System and method for inter-port communication in an expanded modular controller - Patents.com

Abstract

To provide an extended modular controller including multiple configurable communication ports, and a control logic layer operable to control the apparatus of a process plant.SOLUTION: Multiple communication ports include a series of first communication ports and a series of second communication ports operable to communicate with one or more nodes of a distributed control system 22 of a process plant 10. In a modular control system 100, an extended modular controller 102 in a physical frame 120 includes a software layer receiving port configuration parameters defining one or more port communication rules for the series of first communication ports and the series of second communication ports. One or more port communication rules make the software layer permit or limit retransmission of an incoming message selectively, and the incoming message is received by the series of first communication ports or the series of second communication ports.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to the use of modular control systems, such as skid-mounted systems, in process plants, and more particularly to configuring multiple communication ports of modular controllers of the modular control system for communication within a distributed control system of the process plant. [Background technology]

[0002] Modular control systems used today in various industries are complete control systems that may provide a specific function, such as boiling water, filtering a liquid, or controlling heat exchange. Modular control systems are typically implemented as so-called skid-mounted systems, or simply "skids," because the system is enclosed in a frame and easily transported. Skids may be disassembled and reassembled by the manufacturer, and typically delivered to a factory as an integrated unit without being pre-configured. For example, skids generally include a programmable logic controller (PLC), specialized equipment such as valves or boilers, and sensors such as pressure or temperature sensors.

[0003] Meanwhile, distributed control systems (DCS) are also used in various process industries, including chemical, petrochemical, refining, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, power, cement, water and wastewater, oil and gas, pulp and paper, and steel, to control batch, fed-batch, and continuous processes operating at a single location or at remote locations. A process plant typically includes one or more process controllers communicatively coupled to one or more field devices via an analog, digital, or integrated analog / digital bus, or via a wireless communication link or network. Collectively, the various devices perform monitoring, control, and data collection functions to control processes, safety shutdown systems, fire and gas detection systems, machine health monitoring systems, maintenance systems, decision support, and other systems.

[0004] Field devices, which may be, for example, valves, valve positioners, switches, and transmitters (e.g., temperature, pressure, level, and flow rate sensors), are located within the process environment and generally perform physical or process control functions, such as opening or closing valves, measuring process parameters, and the like, to control one or more processes running within the process plant or system. Smart field devices, such as field devices conforming to the well-known Fieldbus protocol, may also perform control calculations, alarm functions, and other control functions typically implemented within controllers. Process controllers are also typically located within the plant environment and execute controller applications that execute different control modules that receive signals indicative of process measurements made by the field devices and / or other information regarding the field devices, e.g., make process control decisions, generate control signals based on the received information, and interface with control modules or blocks implemented in field devices, such as HART®, WirelessHART®, and FOUNDATION® Fieldbus field devices. The control modules of the controllers send control signals over communication lines or links to the field devices, thereby controlling the operation of at least a portion of the process plant or system.

[0005] Information from field devices and controllers is sent to the control room or to a more rigorous planning The data is typically made available over a data highway to one or more other hardware devices, such as operator workstations, personal computers or computing devices, data historians, report generators, centralized databases, or other centralized computing devices, which are typically located elsewhere away from the process environment. Each of these hardware devices is typically centralized throughout the process plant, or throughout a portion of the process plant. These hardware devices execute applications that may enable operators to perform functions related to the control of the process and / or operation of the process plant, such as, for example, changing settings of process control routines, modifying the operation of control modules in controllers or field devices, viewing the current state of the process, viewing alarms generated by field devices and controllers, simulating the operation of the process for purposes of training personnel or testing process control software, maintaining and updating configuration databases, etc. Utilizing the data highway by the hardware devices, the controllers and field devices may include wired communication paths, wireless communication paths, or a combination of wired or wireless communication paths.

[0006] As an example, the DeltaV™ control system, sold by Emerson Process Management, includes multiple applications stored in and executed by different equipment located at various locations within a process plant. Configuration applications residing in one or more workstations or computing devices allow users to create or modify process control modules and download these process control modules over a data highway to dedicated distributed controllers. Typically, these control modules are composed of communicatively interconnected function blocks that are objects in an object-oriented programming protocol that perform functions within a control scheme based on inputs to them and provide outputs to other function blocks in the control scheme. The configuration application may also allow a configuration engineer to create or modify operator interfaces that are used by a viewing application to display data to an operator and to allow the operator to change settings such as set points within a process control routine. Each dedicated controller, and in some cases one or more field devices, stores and executes a respective controller application that executes the control modules assigned to them and downloaded to implement the actual process control functions. A viewing application may execute on one or more operator workstations (or one or more remote computing devices communicatively connected to the operator workstations and the data highway) and may receive data from the controller applications via the data highway and display this data to a process control system designer, operator, or user using a user interface to provide any of a number of different views, such as an operator's view, an engineer's view, a technician's view, etc.While the data historian application is typically stored on and executed by a data historian device that collects and stores some or all of the data provided over the data highway, the configuration database application may be executed on a more remote computer attached to the data highway to store the current process control routine configuration and its associated data. Alternatively, the configuration database may be located on the same workstation as the configuration application.

[0007] Devices operating in process control and industrial automation systems may be interconnected in a wired or wireless fashion and may communicate using industrial communication protocols such as FOUNDATION™ Fieldbus, HART®, or Profibus. Additionally, protocols such as Modbus have been developed for interconnecting PLCs. Still further, standard In addition to standard industrial automation protocols, proprietary protocols exist for interconnecting nodes in a process control system. DeltaV is one example of such a protocol. Generally, these protocols specify formats for communicating measurements, alerts, and status reports, commands that affect process variables or automation parameters, commands for activating or deactivating devices, etc. Typical industrial communication protocols also support device configuration via predefined commands or commands defined by the manufacturer of a particular device, following the syntax of the protocol.

[0008] Although using skids with PLCs is a common approach to building process control plants, today's PLCs cannot be natively integrated into a larger DCS. PLCs generally rely on proprietary protocols, configurations, and security. At best, operators can bring PLCs into a larger system using weak integration via Modbus or some other standard protocol. Weak integration is a manual process that cannot tolerate certain types of changes and requires manual maintenance as the system evolves.

[0009] In addition, PLCs may experience configuration limitations because PLCs typically have limited or difficult to manage port configuration options. For example, a PLC's configuration limitations may result from a limited number of communication ports on the PLC or an inability to communicate with other nodes of the process plant over the process plant's network or data highway. For example, a typical PLC may include a dedicated communication port that allows only certain types of protocols, such that other nodes in the process plant that communicate using different protocols would not be able to connect to the PLC through the dedicated port. Dedicated ports are particularly problematic when a PLC has only a few or a limited number of communication ports. For example, a PLC that provides a single dedicated port for each of a variety of communication protocols (e.g., one port for Modbus, another port for Ethernet, etc.) may inhibit the PLC from retransmitting a communication from one port to another port, for example, due to different incompatible communication protocols.

