrument device, the tag number of the field instrument device, the tag number of the control system, the online time, the device identification code, the instrument manufacturer, the device type, the protocol name, the protocol version, the control station address, the IO card address, the channel address, the node address, the rack address, the domain address, the system type, and the system project name. Such a data structure defines a one-to-one mapping relationship between the tag number of a field instrument device and the tag number of the control system. Multiple such data structures can define the mapping relationships between multiple tag numbers of field instrument devices and the IO tag numbers of the control system.

[0056] In an embodiment of the present invention, when the acquired data is the operation logic program after the input tag number enters the control logic program, and the relationship between the output tag number and the logic tag number, usually after a function block is instantiated, a tag number can be associated with its input pin and output pin respectively, or the pins can be left vacant. Such a relationship can be graphically represented as follows Figure 4 The structure shown. Then the corresponding data structure is defined as Figure 5 shown. It includes a name, an input pin, and an output pin. The input pin includes the pin name, the name of the referenced block, and the name of the referenced block pin. The output pin includes the pin name, the name of the referenced block, and the name of the referenced block pin.

[0057] In an embodiment of the present invention, when the acquired data is the inclusion relationship between the monitoring screen and the tag number, taking the relationship between the monitoring screen and the tag number shown as Figure 6 an example. The corresponding data structure is defined as shown in 7, including the monitoring name and the tag number name that references the tag number.

[0058] Step S2: Reduce various input data into a unified data structure and store it.

[0059] The communication mapping relationship between industrial control systems, the mapping relationship between field instruments and the input / output channel tag numbers inside the control system, the operation logic program when the input tag number enters the control logic program and the relationship with the output tag number and the logic tag number, and the inclusion relationship between the monitoring screen and the tag number are all related to the tag number;

[0060] The tag number name can be uniquely identified by "[system][area][hardware address or logical address]". The above relationships are all related to the tag number name. Therefore, through the unique identification of the tag number name, the above various relationships can be connected in series, so that a signal flow map of multiple systems can be formed, and the graphic block names within the signal flow map can be obtained.

[0061] Therefore, the field instrument device data, tag number data, function block data, and monitoring screen data are uniformly converted into data related to the tag number, such as Figure 8The unified reduced data block structure described above and stored in a storage device can be in the form of a database or a file system.

[0062] Among them, the types of data blocks can be divided into: field instruments, tag numbers, function blocks, and monitoring screens; the format of the data block attribution information is: [system][area][hardware address or logical address]; the classification of additional information of the bottom type is as follows: the field instrument type is displayed as "instrument manufacturer + communication protocol"; the tag number is displayed as the tag number type, such as "analog input", "analog output", "digital input", "digital output"; the function block type is displayed as the name of the function block, such as "PID", etc., and the monitoring screen is displayed as "flow chart" or "trend chart" according to the type.

[0063] Step S3, draw a signal flow diagram based on the stored data structure.

[0064] Read out all the reduced data in sequence and display it in a fixed display form in the form of a signal flow diagram. The display effect of the signal flow diagram is as Figure 9 shown. Each graphic block is divided into three display areas: the head, the middle part, and the foot. The content of the head is displayed in two lines. The first line is the name of the graphic block, and the second line is the attribution of the graphic block and the type of the block; the middle part is displayed in two parts, the left side is the input pin of the signal flow, and the right side is the output pin of the signal flow. If there is no input or output pin, it is displayed as a complete tag number or other name content; the foot is displayed in two lines. The first line is the additional information of the graphic block type, and the second line is the description information of the graphic block.

[0065] Among them, the types of graphic blocks can be divided into: field instruments, tag numbers, function blocks, and monitoring screens; the format of the data block attribution information is: [system][area][hardware address or logical address]; the classification of additional information of the bottom type is as follows: the field instrument type is displayed as "instrument manufacturer + communication protocol"; the tag number is displayed as the tag number type, such as "analog input", "analog output", "digital input", "digital output"; the function block type is displayed as the name of the function block, such as "PID", etc., and the monitoring screen is displayed as "flow chart" or "trend chart" according to the type.

