Integrating multiple communication physical layers and protocols in process control input / output devices

Abstract

To communicatively couple field devices to process controllers in a process control system using multiple physical layers that support different communication protocols.SOLUTION: A process control input / output (I / O) device 26, 28, 29 in a field environment 122 of a process control system 5 provides traditional I / O support with direct physical layers or interfaces associated with traditional process control communication protocols while at the same time supporting an advanced physical layer (APL physical layer) or other IP based physical layer and the communication protocols that run on top of them in order to perform communications with field devices 15 to 24. In addition, the new I / O device nests protocols inside of other protocols for use when protocols, such as safety protocols, require additional handshaking, confirmations, etc.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This application relates generally to process control systems, and more particularly to communicatively coupling field devices to process controllers in a process control system using multiple physical layers supporting different communication protocols. [Background technology]

[0002] A distributed process control system, such as those used to manufacture, refine, convert, generate, or produce physical materials or products in chemical, petroleum, industrial, or other process plants, typically includes one or more process controllers communicatively coupled to one or more field devices, which may be, for example, valves, valve positioners, switches, and transmitters (e.g., temperature, pressure, level, and flow sensors), located within the process environment and generally perform physical process control functions, such as opening and closing valves, measuring process and / or environmental parameters, such as flow rate, temperature, or pressure, 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 FOUNDATION® Fieldbus protocol, may also perform control calculations, alarm functions, and other control functions typically implemented within a controller. Process controllers are also typically located within a plant environment and execute control applications that operate different control modules, receive signals indicative of process measurements made by the field devices and / or other information related to the field devices, make process control decisions, e.g., generate process control signals based on the received information, and coordinate among control modules or blocks running within the field devices, HART® field devices, WirelessHART® field devices, and FOUNDATION® Fieldbus field devices, etc.To accomplish this communication, a control module within the process controller sends control signals to various different input / output (I / O) devices, which then transmit these control signals over communication lines or links (communication physical layers) to actual field devices, thereby controlling the operation of at least a portion of a process plant or system, e.g., controlling at least a portion of one or more industrial processes operating or executing within the plant or system. Additionally, I / O devices typically located within a plant environment are generally interposed between the process controller and one or more field devices and enable communication therebetween by converting electrical signals to digital values ​​and vice versa. Different I / O devices are provided to support field devices using different communication protocols. More specifically, a different I / O device is provided between the process controller and each of the field devices using a particular communication protocol, such that a first I / O device is used to support HART field devices, a second I / O device is used to support Fieldbus field devices, and a third I / O device is used to support Profibus field devices. As used herein, field devices, controllers, and I / O devices are generally referred to as "process control devices" and are generally located, positioned, or installed in the field environment of a process control system or plant.

[0003] Additionally, information from the field devices and process controllers is typically made available via a data highway or communication network 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, typically located in a control room or other centralized computing device away from the more hostile field environment of the plant, e.g., in the back-end environment of the process plant. Each of these hardware devices is typically centralized throughout the process plant or throughout portions of the process plant. These hardware devices execute applications that enable operators to perform functions related to controlling the process and / or operating the process plant, such as, for example, changing settings in 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, and maintaining and updating configuration databases. The data highways utilized by hardware devices and process controllers can include wired communication paths, wireless communication paths, or a combination of wired and wireless communication paths, and typically use packet-based communication protocols and non-time-sensitive communication protocols such as Ethernet or IP protocols.

[0004] As an example, the DeltaV™ control system sold by Emerson Automation Solutions includes numerous applications stored in and executed by different devices located at various locations within a process plant. Configuration applications resident in one or more workstations or computing devices within the back-end environment of the process control system or plant enable users to create or modify process control modules and download them over a data highway to dedicated distributed controllers. Typically, these control modules are composed of communicatively interconnected function blocks, which are objects in an object-oriented programming protocol that perform functions within a control scheme based on inputs and provide outputs to other function blocks within the control scheme. The configuration application may also enable a configuration designer to create or modify operator interfaces that are used by viewing applications to display data to an operator and allow the operator to change settings, such as setpoints, 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 runs its assigned and downloaded control modules to implement the actual process control functions. A visibility application may run on one or more operator workstations (or one or more remote computing devices communicatively connected to the operator workstations and the data highway), and the visibility application may receive data from the controller application 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, a maintenance 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, a configuration database application may be run on an even further 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 in the same workstation as the configuration application.

[0005] As described above, a process control system can include multiple field devices that provide many different functional capabilities within a plant, and these field devices are communicatively coupled to a process controller using one of a variety of different types of physical interfaces or physical layers of communication interfaces. For example, a typical process control communication physical interface uses two wired interfaces configured in either a point-to-point wiring arrangement (e.g., only one field device communicatively coupled to a particular wired interface) or a multi-drop wiring arrangement (e.g., multiple field devices communicatively coupled to a wired interface). However, some field devices may be connected to the controller using a wireless communication physical layer, which may include wireless gateways and transceiver devices. Still further field devices are typically configured to communicate with the process controller using one of a variety of different communication protocols. These communication protocols are typically digital signaling protocols, but may also be analog protocols (e.g., 4-20mA protocols) or a combination of digital and analog protocols (e.g., HART protocols). Some of these protocols operate using relatively simple commands and / or communications (e.g., ON and OFF commands as used in the CAN protocol), while other protocols are more complex protocols that require more commands and / or more communication information, which may or may not include simple commands. For example, a more complex protocol may communicate analog values ​​using digital communications superimposed on the analog values, e.g., using the Highway Addressable Remote Transducer (HART®) communication protocol. Other field devices may use fully digital communications (e.g., the FOUNDATION® Fieldbus communication protocol) that provide many types of communications.Other process control communication protocols include the PROFIBUS communication protocol, but other process control communication protocols have also been developed and are in use. Each of these communication protocols requires or must be supported by a specific physical layer, including a two-wire, four-wire, or other physical layer, specific switches, etc. Additionally, the physical layer may specify maximum or minimum wire lengths, wire thicknesses, wire types, termination types, and other electrical characteristics.