[0010] Limited communication ports can also cause problems if a PLC needs to communicate with, e.g., receive instructions from and / or provide data to, multiple nodes using the same type of communication protocol, but the PLC does not have enough communication ports to accommodate all the nodes of that particular type of communication protocol. In such a situation, the PLC would need to utilize multiple external switches to accommodate the additional nodes of the particular communication protocol, which would increase the complexity and costs associated with the distributed process control system of the process plant.

[0011] Furthermore, if isolation is desired for security reasons, for example to prohibit certain nodes of the distributed control system from communicating with other nodes through the PLC, the limited configuration options of the communication ports of the PLC create additional problems. For example, in such cases, the PLC may have limited or no means to control the retransmission of communications (e.g., data packets or messages) to other ports of the PLC. This can lead to security issues where an operator of the skid may want to prevent certain ports of the PLC from communicating with other ports associated with the PLC in order to control secure access between the nodes connected to the PLC. In such cases, the operator of the skid may be forced to add an external firewall to the PLC to implement secure access between the nodes connected to the PLC, which would create increased complexity and costs associated with the distributed process control system of the process plant. In addition, such configurations may require the operator to provide a firewall that is not available to the PLC. This would require additional programmatic and setup configurations to the PLC, which can be complex, which can be burdensome as the skid operator would typically have to manually implement such programmatic and setup configurations every time the PLC's configuration changes, e.g., the nodes and / or communication protocols connected to and / or used by the PLC change. Summary of the Invention

[0012] To overcome the problems associated with the limited configurability of typical skid-type PLC controllers, various embodiments of an extended modular controller are disclosed. The extended modular controller may perform the same functions as a typical PLC controller, but will also include extended configurability and functionality as described herein. For example, the extended modular controller of the present controller provides an extended configurability option that allows configuration of multiple communication ports of an extended modular controller of a modular control system (e.g., a skid-type system) for communication within a distributed control system of a process plant. As described herein, advantages of the extended modular controller include additional flexibility and configuration options for operators and users of the extended modular controller, and thus the modular control system, to achieve communication objectives (e.g., retransmission or limiting of unicast or broadcast type messages) without minimizing the need for external switches and firewalls and increasing the technical complexity and associated financial costs associated therewith.

[0013] In addition, the expanded configuration options allow for the design and development of expanded modular controllers with fewer physical communication ports because the communication ports of the expanded modular controllers are highly configurable such that they allow for multiple types and different types of configuration options and communication protocols as described herein, instead of utilizing standard dedicated communication ports. In addition, fewer communication ports also allow the expanded modular controllers to operate at lower internal thermal temperatures such that the expanded modular controllers operate more efficiently and with greater stability than designs with more communication ports. For example, modular controllers may be limited in the number of communication ports based on thermal coefficients, but the expanded modular controllers may overcome this issue by providing increased flexibility in configuration options to configure a smaller number of ports to operate at the same capacity as a modular controller with a larger number of communication ports. Additionally, the expanded modular controller includes a software layer for optimizing the configuration of communication ports, which, for example, in some embodiments described herein, allows an operator of the expanded modular controller to configure the expanded modular controller without having to understand how to configure smart switches that, in some embodiments, may be used by the expanded modular controller to facilitate configuration of multiple communication ports of the expanded modular controller described herein.

[0014] The enhanced modular controller of the present disclosure may operate in a modular control system, such as a skid-mounted system, to execute the control logic of the modular control system independently of other controllers, similar to a PLC. When incorporated into a distributed process control system, the modular controller may operate as one or more nodes of the distributed process control system of a process plant. The configuration parameters of the modular controller may be imported or downloaded from the configuration database of the modular control system to the configuration database of the distributed process control system, which may be a central repository of configuration data. In some implementations, the modular controller is built natively on the platform of the distributed process control system. In this case, The modular controller may communicate with other nodes in the distributed process control system according to a communication protocol of the distributed process control system, which in some implementations is proprietary. In other implementations, the modular controller is integrated into a third party distributed process control system and communicates with other nodes using a standard industrial communication protocol such as Modbus.

[0015] In various embodiments, an expanded modular controller is disclosed, where the expanded modular controller includes multiple configurable communication ports, and the expanded modular controller may be included as part of a modular control system. The expanded modular controller may include a control logic layer operable to control equipment of a process plant. The equipment is configured to perform physical functions within the process plant as described herein. The expanded modular controller may also include multiple communication ports. The multiple communication ports may be operable to communicate with one or more nodes of a distributed control system of the process plant. The multiple communication ports may also include a first series of communication ports and a second series of communication ports.

[0016] The enhanced modular controller may also include a software layer that accepts port configuration parameters. The port configuration parameters may define one or more port communication rules for a first set of communication ports and a second set of communication ports. The one or more port communication rules may also cause the software layer to selectively allow or restrict retransmission of an incoming message, the incoming message being received on either the first set of communication ports or the second set of communication ports.

[0017] In various embodiments, a method for configuring multiple communication ports of an extended modular controller of a modular control system is disclosed. The method can be implemented by one or more processors of the modular control system or the modular controller. For example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for implementing the configuration of multiple communication ports of the extended modular controller of the modular control system can be executed, which can cause one or more processors to receive port configuration parameters at a software layer. The port configuration parameters can define one or more port communication rules for the multiple communication ports.

[0018] In various embodiments, the multiple communication ports may be operable to communicate with one or more nodes of a distributed control system of the process plant, and the multiple communication ports may include a first set of communication ports and a second set of communication ports.

[0019] The method may further include configuring the software layer to selectively allow or restrict retransmission of the incoming message based on one or more port communication rules. The incoming message may be received on either the first set of communication ports or the second set of communication ports.

[0020] The advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of preferred embodiments shown and described by way of illustration. As will be understood, the present embodiments may be capable of other different embodiments and their details may be modified in various respects. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0021] The figures described below depict various aspects of the systems and methods disclosed therein. It should be understood that each figure depicts an embodiment of a particular aspect of the disclosed systems and methods, and that each of the figures is intended to correspond to a possible embodiment thereof. Additionally, the following description will, wherever possible, refer to reference numbers included in the following figures and to specific aspects that are shown in more than one figure. Features are designated with consistent reference numbers.

[0022] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a distributed process control system in which an exemplary modular control system is incorporated. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a modular controller associated with the modular control system of FIG. [Diagram 3] 3 illustrates one embodiment of a port configuration screen displaying one or more port communication rules for the modular controller of FIG. 2. [Figure 4] 4 illustrates one embodiment of one implementation of a specific port communication rule of the configuration screen of FIG. 3 . [Diagram 5] 2 is a flow diagram of an example method for configuring multiple communication ports of the modular controller of FIG. 1.