[0066] For example Figure 9The graphic block in the middle part of the shown signal flow diagram. In the first row shown at the head, the name of the block is 0202FIC1101B, the attribution of the block is the control domain of the second operation section of ECS-700, and the type of the block is Function Block. In the left column of the middle area, the incoming pins of the signal flow are shown, which are BKIN, BKIINERR, PV, and PVERR respectively. In the right column, the outgoing pins of the signal flow are shown, which are MV, BKOUT, and BKOUTERR respectively. The first row shown in the footer is the additional information PID, and the second row is the description information of the block, which is the flow rate of the steam B for defoaming at the top of the riser reactor.

[0067] The data blocks are connected by arrows according to the signal flow direction in the middle part. The leftmost is the start of the data flow direction, and the rightmost is the end of the data flow direction. Clicking the + signs in the upper left corner and upper right corner of the data block respectively supports expanding the incoming and outgoing of the current data block until it is expanded to the start and end of the signal flow.

[0068] In addition, for the signal flow related to the loop circuit, it is drawn in the form of a loop line without repeating the drawing of the graphic block. It not only realizes the field instrument devices, input and output tag numbers of the control system, etc. in terms of hardware, but also introduces logical data blocks such as function block control logic and monitoring views, making the data type definition more abundant. <*

[0069] Through the fully expanded data signal flow, the complete configuration data signal flow across systems can be viewed, and the signal flow diagram of the complete device can be viewed in one screen. This avoids the steps of viewing in the configuration software of each control system. Usually, the control systems in the factory area are not in the same physical location and may be distributed in different main control rooms. In addition, the configuration data signal flow within the control system may also be distributed on different software viewing interfaces. By organizing the data together in this way and displaying the signal flow in a general form, it can effectively help engineers with process analysis and the analysis of signal flow transfer data.

[0070] Only the basic principles and preferred embodiments of the present invention are described above. Those skilled in the art can make many changes and improvements based on the above description, and these changes and improvements should fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for graphically displaying the configuration data signal flow of a multi-industrial control system, characterized in that Including: Obtaining data signals of multiple control system configuration data streams of a device as input data, including: Based on the communication mapping relationship between multiple industrial control systems, obtaining data on the communication tag mapping relationship between control systems; Based on the mapping relationship between field instruments and the tag numbers of the input / output channels inside the control system, obtaining data on the mapping relationship between the tag numbers of field instrument devices and the input / output tag numbers of the control system; Among them, the data on the mapping relationship between the tag numbers of the field instrument devices and the control system tag numbers includes the ID of the instrument device, the tag number of the field instrument device, the control system tag number, the online time, the device identity code, the instrument manufacturer, the device type, the protocol name, the protocol version, the control station address, the IO card address, the channel address, the node address, the rack address, the domain address, the system type, and the system project name; Based on the arithmetic logic program for the input tag number to enter the control logic program and the relationship between the output tag number and the logic tag number, obtaining data between the function block and the control system tag number; Based on the inclusion relationship between the monitoring screen and the tag number, obtaining data between the monitoring screen and the tag number; Reducing various input data into a unified data structure and storing it, including: converting the input data into a data structure related to the tag number based on the uniqueness of the tag number, and storing the data structure in the storage mode of a database or a file; Drawing a signal flow diagram based on the stored data structure, including: based on the stored data structure, and based on the data block mapping relationship between control systems, between the control system and the tag number, between the function block and the tag number, and between the monitoring screen and the tag number, connecting in series according to the data flow direction to obtain the signal flow diagram of multiple systems, and the input and output signal flows of the signal flow diagram are represented by a loop line to indicate the loop circuit; The graphic block types in the signal flow diagram are at least divided into field instruments, control system tag numbers, function block tag numbers, and monitoring screens, and any graphic block in the signal flow diagram at least includes a head, a middle part, and a foot display area. Among them, the head of the graphic block at least includes the name, type, type name, and attribution of the corresponding data block, the middle part at least includes the inflow and outflow or tag number of the data block, and the foot at least includes the data block type and additional information.

2. The method for graphically displaying the configuration data signal flow of a multi-industrial control system according to claim 1, wherein Based on the current graphic block, respectively expanding the signal flow diagram of the upper and lower graphic blocks until reaching the endpoints of the upper and lower signals respectively.

3. A spectrum display device for the configuration data signal flow of a multi-industrial control system, characterized in that, For running the method for displaying the signal flow diagram of the multi-industrial control system configuration data according to any one of claims 1-2.

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