[0006] As a result of the development of these various field device communication protocols, each of which typically uses different communication wiring (physical layers) and signaling formats, various different field devices (e.g., field devices using different protocols) are communicatively connected to a process controller via different input / output devices (I / O devices), with each different I / O device conforming to a different one of the process control protocols and supporting a particular type of physical layer. Thus, a typical plant may have a controller connected to many different I / O devices, such as Fieldbus I / O devices (connected to one or more FOUNDATION Fieldbus field devices via a FOUNDATION Fieldbus-compliant two-wire or four-wire bus), HART I / O devices connected to each of one or more HART-compliant field devices via separate two-wire or four-wire single-drop connections, CAN I / O devices connected to one or more CAN-compliant field devices via CAN-compliant wiring connections, etc.

[0007] Furthermore, coupling the communication ports of field devices to terminal blocks of I / O devices, and ultimately to process controllers within a process plant, is generally a complex process. Field devices must be coupled to I / O cards that convert signals received from the field devices into signals processable by the process controllers and convert signals received from the controllers into signals processable by the field devices. As a result, each channel of each I / O card corresponding to a particular field device must be associated with an appropriate signal type (so that the signals are properly processed by the I / O card), and the I / O cards must ultimately be communicatively coupled to a controller or controllers that receive signals from and / or transmit signals to the field devices coupled to that I / O card.

[0008] As mentioned above, each field device is coupled to an I / O device using a specific communication medium or physical layer (e.g., a two-wire cable, a wireless link, or optical fiber) via a terminal block on the I / O device, and further coupled using one of these or other specialized process control communication protocols developed in the process control industry (e.g., HART, CAN, WirelessHART, FOUNDATION Fieldbus, PROFIBUS, etc.). Furthermore, the I / O devices are typically individually connected to the process controller via a separate bus or wired connection. The use of these different I / O devices means that the physical and logical connections between different field devices must be precisely mapped so that the controller connected to the different I / O devices can track which field device is connected to which port on each I / O device in order to communicate signals over the correct “path” to that field device. This problem is particularly troublesome with the HART protocol, where each field device is connected to a different output port on a HART-compliant I / O device.

[0009] To alleviate this configuration problem, hardware configurable I / O devices have been developed that use, for example, HART field devices and a HART physical layer. The hardware configurable I / O device includes a hardware configurable platform that connects a variety of different HART field devices (and / or 4-20mA devices that use the same physical layer as the HART devices) to a controller. The hardware configurable I / O device includes a removable head-end processor that communicates with one or more process controllers via a first external bus and with a number of different configurable I / O slots via a second internal bus, each connected to a different end port (terminal block) of the I / O device and associated with the same. Furthermore, each output port or terminal block is configured to connect to a different field device via, for example, a two-wire or four-wire HART-compliant communication line or physical layer. The hardware configurable I / O device may also include a power supply device that provides power (for HART-compliant devices) to each of the I / O slots via the same internal bus or via a second internal bus. Importantly, each I / O slot is adapted to receive a hardware module called an Electronic Marshal Component (EMC) that, when inserted into the slot, connects the module on one side (the input side) with the head-end processor (via an internal communication bus within the I / O device) and power supply (if present), and the module on the other side (the output side) with one of the I / O device's output ports or terminal blocks to which HART-compliant field devices may be connected. The hardware module or EMC located in each specific slot of the I / O device contains a processor and memory that communicates with the HART-compliant field devices connected via the output ports using the HART communication protocol, and the module operates to obtain configuration and other information from the connected HART field devices.The hardware module's processor also communicates information about the detected HART-compliant field device to the I / O device's head-end processor, which uses this information to associate the detected field device with a specific hardware slot in the I / O device. In this way, insertion of the hardware module (along with the operation of its internal processor) allows any HART-compliant field device to be coupled to any of the I / O device's input / output ports, allowing it to be automatically detected and configured without the process controller knowing the specific hardware slot / output port to which the field device is connected before the connection is actually made. Various examples of this hardware-configurable I / O device are described in detail in U.S. Patent Nos. 7,684,875; 8,332,567; 8,762,618; 8,977,851; 9,083,548; and 9,495,313, each of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.

[0010] It is also common to use generic IP or other packet-based communication protocols to communicate between certain other devices within a process plant. For example, it is common to use a packet-based or generic IP protocol over an Ethernet bus to communicatively connect one or more distributed process controllers to one or more user interfaces, databases (e.g., configuration databases or history databases), and servers in the back-end plant environment. Thus, Ethernet, which is both a physical layer and partially a data link layer, is an important communications platform for automation systems. Importantly, while process control communication protocols such as HART, 4-20ma, FOUNDATION Fieldbus, CAN, and PROFIBUS are currently used for communication at the field device level, Ethernet-based communication technologies are emerging as potential solutions for implementing field device communications. Importantly, Ethernet enables flexibility, scalability, and performance in ways not previously available in automation. To support the adoption of Ethernet in automation, the Advanced Physical Layer (APL) specification has been designed to support the connection of field devices in remote and hazardous locations. Behind APL is the IEEE P802.3cg project, which focuses on developing extensions to the existing IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard (IEEE 802.3) for Ethernet over twisted pair cabling (10BASE-T1L). This development is important because there is a long list of automated protocols developed for various purposes that can run on top of the Ethernet physical layer.