[0023] The figures depict preferred embodiments for purposes of illustration only. Alternative embodiments of the systems and methods illustrated herein may be used without departing from the principles of the invention described herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0024] Generally speaking, the modular control system of the present disclosure includes a controller that can operate as a stand-alone PLC, a controller in a skid-mounted system, or as a module in a modular plant structure. The controller, hereafter referred to as a "modular controller" or an "extended modular controller", can be built natively on a platform such as DeltaV that supports distributed control, such that the configuration, security mechanisms, and communications of the extended modular controller are fully compatible with the DCS in which the extended modular controller is embedded. As a result, when the modular controller operates as one or more nodes in a DCS, the modular controller does not need to use industrial communication protocols to distribute data to or receive data from the modular controller or its subnodes. Furthermore, the configuration of the extended modular controller is compatible with a similar version of the complete DCS system making it easy to bring this configuration into the central repository of the DCS.

[0025] In some scenarios, the modular control system of the present disclosure can be integrated into a process control system built on a different, possibly proprietary, platform. In this case, the modular controller may communicate with the process control system nodes using the Open Platform Communication (OPC) communication protocol or other standard protocols, such as, for example, Modbus, Ethernet, etc. However, the merge assistant may natively communicate with the modular controller, for example, using the DeltaV protocol if the modular controller is built on the DeltaV platform. To this end, the modular controller may support addresses within the scheme of the process plant as well as different addresses within the modular controller network.

[0026] 1 illustrates an exemplary process plant 10 implementing a distributed control system 22. As is typically the case, the distributed process control system 22 has one or more controllers 40, each of which is connected to one or more field or smart devices 44 and 46 via an input / output (I / O) device or card 48, which may be, for example, a Fieldbus interface, a Profibus interface, a HART interface, a standard 4-20ma interface, or the like. The controllers 40 may also be connected to one or more field or smart devices 44 and 46 via, for example, an Ethernet link or a local area network (LAN). 1. The process plant 10 is coupled to one or more host or operator workstations 50 and 52 via a data highway 54, which may be another link suitable for the controller 40. The workstations 50 and 52 may each be connected to an output device 30 and 32, shown in FIG. 1 as a computer screen. A process data database 58 may be connected to the data highway 58 and operates to collect and store parameters, status, and other data associated with the controllers and field devices in the plant 10. During operation of the process plant 10, the process data database 58 may receive process data from the controller 40 and indirectly from the devices 44-46 via the data highway 54.

[0027] The configuration database 60 stores the current configuration of the process control system 22 within the plant 10 as it is downloaded to and stored within the controller 40 and the field devices 44 and 46. The configuration database 60 stores process control functions that define one or more control strategies for the distributed process control system 22, configuration parameters of the devices 44 and 46, assignments of the devices 44 and 46 to process control functions, and other configuration data associated with the process plant 10. The configuration database 60 may additionally store graphic objects to provide various graphical representations of elements of the process plant 10. Some of the stored graphical objects may correspond to process control functions (e.g., a process graphic developed from a particular PID loop) and other graphical objects may be device specific (e.g., a graphic corresponding to a pressure sensor).

[0028] The process plant 10 may also include other databases coupled to the data highway 54, not shown in FIG. 1 , to avoid clutter. For example, a data historian may store events, alarms, comments, and course of action taken by an operator. The events, alarms, and comments may be associated with individual devices (e.g., valves, transmitters), communication links (e.g., wired Fieldbus segments, WirelessHART communication links), or process control functions (e.g., a PI control loop for maintaining a desired temperature set point). Additionally, the knowledge repository may store references, operator logbook entries, help topics, or links to these and other documents that operators and maintenance engineers may find useful when overseeing the process plant 10. Still further, a user database may store information about users, such as operators or maintenance engineers, associated with the process plant 10. For each user, the user database may store, for example, his or her role within the organization, the area within the process plant 10 with which the user is associated, work team affiliation, etc.

[0029] Each of these databases can be any desired type of data storage or collection unit having any desired type of memory and any desired or known software, hardware, or firmware for storing data. Of course, the databases need not reside in separate physical devices. Thus, in some embodiments, some of these databases are implemented on a shared data processor. In general, more or fewer databases may be utilized to store the data collectively stored and managed by the above databases.

[0030] The controllers 40, I / O cards 48, and field devices 44 and 46 are typically distributed throughout a sometimes harsh plant environment, while the operator workstations 50 and 52, and databases 58, 60, etc. are usually located in a control room or other relatively non-harsh environment that is easily accessible to control personnel, maintenance personnel, and various other plant personnel. However, in some cases, portable devices may be used to control the various plant environments. These functions can be implemented using portable devices, which are typically carried to various locations within a plant.

[0031] As is known, each of the controllers 40, which may be, by way of example, the DeltaV™ controller sold by Emerson Process Management, stores and executes a controller application that implements a control strategy using any number of different independently executing control modules or blocks 70. Each of the control modules 70 may be comprised of what are generally referred to as function blocks, each of which is a portion or sub-routine of an overall control routine and operates with other function blocks (through communications called links) to implement a process control loop within the process plant 10. As is known, a function block, which may be an object in an object oriented programming protocol, typically performs one of an input function, such as those associated with a transmitter, sensor, or other process parameter measurement device, a control function, such as those associated with a control routine that performs control, such as PID, fuzzy logic, etc., or an output function that controls the operation of some device, such as a valve, to perform some physical function within the process plant 10. Of course, hybrid and other types of complex function blocks exist, such as model predictive controllers (MPC), optimizers, etc. While the Fieldbus and DeltaV System protocols use control modules and function blocks designed and implemented within an object-oriented programming protocol, the control modules may be designed using any desired control programming scheme including, for example, sequential function blocks, ladder logic, etc., and are not limited to being designed and implemented using function blocks or any other particular programming technique. Each of the controllers 40 may also support the AMS® Suite of applications and use predictive intelligence to improve the availability and performance of production assets including machinery, electrical systems, process equipment, instruments, field devices and smart field devices 44, 46, and valves.

[0032] In the process plant 10 illustrated in FIG. 1, the field devices 44 and 46 connected to the controller 40 may be standard 4-20ma devices, or may be smart field devices, such as HART, Profibus, or FOUNDATION™ Fieldbus field devices, including a processor and memory, or may be any other desired type of device. Some of these devices, such as the Fieldbus field device (labeled with reference number 46 in FIG. 1), may store and execute sub-modules, such as modules or function blocks, associated with a control strategy implemented in the controller 40. As is well known, the function blocks 72 illustrated in FIG. 1 as being disposed within two different devices of the Fieldbus field device 46 may be executed in conjunction with the execution of a control module 70 within the controller 40 to implement process control. Of course, the field devices 44 and 46 may be any type of device, such as sensors, valves, transmitters, positioners, etc., and the I / O device 48 may be any type of I / O device conforming to any desired communication or controller protocol, such as HART, Fieldbus, Profibus, etc.