[0011] To support this new development in Ethernet-based communication in process control, the FieldComm Group standardized HART-IP as part of the HART7 release. HART-IP was initially designed to allow hosts to communicate efficiently with gateways, but it is now emerging as a way for devices to communicate directly with I / O servers and hosts. Today, HART-IP is already being used in monitoring, control, diagnostics, and condition monitoring applications. Because HART-IP already has a complete description of the device, it is a suitable protocol to layer on top of APL. Additionally, a widely supported protocol at the device level is OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA). While OPC UA does not natively understand device communications or types, considerable effort is being made to provide some level of support. While HART-IP and OPC UA are likely to see relatively rapid market adoption, they are not alone. Other protocols, such as Ethernet IP and PROFINET, are already available over Ethernet and will operate on top of APL once it becomes available. Furthermore, IT-driven protocols such as MQTT and AMQP will emerge as important protocols as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) gains acceptance.

[0012] However, supporting Ethernet and other advanced physical layers in a process plant that already contains an installed base that relies heavily on traditional field devices, such as HART and FOUNDATION Fieldbus field devices, including packet-based and generic IP communication protocols, is challenging and requires synthesis or integration of these various communication protocols at some point in the process control network via one or more electronic marshalling cabinets or devices. It is currently unclear how such advanced protocols can be integrated into a typical process plant architecture and operated in a reliable and robust manner. Summary of the Invention

[0013] The new I / O devices offer traditional I / O support, including direct physical layers or interfaces associated with traditional or specialized process control communication protocols, such as 4-20mA, 1-5v, HART, and FOUNDATION Fieldbus protocols, while also supporting APL and other Ethernet- or generic IP-based physical layers and communication protocols running on top of them. Additionally, the new I / O devices can nest protocols within other protocols for use when protocols, such as safety protocols, require additional handshaking or confirmation. Furthermore, the new I / O devices include hardware configurability, allowing process control systems to easily configure a number of different physical layers, including those used by traditional process control communication protocols, and more advanced physical layers, including those used by generic IP communication systems, to communicate at the field device level (e.g., between a process controller and field devices).

[0014] More specifically, the I / O devices described herein support multiple I / O types, including packet-based, IP-based, or other advanced protocols such as HART-IP, OPC UA, Ethernet, etc. The I / O devices include mixed physical layers and support for multiple protocols that can be used to implement control at the I / O devices in a manner that leads to improved control. Additionally, the I / O devices described herein can support request / response, publish / subscribe, event-based communication, and streaming communication, which will be highly useful in supporting a combination of control and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications (also generally referred to herein as monitoring systems) that are interested in measurement and actuator data, their capabilities, their diagnostics, and information that can be determined by a combination of these measurements, capabilities, and diagnostics. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example process plant, at least a portion of which implements a mixed physical layer and communication protocol I / O architecture. [Figure 2] 2 shows a diagram of an exemplary advanced physical layer network connected to the plant's Ethernet bus and used to support direct IP-based communication with field devices of FIG. 1. [Figure 3] Describes a hardware configurable I / O or marshalling device that supports communication with field devices using a number of different physical layers and communication protocols. [Figure 4] 4 shows a partial electrical schematic diagram of the hardware configurable marshalling device of FIG. 3. [Figure 5] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the marshalling device of FIG. 3 configured to support both HART and APL physical layers, showing the device connected using separate power and field switches for the APL layer. [Figure 6] 4 shows a schematic diagram of the marshalling device of FIG. 3 configured to support both HART and APL physical layers and the device connected using a combination of APL power and field switches for the APL layer. [Figure 7] 3 shows a schematic diagram of a marshalling device configured to support multiple different types of field device communication networks over an APL physical layer over an advanced physical layer communication network by tunneling traditional process control communication protocols into another common IP communication protocol. [Figure 8] The packet structure of a Fieldbus message tunneled in an IP packet of the HART-IP communication protocol is shown. [Figure 9] 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of the marshalling device of FIG. 3 configured to support wireless device communications via one or more wireless protocols using an advanced physical layer network. [Figure 10] 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of the marshalling device of FIG. 3 configured to support high-security applications over wireless device communications using an advanced physical layer network. [Figure 11] 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of the marshalling device of FIG. 3 configured to support high-security applications over wired device communications using an advanced physical layer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example process plant, process control system, or process control environment 5 that may use a number of different physical layers and hardware-configurable marshalling or I / O devices supporting different communication protocols that use those different physical layers in providing communication with field devices within the plant. Generally speaking, the example process plant 5 of FIG. 1 includes one or more process controllers that receive signals indicative of process measurements made by the field devices, process this information to implement control routines, and generate control signals that are transmitted over wired or wireless process control communication links (physical layers) to other field devices to control the operation of the process within the plant 5. Typically, each of the field devices performs a physical function (e.g., opening or closing a valve, increasing or decreasing a temperature, taking measurements, sensing a condition, etc.) to control the operation of the process. Generally, the field devices communicate with the process controllers using I / O devices, and the process controllers, field devices, and I / O devices may be wired or wireless. Furthermore, the process plant environment 5 may include any number and combination of wired and wireless process controllers, field devices, and I / O devices.