[0033] The workstations 50 and 52 may include one or more processors 82 that execute instructions stored in a memory 80. The instructions may, in part, implement a viewing application 84 that provides various displays during operation of the process plant 10 to enable an operator to view and control various operations within the process plant 10, or within a section of the process plant 10 to which a corresponding operator is assigned, as is common in larger plants. The viewing application 84 may be a control diagnostic application, a regulatory application, a report generation application, or any other application that may be used by an operator in performing a control function. The workstations 50 and 52 may include or interface with support applications, such as any other control support application that may be used to assist the controller 102 in monitoring the operation of the various devices 40, 44, and 46. Additionally, the viewing application 84 may enable a maintenance engineer to oversee the maintenance needs of the process plant 10, for example, to view the operational or working status of the various devices 40, 44, and 46. The viewing application may also include support applications, such as a maintenance diagnostic application, a calibration application, a vibration analysis application, a report generation application, or any other maintenance support application that may be used to assist a maintenance engineer in performing maintenance functions within the process plant 10. In various embodiments, the workstations 50 and 52 may enable an operator to select configuration parameters and / or port communication rules to configure the enhanced modular controller 102 described herein.

[0034] 1, the exemplary modular control system 100 includes an expanded modular controller 102, a configuration database 104, and specialized equipment that may include field devices 110. The modular control system 100 may be a skid-mounted system in which the devices 102, 104, and 110-114 reside within a physical frame 120. The modular control system 100 may be configured to operate in a stand-alone mode and perform relatively complex functions within a plant, such as pumping liquids in a controlled manner, heating water, maintaining constant temperatures in tanks, performing filtration functions, etc. To this end, the modular control system 100 may include valves, tanks, sensors, etc.

[0035] In some embodiments, the extended modular controller 102 may be built natively on the platform of the distributed control system 22. In other words, the extended modular controller 102 may be developed specifically for use in the distributed control system 22, but may also operate autonomously. To this end, the extended modular controller 102 may include firmware and / or software features (e.g., software layers) that do not require an intermediary (such as a firmware and / or software porting / adaptation layer or corresponding application programming interface (API) features) to interact with the nodes of the distributed control system 22. The extended modular controller 102 in a particular software architecture may share one or more software layers with other controllers of the distributed control system 22. In either case, being native to the platform of the distributed control system 22, the configuration, security features, and communications of the extended modular controller 102 are fully compatible with the distributed control system 22.

[0036] The configuration database 104 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable memory, such as, for example, a hard disk or a flash drive. The computer-readable memory and the expanded modular controller 102 may be provided as part of a single chipset or separately, depending on the implementation. In some embodiments, configuration parameters and / or port communication rules may be stored in the configuration database 104 and used by the expanded modular controller 102, as described herein. In some embodiments, the configuration parameters and / or port communication rules may be downloaded to the configuration database 104 from the workstations 50 and 52 or the host 140, for example, for immediate or later use by the expanded modular controller 102.

[0037] A manufacturer and / or an operator of the process plant 10 may assemble the modular control system 100 and configure the parameters of the modular control system 100 with the configuration parameters and / or port communication rules described herein, as well as other values, including fixed point values ​​and other parameters such as gain values ​​for PID loops, names and tags of the field devices 110, licenses, locales, etc. An operator of the process plant 10 may also configure parameter security. For example, the manufacturer or operator of the process plant 10 may require that a gain value be part of a restricted control and that this value may only be changed when the manufacturer or operator of the process plant 10 provides the proper key to unlock this variable. In some cases, the manufacturer or operator of the process plant 10 may completely assemble the modular control system 100 as an integrated unit.

[0038] As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the modular control system 100 may be coupled to the process plant 10 and the distributed control system 22 via a data highway 54, also referred to herein as a network or computer network. The host 140, which may be a laptop computer, may execute, for example, a merge assistant 150. Alternatively, the merge assistant 150 may be included in the operator workstation 50 or 52. In operation, the merge assistant 150 assists the operator by efficiently and accurately merging configuration data from the configuration database 104 to the centralized configuration database 60. In some cases, the merge assistant 150 also generates automatic suggestions for renaming or relabeling items in the configuration database 104 to resolve conflicts with items in the configuration database 60. The merge assistant 150 then loads the updated configuration data into the configuration database 104. In some cases, the host 140 stores the configuration data of the modular control system 100 while the configuration data is being updated.

[0039] According to another implementation, the merge assistant 150 may distribute new configuration data (e.g., configuration parameters and / or port communication rules described herein) introduced by incorporating a modular control system (and thus a modular controller, e.g., the enhanced modular controller 102) to the distributed control system 22, thereby eliminating the need to import the new data into the configuration database 60. Specifically, rather than copying the configuration data, the merge assistant 150 may update the configuration database 104 on the fly with new tags to ensure uniqueness within the distributed control system 22. In this manner, the merge assistant 150 may reduce the time required to incorporate a modular control system into the distributed control system, and in some cases may even provide an “instant import.”

[0040] 1 shows only one modular control system 100, multiple modular control systems may be incorporated into the distributed process control system 22. The merge assistant 150, in this case, may detect the modular control systems coupled to the data highway 54 and iteratively merge the corresponding configurations into the centralized configuration database 60.

[0041] The extended modular controller 102 may include multiple communication ports that may be configured or otherwise defined according to a number of native or standard protocols. For example, a first communication port may be configured to use a native proprietary communication protocol, such as DeltaV layered on top of the Internet Protocol (IP), and a second communication port may be configured to use a standard protocol, such as the IP protocol, the Modbus protocol, or a similar known protocol. Such configuration options allow the communication ports to communicate with various nodes of the same or different protocol types in the distributed control system of the process plant 10. This configuration may be particularly advantageous when the distributed control system 22 and the modular control system 100 are designed, manufactured, or otherwise provided by different parties, and when the nodes of the distributed control system 22 do not support the proprietary protocol of the modular control system 100. In such cases, the extended modular controller 102 may be added or built into the modular control system 100 to provide native support and / or integration into the process plant 10, which may be multiple different protocols.

[0042] 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of an expanded modular controller 102 associated with the modular control system 100 of FIG. 1. The expanded modular controller 102 may include a plurality of configurable communication ports 201-206. The plurality of communication ports 201-206 may be connected (e.g., via network cables) to communicate with or operable to communicate with one or more nodes of the distributed control system 22 of the process plant 10. The plurality of communication ports 201-206 may include a first set of communication ports 201-203 and a second set of communication ports 203. As further described with respect to FIG. 3, the expanded modular controller 102 may also include a software layer that accepts port configuration parameters. The port configuration parameters may define one or more port communication rules for the first set of communication ports 201-203 and the second set of communication ports 204-206. The one or more port communication rules can also cause the software layer to selectively allow or restrict retransmission of incoming messages (e.g., data packets), where the incoming messages are received on either the first set of communication ports 201-203 or the second set of communication ports 204-206.