[0017] 1 illustrates a process controller 11 communicatively connected to wired field devices 15-22 via standard or conventional process control protocol input / output (I / O) cards 26-28, and to wired field devices 23-24 via an advanced or multi-protocol I / O card 29, referred to herein as a mixed or multiple protocol I / O card or device, or a mixed or multiple physical layer I / O device. In this case, the controller 11 is communicatively coupled to the I / O devices 26-29 via a backplane bus (not shown), which may implement any desired communication protocol, including any proprietary protocol. The controller 11 is also communicatively connected to wireless field devices 40-46 in a wireless network 70 via a wireless gateway 35 and a process control data highway or backbone 10. The process control data highway 10 may be implemented as an Ethernet communication fabric, may include one or more wired and / or wireless communication links, and may be implemented using any desired or suitable general-purpose IP communication protocol, such as the Ethernet protocol. In some configurations (not shown), the controller 11 may be communicatively coupled to the wireless gateway 35 by using one or more communication networks other than the backbone 10, such as any number of other wired or wireless communication links supporting one or more communication protocols, such as Wi-Fi or other IEEE 802.11 compliant wireless local area network protocols, mobile communication protocols (e.g., WiMAX, LTE, or other ITU-R compatible protocols), Bluetooth®, HART®, WirelessHART®, Profibus, FOUNDATION® Fieldbus, etc. Additionally, the controller 11 may be coupled to field devices 82 via an additional field device network 80 that uses an advanced physical layer (APL) or other physical layer supporting more traditional internet or packet-based communication protocols.

[0018] The controller 11 may be, for example, a DeltaV™ controller sold by Emerson Automation Solutions, and may operate to implement a batch or continuous process using at least some of the field devices 15-24, 40-46, and 82. In addition to being communicatively connected to the process control data highway 10, the controller 11 is communicatively connected to at least some of the field devices 15-24, 40-46, and 82 via I / O cards 26, 28, and 29 using any desired hardware and software associated with a variety of different communication protocols, e.g., 4-20 mA, FOUNDATION® Fieldbus protocol, HART® protocol, WirelessHART® protocol, etc. In FIG. 1 , the controller 11, field devices 15-24 and 82, and I / O cards 26, 28, and 29 are wired devices, while the field devices 40-46 are wireless field devices. As will be appreciated, the wired field devices 15-24 and 82, and the wireless field devices 40-46, may conform to any standard or available communication protocol, such as any wired or wireless protocol, including any standard or protocol developed in the future.

[0019] Generally speaking, the process controller 11 of FIG. 1 includes a processor 30 that implements or oversees one or more process control routines 38 (e.g., stored in memory 32). The processor 30 is configured to communicate with the field devices 15-24, 82, and 40-46 and with other nodes communicatively connected to the controller 11. The control routines 38 may be implemented in any desired software format, such as using object-oriented programming, ladder logic, sequential function charts, function block diagrams, or any other software programming language or design paradigm. The control routines 38 may be stored in any desired type of memory 32, such as random access memory (RAM) or read-only memory (ROM). Similarly, the control routines 38 may be hard-coded, for example, in one or more EPROMs, EEPROMs, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any other hardware or firmware elements. Thus, the controller 11 can be configured to implement control strategies or control routines in any desired manner.

[0020] In one example, the controller 11 implements a control strategy using what are commonly referred to as function blocks, each of which is an object or other portion (e.g., a subroutine) of an overall control routine and which operates with other function blocks (through communications called links) to implement a process control loop within the process control system 5. Control-based function blocks typically perform one of the following functions: an input function, such as one associated with a transmitter, sensor, or other process parameter measurement device; a control function, such as one associated with a control routine that implements 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 control system 5. Of course, hybrid and other types of function blocks exist. The function blocks may be stored within and executed by the controller 11, which is typically the case when these function blocks are used for or associated with certain types of smart field devices, such as standard 4-20 mA devices and HART® devices, or the function blocks may be stored within and implemented by the field device itself, which may be the case for FOUNDATION® Fieldbus devices. Thus, the controller 11 may include one or more control routines 38 that may implement one or more control loops that are executed by executing one or more of the function blocks.

[0021] Wired field devices 15-24, 82 may be any type of device, such as sensors, valves, transmitters, positioners, etc., while I / O cards 26 and 28 may be any known type of I / O device conforming to any desired communication or controller protocol. In FIG. 1, field devices 15-18 are illustrated as standard 4-20 mA or HART® devices that communicate to I / O card 26 via analog or combination analog and digital lines (HART or 4-20 physical layers), and field devices 19-22 are illustrated as smart devices, such as FOUNDATION® Fieldbus field devices, that communicate via a digital bus to I / O card 28 using the FOUNDATION® Fieldbus communication protocol and physical layer. However, in some embodiments, at least some of the wired field devices 15, 16 and 18-22 and / or at least some of the I / O cards 26, 28 may alternatively communicate with the controller 11 using other suitable control system protocols (e.g., Profibus, DeviceNet, Foundation Fieldbus, ControlNet, Modbus, HART, etc.).