[0043] In some embodiments, the expanded modular controller 102 may include two removable five-port switches (e.g., switches 212 and 214), each having three exposed RJ45 physical communication ports corresponding to the first set of communication ports 201-203 and the second set of communication ports 204-206, respectively. Each of the switches 212 and 214, as well as two of the five ports shown in FIG. 2, may not be exposed as RJ45 physical ports, and such non-exposed ports are used for control and / or data transmission of the expanded modular controller 102 within the distributed control system 22. In some cases, the switches 212 and 214 may be referred to as the IOPs or input / output ports of the modular controller.

[0044] 2, communication ports 201-203 may form a first series of communication ports, and communication ports 204-206 may form a second series of communication ports. In some cases, second network switch 214 may be redundant with respect to first network switch 212, with first series of communication ports 201-203 of switch 212 being used for primary communication, and second series of communication ports 204-206 of switch 214 being used for secondary communication. For example, in some cases, second series of communication ports 204-206 may be redundant with respect to first series of communication ports 201-203, with first series of first series of communication ports 201-203 providing primary communication, and second series of communication ports 204-206 providing communication only when first series of communication ports 201-203 goes offline, experiences an error, or is otherwise unable to provide normal communication service. In additional embodiments, the second series of communication ports 204-206 may be redundant to the first series of communication ports 201-203, and the second series of communication ports 204-206 may be connected to the same nodes of the distributed control system 22 as the first series of communication ports 204-206.

[0045] 2, the extended modular controller 102 also includes two controllers 222 and 224. The controllers 222 and 224 may perform control operations for the modular control system 100 as described herein. For example, the extended modular controller 102 may include, as part of the controllers 222 and 224, a control logic layer operable to control equipment of the process plant 10. For example, the equipment may be configured to perform a physical function within the process plant 10 as described herein. In some embodiments, an incoming message may cause the control logic layer to initiate control of an equipment within the process plant 10. As described herein, the equipment and the extended modular controller 102 may each be part of the same modular control system (e.g., a skid-mounted system).

[0046] In some cases, controllers 222 and 224 are redundant, with controller 222 being a primary controller and controller 224 being a secondary controller. For example, primary controller 222 may include a control logic layer and a software layer, and secondary controller 224 may include a redundant control logic layer and a redundant software layer that implements the same functions of primary controller 222. For example, in some cases, secondary controller 224 may perform control operations for modular control system 100 and expanded modular controller 102 if primary controller 222 fails or is otherwise offline.

[0047] In some embodiments, the extended modular controller 102 may be built natively on a platform of the distributed control system 22 of the process plant 10. In such embodiments, the extended modular controller may communicate with one or more nodes of the distributed control system 22 via a native communication protocol (e.g., DeltaV protocol). In such embodiments, at least one port of the plurality of communication ports 201-206 is configured as a native port, which implements the native communication protocol of the distributed control system 22. For example, many nodes and devices of the distributed control system 22 may be connected to the extended modular controller 102 via the plurality of communication ports 201-206. In some embodiments, nodes implementing the native communication protocol may be connected via one or more of the communication ports 201-206. For example, a native DeltaV node using the DeltaV protocol may be connected to a communication port (e.g., communication port 201) configured to receive messages via the DeltaV protocol. A DeltaV node may be, for example, a laptop (e.g., host 14) or a field workstation (e.g., workstations 50 or 52) running DeltaV-based software on an operating system such as Microsoft Windows or Linux. DeltaV nodes may also include standalone or balance-of-plant system nodes connected to the modular controller 102 via multiple communication ports 201-206.

[0048] In other embodiments, the enhanced modular controller 102 may communicate with one or more nodes of the distributed control system 22 via a standard communication protocol. In such embodiments, at least one port of the plurality of communication ports 201-206 is configured as a standard port, which implements a standard communication protocol, such as Modbus protocol, Open Platform Communication (OPC) protocol, or Internet Protocol (IP). For example, a particular node of the distributed control system 22 may include an Ethernet IO device that implements and communicates via a standard protocol, such as Modbus or EtherNet / IP. Other standard protocol-based nodes of the distributed control system 22 may include third party workstations, such as a local HMI station, a third party DCS interface, and / or a third party historian, that implement and communicate via a standard protocol, such as OPC UA or Modbus.

[0049] 2 embodiment, switches 212 and 214 may perform typical packet switching functions for incoming messages at communication ports 201-206. In various embodiments, enhanced modular controller 102 connects native and standard protocol nodes to primary physical ports 201-203 and secondary ports 204-206 such that both primary controller 222 and secondary controller 224 can communicate with such nodes via primary communications (e.g., via communication ports 201-203) or via secondary communications (e.g., via communication ports 204-206).

[0050] FIG. 3 illustrates one or more port communication rules 302 for the modular controller of FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a port configuration screen 300 displaying port communication rules 302-310. The port configuration screen 300 allows operators and other users to select port communication rules 302-310. The port communication rules 203-310 allow a user to segregate the nodes and devices of the distributed control system 22 by protocol, such as, for example, that certain nodes and devices use a predefined protocol to connect to the enhanced modular controller 102 through one or two selected communication ports. For example, a user may use the port communication rules 302-310 to configure DeltaV nodes to communicate with the top communication port(s) (e.g., communication ports 201 and 204), third party workstation nodes to communicate with intermediate port(s) (e.g., communication ports 202 and 205), and Ethernet IO devices to communicate with the lower port(s) (e.g., communication ports 203 and 206).

[0051] The instructions and software for the port configuration screen 300 and one or more port communication rules 302-310 may be implemented in a programming language such as C++, C#, Java, etc. The programming language instructions may cause a processor, such as a processor of either the workstation 50 or 52 or the host 140, to display the port configuration screen 300 and, for example, allow an operator to select a port communication rule 302-310 to be used to configure the extended modular controller 102. For example, when a particular port communication rule is selected and the user selects the confirm button 320, the processor may enable the selected port communication rule to be downloaded as a port configuration parameter to the configuration database 104 for use in configuring the extended modular controller 102, as described herein. For example, when a user selects a port communication rule for the extended modular controller, the communication rule may be downloaded to the extended modular controller 102 via the port configuration parameter, and the extended modular controller 102 will configure its switches (e.g., switches 212 and 214) and associated communication ports 201-206 accordingly. For example, port configuration parameters may be downloaded to and used by a software layer of the enhanced modular controller 102 from a remote processor, such as a remote processor of a workstation 50 or 52 or a remote processor of a host 140. This provides a simple and efficient way to configure a modular controller within a distributed control system without the user having to manipulate multiple independent settings of the modular controller. The operator may also select to cancel 322 the port configuration screen 300, which will cause the enhanced modular controller 102 to use existing or default port communication rules.

[0052] In the embodiment of FIG. 3, each of the port communication rules 302-310 includes a graphic illustrating six communication ports 1-6. The six communication ports 1-6 correspond to the six communication ports 201-206 of the expanded modular controller 102 shown in FIG. 2. Thus, communication ports 1-3 illustrated in the port communication rules 302-310 may correspond to a first set of communication ports, such as communication ports 201-203 of the primary switch 212 of FIG. 2. Similarly, communication ports 4-6 illustrated in the port communication rules 302-310 may correspond to a second set of communication ports, such as communication ports 204-206 of the primary switch 212 of FIG. 2. The port communication rules 302-310 enable configuration of the expanded modular controller 102 and enable incorporation of the modular controller 102 into the distributed control system 22 without the need for an external switch. For example, in one embodiment where three DeltaV communication nodes need to communicate to control the modular control system 100, by using port communication rules, an operator may configure the enhanced modular controller 102 to communicate with the three DeltaV nodes by selecting option 308 from a set of port configuration rules.