[0022] Further, as generally illustrated in FIG. 1 , the wired field devices 23 and 24 are communicatively coupled to the I / O device 29 via various different communication lines or buses. In particular, and as described in further detail herein, the I / O device 29 includes a number of output ports, pin connectors, or terminal blocks, each of which may be adapted to accept physical layer hardware (communication lines) associated with different physical layers supporting different field device communication protocols (e.g., two-wire, three-wire, four-wire, etc. physical layers). Furthermore, the I / O device 29 supports communication with different devices connected to its terminal blocks using different communication protocols. In one example, the I / O device 29 may support and be connected to a HART-compliant physical layer (which may be used to communicate with the HART-compliant field device 23 using the HART communication protocol) and may also support and be connected to one or more other field devices 24 via one or more advanced physical layers, such as an Ethernet bus or wire set, an APL physical layer, or the like, and may be used to communicate with the field devices 24 via the advanced physical layer hardware using, for example, a packet-based protocol (e.g., an IP protocol, an Ethernet protocol, etc.). Of course, field devices 23 and 24 may be any type of device, including sensors, valves, transmitters, positioners, etc., and may communicate with I / O devices or I / O cards 29 using analog and / or digital signals, using wired or wireless physical layers.

[0023] The I / O devices 29 are communicatively connected to the controller 11 via a backplane bus (not shown), as indicated by dotted line 10a in FIG. 1 , thus enabling the controller 11 to communicate with field devices connected to the I / O devices 29, although the I / O devices 29 may alternatively or directly be connected to a bus or Ethernet connection 10 so as to be able to communicate directly with applications and other devices on the bus 10 (and even devices external to or outside the plant 5) and provide direct access to the field devices 23, 24 connected to the I / O cards 29. As described in further detail herein, some of the field devices 23, 24 connected to the I / O card 29 may include IP addresses and therefore be addressable via the IP protocol (i.e., these field devices may be part of an IIoT system or other monitoring system or may otherwise be reachable via the IP communication protocol), so that the I / O card 29 can also act as a direct gateway to the field devices 23, 24 within an asset management system or IIoT system, so that these systems do not need to communicate through a controller (such as controller 11) to obtain information from field devices that support the IP communication protocol.

[0024] In the example plant 5 depicted in FIG. 1 , wireless field devices 40-46 communicate over a wireless process control communication network 70 using a wireless protocol, such as the WirelessHART® protocol. Such wireless field devices 40-46 may communicate directly with one or more other devices or nodes of the wireless network 70 that are also configured for wireless communication (e.g., using the same or a different wireless protocol). To communicate with one or more other nodes not configured for wireless communication, the wireless field devices 40-46 may utilize a wireless gateway 35 connected to the process control data highway 10 or to another process control communication network. The wireless gateway 35 provides access to the various wireless devices 40-58 of the wireless communication network 70. Specifically, the wireless gateway 35 provides a communication link between the wireless devices 40-58, the wired devices 11-29, and / or other nodes or devices of the process control plant 5. For example, the wireless gateway 35 provides a communicative coupling by using the process control data highway 10 and / or by using one or more other communication networks of the process plant 5.

[0025] Like the wired field devices 15-24, the wireless field devices 40-46 of the wireless network 70 perform physical control functions within the process plant 5, such as opening or closing a valve or taking measurements of a process parameter. However, the wireless field devices 40-46 are configured to communicate using the wireless protocol of the network 70. In this manner, the wireless field devices 40-46, the wireless gateway 35, and the other wireless nodes 52-58 of the wireless network 70 are producers and consumers of wireless communication packets.

[0026] In some configurations of the process plant 5, the wireless network 70 includes non-wireless devices. For example, in FIG. 1 , field device 48 is a conventional 4-20 mA device, and field device 50 is a wired HART® device. To communicate within the network 70, field devices 48 and 50 connect to the wireless communication network 70 via wireless adapters 52 a, 52 b. Wireless adapters 52 a, 52 b support wireless protocols such as WirelessHART® and may also support one or more other communication protocols, such as Foundation® Fieldbus, PROFIBUS, DeviceNet, etc. Additionally, in some configurations, the wireless network 70 includes one or more network access points 55 a, 55 b, which may be separate physical devices in wired communication with the wireless gateway 35 or may be provided within the wireless gateway 35 as integrated devices. The wireless network 70 may also include one or more routers 58 for forwarding packets from one wireless device to another within the wireless communication network 70. In FIG. 1, wireless devices 40 - 46 and 52 - 58 communicate with each other and with wireless gateway 35 via wireless links 60 of wireless communication network 70 and / or through process control data highway 10 .

[0027] Furthermore, and as described in more detail below, the process plant 5 includes an advanced physical layer network 80 that directly connects field devices 82 to the network bus or backbone 10 using a packet-based or IP communication protocol. In particular, the network 80 includes an APL power switch 84 coupled to a number of APL field switches 86 via an APL communication bus or line 88. Generally speaking, the APL power switch 84 includes a power supply that provides power to the APL field switches 86 via the line or bus 88 (which may be a trunk configuration, illustrated by the solid lines, or a ring configuration, illustrated by the solid and dotted lines, of the network 80). The field devices 82 communicate with the APL field switches 86 using any desired protocol supported by the APL physical layer (which may be, for example, an Ethernet physical layer or other physical layer that supports packet-based communication, including non-time-sensitive or time-sensitive networks). Furthermore, the field switches 86 communicate using the same protocol and physical layer via the line 88 with the switch 84, which acts as a gateway to the backbone 10. Additionally, the field switch 86 is directly connected to one or more field devices 82 via the spur lines (as defined by the APL physical layer) and communicates with the field devices 82 using the same communication protocol used on the trunk lines 88. The power switch 84 and the field switch 86 operate to communicate packets over the lines 88 between the backbone 10 and the field devices 82. Of course, if desired, the power switch 84 may be directly coupled to a process controller, or may be indirectly coupled to a process controller, such as the process controller 11, via the backbone network 10.

[0028] 1 , the process control system 5 includes one or more operator and / or maintenance workstations 71 communicatively connected to the data highway 10. Using the operator or maintenance workstations 71, operators or maintenance personnel can view and monitor the process plant 5's runtime operation, device health and status information, etc., and take any diagnostic, corrective, maintenance, and / or other action that may be required. At least some of the operator or maintenance workstations 71 may be located in various, protected areas within or near the plant 5, and in some situations, at least some of the operator or maintenance workstations 71 may be located in remote locations but still communicatively connected to the plant 5. The operator or maintenance workstations 71 may be wired or wireless computing devices.

[0029] The example process control system 5 is further illustrated as including a configuration application 72a and a configuration database 72b, each of which is also communicatively connected to the data highway 10. Various instances of the configuration application 72a may run on one or more computing devices (not shown) to allow users to create or modify process control modules and download these modules to the controller 11 via the data highway 10, and to allow users to create or modify operator interfaces that allow operators to view data and change data settings within process control routines. The configuration database 72b stores the created (e.g., configured) modules and / or operator interfaces. Generally, the configuration application 72a and the configuration database 72b may be centralized and have a single logical appearance to the process control system 5, even though multiple instances of the configuration application 72a may run simultaneously within the process control system 5, and the configuration database 72b may be implemented across multiple data storage devices. Thus, the configuration application 72a, configuration database 72b, and user interface thereto (not shown) comprise a configuration or development system 72 for the control and / or display module. Typically, but not necessarily, the user interface for the configuration system 72 differs from the operator workstation 71 because the user interface for the configuration system 72 is utilized by configuration and development engineers regardless of whether the plant 5 is operating in real time, whereas the operator and maintenance workstation 71 is utilized by operators and maintenance personnel during real-time operation of the process plant 5 (also referred to herein interchangeably as “runtime” operation of the process plant 5). Additionally, the process control system 5 may include an asset management system 77 that collects and processes field device and controller data to perform maintenance of the process control system 5 in a known manner.The asset management system 77 may include one or more databases for storing and processing collected data and / or may use databases 72b, 73b and other databases within the plant. The asset management system 77 may also communicate directly with devices such as the controller 11, the input / output devices 29, the gateway 35, the power switch 84, etc.

[0030] The example process control system 5 also includes a data historian application 73a and a data historian database 73b, each of which is also communicatively connected to the data highway 10. The data historian application 73a operates to collect some or all of the data provided across the data highway 10 and historize or store the data in the historian database 73b for long-term storage. Like the configuration application 72a and the configuration database 72b, the data historian application 73a and the historian database 73b may be centralized and have a single logical appearance to the process control system 5, even though multiple instances of the data historian application 73a may be running simultaneously within the process control system 5, and the data historian 73b may be implemented across multiple physical data storage devices.

[0031] In some configurations, the process control system 5 includes one or more other wireless access points 74 that communicate with other devices using Wi-Fi or other IEEE 802.11-compliant wireless local area network protocols, mobile communication protocols such as WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution) or other ITU-R (International Telecommunication Union Radio Communication Sector) compatible protocols, other wireless protocols such as shortwave wireless communications such as near field communication (NFC) and Bluetooth, or other wireless communication protocols. Typically, such wireless access points 74 enable communication by handheld or other portable computing devices (e.g., user interface devices 75) over a respective wireless process control communication network that is different from the wireless network 70 and supports a different wireless protocol than the wireless network 70. For example, the wireless or portable user interface device 75 may be a mobile workstation or diagnostic test equipment utilized by an operator (e.g., one instance of the operator workstation 71) within the process plant 5.

[0032] In some configurations, the process control system 5 includes one or more gateways 76, 78 to systems external to the instant process control system 5. Typically, such systems are consumers or providers of information generated or manipulated by the process control system 5. For example, the process control plant 5 may include a gateway node 76 for communicatively connecting the instant process plant 5 with another process plant. Additionally or alternatively, the process control plant 5 may include a gateway node 78 for communicatively connecting the instant process plant 5 with external public or private systems, such as a laboratory system (e.g., a laboratory information management system or LIMS), an operator round inventory control system, a product inventory control system, a production scheduling system, a weather data system, a shipping and handling system, a packaging system, the Internet, another provider's process control system, or other external systems.

[0033] 1 merely illustrates a single controller 11 with a finite number of I / O devices 26, 28, 29, field devices 15-24, 40-46, 82, wireless gateway 35, wireless adapter 52, access point 55, router 58, and wireless process control communications network 70 included in an example process plant 5, it should be noted that this is merely an exemplary and non-limiting embodiment. Any number of controllers 11 may be included in the process control plant or system 5, and any number of controllers 11 may communicate via any number of I / O devices 26, 28, 29 with any number of wired or wireless devices and networks 15-24, 40-46, 35, 52, 55, 58, 70, 82 to control processes within the process control plant 5. For example, the process plant 5 may include various physical areas, each of which may have one or more associated controllers 11 (and associated I / O devices 26, 28, 29) that communicate with a set of associated field devices and networks 15-24, 40-46, 35, 52, 55, 58, 70 within that physical area.