[0053] For example, as shown in FIG. 3, port communication rule 302 describes that primary communication ports 1 and 2 communicate and secondary ports 4 and 5 communicate. Ports communicate if incoming messages at one communication port are allowed to be retransmitted to the other communication port. Communication ports 1 and 2 in port communication rule 302 may correspond to communication ports 201 and 202 in FIG. 2, respectively. In this embodiment, communication ports 1 and 2 are referred to as primary ports because each of the ports belongs to the primary switch 212 of the modular controller 102. Communication port 3 is also a primary communication port and may correspond to communication port 203 in FIG. 2. However, in port communication rule 302, primary communication ports 1 and 2 do not communicate with or retransmit incoming messages to communication port 3, such that incoming messages at communication ports 1 and 2 are restricted from being retransmitted to communication port 3. In this manner, port communication rule 302 allows incoming messages at communication ports 1 and 2 to be retransmitted to each other, but restricts incoming messages at communication ports 1 and 2 from being retransmitted to communication port 3. Similarly, port communication rule 302 restricts incoming messages on communication port 3 from being redirected to communication ports 1 or 2.

[0054] In a similar manner, communication ports 4 and 5 of port communication rules 302 may correspond to communication ports 204 and 205 of FIG. 2, respectively. In this embodiment, communication ports 4 and 5 are referred to as secondary ports because each of the ports belongs to the secondary switch 214 of the modular controller 102. Communication port 6 is also a secondary communication port and may correspond to communication port 206 of FIG. 2. However, in port communication rules 302, secondary communication ports 4 and 5 do not communicate with or resend incoming messages to communication port 6, such that incoming messages at communication ports 4 and 5 are restricted from being resent to communication port 6. In this manner, port communication rules 302 allow incoming messages at communication ports 4 and 5 to be resent to each other, but restrict incoming messages at communication ports 4 and 5 from being resent to communication port 6. Similarly, port communication rules 302 restrict incoming messages at communication port 6 from being resent to communication ports 4 or 5.

[0055] Port communication rules 304 explain that primary ports 2 and 3 communicate and secondary ports 5 and 6 communicate. Port communication rules 304 are the inverse mirror image of port communication rules 302 and may be used, for example, by an operator to configure the enhanced modular controller 102 to avoid moving networking cables plugged into communication ports 202-203 (primary ports) and communication ports 205-206 (secondary ports) when merging a standalone system into a balance of plant system.

[0056] Port communication rules 306 explain that primary ports 1 and 2 communicate and secondary ports 5 and 6 communicate. As explained with respect to Figure 4, port communication rules 306 can be used to restrict incoming messages from being re-sent to certain ports while allowing other incoming messages to be re-sent. This can be useful to provide an option to prevent a particular node of distributed control system 22 utilizing one type of protocol or system (e.g., a DeltaV platform system) from infecting other nodes that use a different protocol or system (e.g., a Microsoft Windows / Ethernet system).

[0057] Port communication rules 308 explain that primary ports 1, 2, and 3 communicate and secondary ports 4, 5, and 6 communicate. Port communication rules 308 can be used when separation or specific retransmission rules are not needed. Port communication rules 308 provide the most retransmission across ports for each set of communicating ports and are therefore the best option for operators to avoid the use of external switches.

[0058] Port communication rules 310 explain what ports do not communicate. Port communication rules 310 provide the most security because they isolate all nodes connected to the expansion modular controller 102, but may also require the use of an external switch.

[0059] In another embodiment, a broadcast port communication rule (not shown) may be selected in which all incoming messages are broadcast or redirected to all other communication ports on a given set of communication ports (e.g., for a first set of communication ports, an incoming message at communication port 1 is redirected to communication ports 2 and 3). In an additional embodiment, an all-ports broadcast port communication rule (not shown) may be selected in which all incoming messages are broadcast or redirected to all other communication ports (e.g., an incoming message at communication port 1 is redirected to all remaining communication ports 2-6).

[0060] In another embodiment, a single port communication rule (not shown) can be selected in which only communication port 1 (e.g., communication port 201 in FIG. 2) is enabled and all other communication ports 2-6 (e.g., communication ports 202-206 in FIG. 2) are disabled. In such an embodiment, incoming messages at communication port 1 can be used for control of the modular control system 100 described herein.

[0061] The port communication rules may be selected to configure the extended modular controller 102 to retransmit unicast or broadcast type messages. For example, in one embodiment, the incoming message may be an incoming unicast message, and the port communication rules may cause a software layer of the extended modular controller 102 to selectively allow or restrict the transmission of an incoming unicast message entering either the first communication port (e.g., communication port 201), the second communication port (e.g., communication port 202), or the third communication port (e.g., communication port 203) to a particular one of the first communication port, the second communication port, or the third communication port.

[0062] In another embodiment, the incoming message may be an incoming broadcast type message, and the port communication rules may cause a software layer of the extended modular controller 102 to selectively allow or restrict the transmission of the broadcast type message to a first communication port (e.g., communication port 201), a second communication port (e.g., communication port 202), and a third communication port (e.g., communication port 203).

[0063] Similar port communication rules may be applied to secondary communication ports 204-206 in a similar manner based on whether the incoming message is a unicast message or a broadcast type message.

[0064] FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of an implementation 400 of the port communication rules of the configuration screen of FIG. 3. Specifically, implementation 400 is an implementation of port communication rules 306 of FIG. 3. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, each of communication ports 201, 202, 204, and 205 is connected to a node of distributed control system 22. For example, node 401 is a DeltaV HMI node connected to communication port 201 of enhanced modular controller 102, and node 402 is a laptop (e.g., host 140) that may be a DeltaV node as described herein. Similarly, node 402 is a second (redundant) DeltaV HMI node connected to communication port 203, and node 405 is a Simplex third-party DCS connection that may be connected to a third-party DCS node (e.g., workstation 50 or 52 of FIG. 1). In the embodiment of FIG. 4, there are no nodes connected to communication ports 203 and 206, and such nodes are off-line for connection to additional nodes. is open or available.

[0065] As shown in FIG. 4, an operator can use port communication rules 306 to maintain an enhanced level of isolation between nodes of the distributed control system 22. This is advantageous because instead of relying on external firewalls to maintain isolation between nodes, an operator can limit communication between different nodes where security concerns may exist. As shown in FIG. 4, a security concern may exist where Windows malware on a third-party DCS node 405 may infect DeltaV-based nodes 401, 402, and 404. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 4, a Simplex third-party DCS connection may be a connection to a third-party DCS node. An operator may wish to isolate the third-party DSC nodes for security reasons such that DSC node 406 (corresponding to port 5 of port communication rules 306) would not be able to communicate with, and therefore infect, any of DeltaV nodes 401, 402, and 404 (corresponding to ports 1, 2, and 4 of port communication rules 306). Therefore, by selecting the port communication rule 306, a third party DSC node should not be able to infect a DeltaV node.

[0066] 5 is a flow diagram of an example method 500 for configuring multiple communication ports 201-206 of an expanded modular controller 102 of a modular control system 100. The method 500 may be implemented, for example, by one or more processors of the modular control system 100 or the expanded modular controller 102. For example, a non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions may implement the configuration of multiple communication ports of an expanded modular controller 102 of a modular control system 100.

[0067] Method 500 begins at block 502, where one or more processors (e.g., of the enhanced modular controller 102) receive port configuration parameters at a software layer. The port configuration parameters may correspond to communication ports 201-206 of Figure 2 and associated communication ports 1-6 as shown in Figure 3 and described herein. The port configuration parameters may define one or more port communication rules (e.g., port communication rules 302-310) for multiple communication ports.

[0068] In various embodiments, the multiple communication ports (e.g., communication ports 201-206) may be operable to communicate with one or more nodes (e.g., DeltaV nodes or standard protocol based nodes) of the distributed control system 22 of the process plant 10. The multiple communication ports may include a first set of communication ports (e.g., communication ports 201-203) and a second set of communication ports (e.g., communication ports 204-206).

[0069] In block 504, the one or more processors configure the software layer to selectively allow or restrict retransmission of the incoming message based on one or more port communication rules (e.g., one of port communication rules 302-310). For example, in some embodiments, the software layer may be configured to create or update a virtual local area network (VLAN) lookup table and one or more VLANs associated with the VLAN lookup table to determine whether to allow or restrict retransmission of the incoming message. In such embodiments, the software layer may access the VLAN lookup table and the one or more VLANs to determine an ingress port identifier (ID) of a first communication port (e.g., communication port 201). The software layer may then access the VLAN lookup table and the one or more VLANs to determine an ingress port identifier (ID) of a first communication port (e.g., communication port 201) based on the ingress port ID of the first communication port (e.g., communication port 201). , may determine at least one destination port ID that identifies a second communication port (eg, communication port 202) to which the incoming message should be retransmitted.

[0070] As described herein, in some embodiments, the incoming message may be based on a native protocol (e.g., DeltaV) of the distributed control system 22 of the process plant 10. In other embodiments, the incoming message may be based on a standard protocol, such as, for example, Modbus, Ethernet, etc. The incoming message may be received on either the first set of communication ports or the second set of communication ports and then retransmitted to the remaining ports of the respective first set of communication ports or second set of communication ports.

[0071] In some embodiments, the incoming message may be an incoming unicast message, as described herein. In such embodiments, one or more processors of the extended modular controller 102 may be configured to allow or restrict retransmission of the incoming unicast message from a first communication port of the first set of communication ports (e.g., communication port 201) to a second communication port of the first set of communication ports (e.g., communication port 203). One or more processors of the extended modular controller 102 may also be configured to allow or restrict retransmission from a first communication port of the second set of communication ports (e.g., communication port 204) to a second communication port of the second set of communication ports (e.g., communication port 206).

[0072] In other embodiments, the incoming message may be an incoming broadcast type message. In such embodiments, one or more processors of the enhanced modular controller 102 may be configured to retransmit the broadcast type message from a first communication port of the first series of communication ports (e.g., communication port 201) to all remaining ports of the first series of communication ports (e.g., ports 202 and 203) or from a first communication port of the second series of communication ports (e.g., communication port 204) to all remaining ports of the second series of communication ports (e.g., communication ports 205 and 206).

[0073] Thus, for a distributed control system that uses a modular control system as described herein (e.g., distributed control system 22), the systems and methods of the present disclosure enable an operator or other user to configure an extended modular controller (e.g., extended modular controller 102) to incorporate the modular control system into the distributed control system.

[0074] Other notes Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using words such as "processing," "computing," "calculating," "determining," "identifying," "presenting," "displaying," etc. may refer to machine (e.g., computer) operations or processes that manipulate or transform data represented as physical (e.g., electrical, magnetic, or optical) quantities in one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory, non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or other machine components that receive, store, transmit, or display information.

[0075] When implemented in software, any of the applications, services, engines, routines, and modules described herein may be implemented in any tangible form, such as a magnetic disk, laser disk, solid-state memory device, molecular memory storage device, optical disk, or other storage medium, such as in the RAM or ROM of a computer or processor. The system may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable memory of a processor. Note that while the exemplary systems disclosed herein are disclosed as including, among other components, software and / or firmware executing on hardware, such systems are merely exemplary and should not be considered limiting. For example, it is contemplated that any or all of these hardware, software, and firmware components may be embodied exclusively in hardware, exclusively in software, or in any combination of hardware and software. Thus, one skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the examples provided are not the only ways to implement such a system.

[0076] Thus, while the technology of this disclosure has been described with reference to specific examples, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these examples are illustrative only and are not intended to be limitations of the invention, and that modifications, additions, or deletions may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. 1. An expandable modular controller, comprising: a control logic layer operable to control equipment of a process plant, the equipment being configured to perform a physical function within the process plant; a plurality of communication ports operable to communicate with one or more nodes of a distributed control system of the process plant, the plurality of communication ports including a first series of communication ports and a second series of communication ports; a software layer that accepts port configuration parameters, the port configuration parameters defining one or more port communication rules for the first set of communication ports and the second set of communication ports, the one or more port communication rules causing the software layer to selectively allow or restrict retransmission of incoming messages, the incoming messages arriving on either the first set of communication ports or the second set of communication ports; The one or more port communication rules allow or restrict inter-port communication between the first set of communication ports and the second set of communication ports.

2. The enhanced modular controller of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the incoming messages causes the control logic layer to control the equipment of the process plant.

3. The expandable modular controller of claim 1 or 2, wherein the appliance and the expandable modular controller are each part of a modular control system.

4. 4. The extended modular controller of claim 1, wherein the extended modular controller is built natively on a platform of the distributed control system of the process plant, the extended modular controller communicates with the one or more nodes of the distributed control system via a native communication protocol, and at least one port of the plurality of communication ports is configured as a native port, the native port implementing the native communication protocol of the distributed control system. controller.

5. 5. The expanded modular controller of claim 1, wherein the expanded modular controller communicates with the one or more nodes of the distributed control system via a standard communication protocol, and wherein at least one port of the plurality of communication ports is configured as a standard port, the standard port implementing the standard communication protocol.