[0034] It is further noted that the process plant or control system 5 of FIG. 1 includes a field environment 122 (e.g., "process plant floor 122") and a back-end environment 125 communicatively connected by the data highway 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the field environment 122 includes physical components (e.g., process control devices, networks, network elements, etc.) disposed, installed, and interconnected therein that operate to control the process during operation. For example, the controller 11, I / O cards 26, 28, 29, field devices 15-24, and other devices and network components 40-46, 35, 52, 55, 58, 70 are located, disposed, or included within the field environment 122 of the process plant 5. Generally speaking, raw materials are received and processed within the field environment 122 of the process plant 5 using the physical components disposed therein to produce one or more products.

[0035] The back-end environment 125 of the process plant 5 includes various components, such as computing devices, operator workstations, databases or data banks, that are shielded and / or protected from the harsh conditions and materials of the field environment 122. With reference to FIG. 1 , the back-end environment 125 includes, for example, an operator or maintenance workstation 71, a configuration or development system 72 for controlling modules and other executable modules, a data history system 73, and / or other centralized control systems, computing devices, and / or functionality that support operational operations of the process plant 5. In some configurations, the various computing devices, databases, and other components and equipment included in the back-end environment 125 of the process plant 5 may be physically located at different physical locations, some of which may be local to the process plant 5 and some of which may be remote.

[0036] As described above, the plant environment 5, and particularly the field environment 122 of the plant 5, includes support for advanced protocols running on an advanced physical layer to facilitate communication between field devices and process controllers. As an example of this support, FIG. 2 depicts the advanced physical layer (APL) network 80 of FIG. 1 in greater detail. The APL network 80 supports communication between various field devices 82 and controllers 11 using packet-based or advanced (e.g., generic IP-based) communication protocols. In particular, the network 80 includes an APL power switch 84 connected, for example, via an Ethernet or other bus 10, to a control system (e.g., controller 11 of FIG. 1) and / or a cloud or other application 90. The cloud application 90 may include any or all of the applications and devices 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, and 76 of FIG. 1, as well as other devices connected via an access point, such as access point 74. The cloud application may include simulation applications, control applications, data storage and processing applications, and the like. In either case, the APL power switch 84 includes an APL power device that provides power via the APL physical layer, and the APL power switch 84 functions as a gateway to the APL network 80, and in particular to various APL field switches 86 connected to the APL power switch 84 via a bus or wire network 88 that conforms to the APL physical layer standard. As illustrated with respect to FIG. 1 , the bus or wire network 88 may be a trunk line or a ring topology, as indicated by the dashed portion of the bus 88. In either case, the bus 88 is an APL physical layer that includes, for example, a two-wire or four-wire wired network, and provides communication signals as well as power signals from the APL power switch 84 to the APL field switches 86. Furthermore, each of the APL field switches 86 has one or any other number of field devices 82 connected to it via an appropriate APL physical layer or link 92.As an example, the APL link 92 may conform to the APL specification and may be a two-wire or four-wire bus that provides or allows communication and power signals to be transmitted between the APL field switch 86 and the field device 82.

[0037] Of course, the APL power switch 84 acts as a gateway to the bus 10 and operates to multiplex signals from external sources, such as signals from the backbone bus 10, onto the link 88 using the communications protocol established for the network 80. Similarly, the power switch 84 may operate to decode messages from any of the field switches 86 on the link 88 that are destined for destinations outside the network 80 (which may be messages from field devices 82) and transmit these messages onto the link 10. Similarly, the APL field switch 86 decodes messages on the link 88, and if the message is destined for one of the field devices 82 connected to the field switch 86, the field switch 86 places the message on the spur line or link 92 to transmit it to the field device 82. Similarly, the field switch 86 receives messages from field devices 82 via the link 92 and places those messages on the link 88 for delivery to another field switch 86 or the power switch 84. Generally speaking, field devices 82 are all APL-compliant field devices in that they use the APL physical layer and a communication protocol supported by the APL physical layer (e.g., IP communication protocol) for communication over links 92 and 88. Field devices 82 may also receive power over link 92, which is supplied from field switch 86 and ultimately from APL power switch 84 and its associated power supply over bus 88.

[0038] In one example, the APL (physical layer) in FIG. 2 may be a ruggedized, two-wire, loop-powered Ethernet physical layer using 10BASE-T1L plus extensions for process plant operating conditions and installation in hazardous areas. In this case, the APL power switch 84 provides connectivity between all standard Ethernet networks and field devices and includes a power supply for powering the APL field switch 86 and the field device 82. Typically, the power switch 84 is located in a junction box in a control room or on a skid. Similarly, the APL field switch 86 may be designed for installation and operation in hazardous areas. The field switch 86 is loop-powered by the APL power switch 84 and distributes both communication signals and power to the field device 82 via a spur 92. The Advanced Physical Layer (APL) project was initiated to create a protocol-neutral Ethernet that could solve the problem of finding a protocol for long-reach Ethernet. This physical layer, as described herein, can be used in process automation and process instrumentation, for example, to connect field devices in remote and hazardous locations, and operates to extend the Ethernet physical layer, which operates at 10 Mb / s over a pair of cables. Additionally, APL extends 10BASE-T1L for use in hazardous areas, enabling the development of standards associated with typical protection methods, particularly intrinsic safety.