6. the first set of communication ports includes a first communication port, a second communication port, and a third communication port; the incoming message is an incoming unicast message, and the one or more port communication rules are configured to include in the software layer: (a) the first communication port, the second communication port, or the third communication port; selectively permitting the incoming unicast message entering any of the first, second, or third communication ports to be sent to a particular one of the first, second, or third communication ports; or (b) selectively restricting the incoming unicast message entering any of the first communication port, the second communication port, or the third communication port from being sent to a particular one of the first communication port, the second communication port, or the third communication port; The expandable modular controller of claim 1 , further comprising:

7. 6. The expanded modular controller of claim 1, wherein the first set of communication ports includes a first communication port, a second communication port, and a third communication port, the incoming message is an incoming broadcast type message, and the one or more port communication rules cause the software layer to selectively allow or restrict transmission of the incoming broadcast type message to the first communication port, the second communication port, and the third communication port.

8. the second set of communication ports includes a fourth communication port, a fifth communication port, and a sixth communication port; the incoming message is an incoming unicast message, and the one or more port communication rules are configured to include in the software layer: (a) selectively permitting the incoming unicast message entering any of the fourth communication port, the fifth communication port, or the sixth communication port to be sent to a particular one of the fourth communication port, the fifth communication port, or the sixth communication port; or (b) the incoming message is an incoming unicast message, and the one or more port communication rules cause the software layer to selectively restrict the incoming unicast message ingressing on any of the fourth communication port, the fifth communication port, or the sixth communication port from being sent to a particular one of the fourth communication port, the fifth communication port, or the sixth communication port. The expandable modular controller of claim 1 , further comprising:

9. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the second set of communication ports includes a fourth communication port, a fifth communication port, and a sixth communication port, the incoming message is an incoming broadcast type message, and the one or more port communication rules cause the software layer to selectively allow or restrict transmission of the incoming broadcast type message to the fourth communication port, the fifth communication port, or the sixth communication port. Expandable modular controller.

10. 10. The enhanced modular controller of claim 1, wherein the port configuration parameters cause the software layer to create or update a virtual local area network (VLAN) lookup table and one or more VLANs associated with the VLAN lookup table, and the software layer accesses the VLAN lookup table and the one or more VLANs to selectively allow or restrict retransmission of incoming messages.

11. 11. The enhanced modular controller of claim 10, wherein an incoming message on a first communication port of the plurality of communication ports causes the software layer to look up an ingress port identifier (ID) of the first communication port in the VLAN lookup table and determine at least one destination port ID based on the ingress port ID, the at least one destination port ID identifying a second communication port to which the incoming message should be retransmitted.

12. 12. The expanded modular controller of claim 1, further comprising a first controller and a second controller, the first controller including the control logic layer and the software layer, and the second controller including a redundant control logic layer and a redundant software layer, the redundant control logic layer being redundant with respect to the control logic layer, and the redundant software layer being redundant with respect to the software layer.

13. 13. The expandable modular controller of claim 1, wherein the first set of communication ports is associated with a first network switch and the second set of communication ports is associated with a second network switch, the second network switch being redundant to the first network switch.

14. 1. A method for configuring multiple communication ports of an expanded modular controller of a modular control system, comprising: receiving, at a software layer, port configuration parameters defining one or more port communication rules for the plurality of communication ports, the plurality of communication ports operable to communicate with one or more nodes of a distributed control system of a process plant, the plurality of communication ports including a first set of communication ports and a second set of communication ports; and configuring the software layer to selectively allow or restrict retransmission of incoming messages based on the one or more port communication rules, wherein the incoming messages arrive on either the first set of communication ports or the second set of communication ports; The one or more port communication rules permit or restrict inter-port communication between the first set of communication ports and the second set of communication ports.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the incoming message is based on at least one of a native protocol or a standard protocol of the distributed control system of the process plant.

16. the incoming message is an incoming unicast message, the incoming unicast message comprising: from a first communication port of the first series of communication ports to a second communication port of the first series of communication ports; or 16. The method of claim 14 or 15, wherein (a) the packet is retransmitted or (b) is restricted from being retransmitted at least one of from a first communication port of the second series of communication ports to a second communication port of the second series of communication ports.

17. The incoming message is an incoming broadcast type message, and the incoming broadcast type message is from a first communication port in the first series of communication ports to all remaining ports in the first series of communication ports; or 17. The method of claim 14, wherein the packet is retransmitted from a first port in the second series of ports to at least one of all remaining ports in the second series of ports.

18. configuring the software layer to selectively allow or restrict the retransmission of incoming messages according to the port configuration parameters; creating or updating, by the software layer, a virtual local area network (VLAN) lookup table and one or more VLANs associated with the VLAN lookup table; accessing, by the software layer, the VLAN lookup table and the one or more VLANs to determine an ingress port identifier (ID) of a first communication port; 18. The method of claim 14, further comprising: accessing, by the software layer, the VLAN lookup table and the one or more VLANs to determine, based on the ingress port ID, at least one destination port ID that identifies a second communication port to which the incoming message should be retransmitted.

19. 1. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions for implementing configuration of a plurality of communication ports of an expanded modular controller of a modular control system, the instructions being configured, on one or more processors, to: receiving, at a software layer, port configuration parameters defining one or more port communication rules for the plurality of communication ports, the plurality of communication ports operable to communicate with one or more nodes of a distributed control system of a process plant, the plurality of communication ports including a first set of communication ports and a second set of communication ports; configuring the software layer to selectively allow or restrict retransmission of incoming messages based on the one or more port communication rules, the incoming messages arriving on either the first set of communication ports or the second set of communication ports; A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, wherein the one or more port communication rules allow or restrict port-to-port communication between the first set of communication ports and the second set of communication ports.

20. 20. The non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions of claim 19, wherein the incoming message is based on at least one of a native protocol or a standard protocol of the distributed control system of the process plant.

21. the incoming message is an incoming unicast message, the incoming unicast message comprising: from a first communication port of the first series of communication ports to a second communication port of the first series of communication ports; or 21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions as described in claim 19 or 20, wherein: (a) a retransmitted or (b) is restricted from being retransmitted to at least one of a first communication port in the second series of communication ports to a second communication port in the second series of communication ports.

22. The incoming message is an incoming broadcast type message, and the incoming broadcast type message is from a first communication port in the first series of communication ports to all remaining ports in the first series of communication ports; or 22. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions as claimed in any one of claims 19 to 21, wherein the first communication port in the second series of communication ports is retransmitted to at least one of all remaining ports in the second series of communication ports.

23. configuring the software layer to selectively allow or restrict the retransmission of incoming messages according to the port configuration parameters; creating or updating, by the software layer, a virtual local area network (VLAN) lookup table and one or more VLANs associated with the VLAN lookup table; accessing, by the software layer, the VLAN lookup table and the one or more VLANs to determine an ingress port identifier (ID) of a first communication port; 23. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions as recited in any one of claims 19 to 22, comprising: accessing, by the software layer, the VLAN lookup table and the one or more VLANs to determine at least one destination port ID based on the ingress port ID, the at least one destination port ID identifying a second communication port to which the incoming message should be retransmitted.

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