[0039] 2 can use any communication protocol supported by APL, such as any protocol supported by an Ethernet connection. These protocols include, but are not limited to, Internet Protocol (IP protocol), packet-based protocols, time-sensitive protocols, and non-time-sensitive protocols. More specifically, these protocols may include HART-IP, OPC UA, and any other desired protocols designed for process control communication. Similarly, these protocols may include protocols not traditionally used in process automation, such as protocols that support request / response, publish / subscribe, and event-based communication, and general-purpose IP protocols including data streaming.

[0040] The use of network 80 illustrates one methodology for implementing the APL physical layer and supported communication protocols within a process control system to provide communication between field devices, such as field device 82, and other devices, such as process controller 11 or other devices on network 10 of FIG. 1. Of course, in other embodiments, a process controller, such as process controller 11 of FIG. 1, may be directly connected to APL power switch 84 and use the APL physical layer to provide communication with that power switch, thereby using the APL physical layer to communicate between field device 82 and a controller (e.g., controller 11). Additionally, a power source may be provided within or associated with APL power switch 84 and may transmit power to field switch 86 via bus 88, while APL field switch 86 may be separately powered or may include its own power source or source and may provide power to itself, similar to field device 82, via APL spur line 92.

[0041] Generally speaking, network 80 provides an example of how a standalone APL network can be provided within a process control system to provide communication between process controllers and field devices using a more traditional IP-based communication protocol. Network 80 can be useful when new field devices supporting more traditional IP-based communication protocols are newly added to a plant or to an area of ​​the plant. However, it is also possible to integrate the APL physical layer (and the IP communication protocols that use that layer) within an existing plant network. In particular, an overall I / O system can be used within a plant's field environment to support multiple I / O types while maintaining the plant's more traditional I / O architecture. Typically, new I / O devices provide or support a mixed physical layer that can support multiple different communication protocols, including traditional process control protocols and more general or general-purpose IP-based protocols. Furthermore, the I / O devices provide control at the I / O device processor, leading to improved control and support for the combination of control and IIoT applications (typically interested in measurement and actuator data), their capabilities, and their diagnostics.

[0042] The I / O device 29 of FIG. 1 is an example I / O device that provides a mixed physical layer and communication protocol platform and can be used to provide communications between a process controller and multiple different field devices via a variety of different physical layers and a variety of different communication protocols. FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a mixed physical layer and protocol device 140 (which may be the I / O device 29 of FIG. 1) in more detail. More specifically, FIG. 3 depicts a perspective view of an example electronic marshalling or I / O device 140 that supports communications with multiple different field devices using multiple different physical layers and, optionally, different communication protocols on the different physical layers. Generally speaking, the I / O device 140 includes an I / O card base or carrier having an upper portion 142 (associated with the head-end unit or controller side of the I / O card 140) and a lower portion 148 associated with the field device side of the I / O card 140. The upper portion 142 of the base includes preconfigured slots (not explicitly shown in FIG. 3 ) into which one or more I / O processor modules 145 are placed or inserted. The I / O card carrier base 142 may support a number of different I / O processor modules 145, to which a process controller (e.g., process control 11 of FIG. 1 ) may be connected via wired or wireless connections discussed with respect to FIGS. 1 and 4 but not explicitly shown in FIG. 3 . In the example of FIG. 3 , the I / O base 142 supports two I / O processor modules 145, although more or fewer processor modules 145 may be supported within (inserted into) the base 142. Furthermore, the I / O processor modules 145 may be associated with the same or different communication protocols, may be redundant I / O processor modules that perform the same function for one or more different communication protocols, may include a separate I / O processor module for each different communication protocol supported by the I / O device 140, or may include a processor module 145 that supports a number of different communication protocols using different physical layer structures.Still further, one of the processor modules 145 may be or include one or more power sources for one or more different communication protocols, etc.

[0043] As will be appreciated, the processor module 145 communicates with a process controller (e.g., process controller 11 of FIG. 1 ) communicatively connected on one side of the I / O device 140, and with various different electronic marshalling components located on the I / O device 140, which in turn communicate with field devices on the other side of the I / O device 140. The processor module 145 may include specialized or general-purpose processors and memory programmed to perform various communication functions, including receiving and transmitting communication signals to the process controller, decoding and encoding signals received from and transmitted to the field devices using one or more communication protocols, responding to messages from the field devices and the process controller using appropriate communication protocols to communicate information and messages from the controller to the field devices and vice versa, tracking the identity and logical location of the field devices coupled to the I / O device (i.e., determining, tracking, and storing the communication paths and communication protocols used to communicate with the field devices connected to the I / O device), etc. The processor module may also optionally include a power supply or connect to an external power source to provide power over one or more field device communication networks connected to the I / O device 140.

[0044] Additionally, the lower marshalling base 148 electrically and communicatively connects to the upper base 142 (and thus the I / O modules 145) via one or more internal buses (not shown in FIG. 3 ). While only one lower base 148 is illustrated in FIG. 3 , multiple lower bases 148 may be serially connected together to connect to the upper base 142. Each of the bases 148 (again, only one of which is shown in FIG. 3 ) supports multiple, individually configurable channels, each channel including a dedicated slot 149A, 149B, etc., coupled to a dedicated wire terminal block 150A, 150B, etc., located on the base 148. Each wire terminal block 150 includes any desired type of wire termination points, connectors, or other attachment hardware for connecting the terminal block 150 to one or more field devices, and each terminal block 150 may be configured to receive or connect wires or physical layer hardware associated with any of a variety of different physical layers invoked by different communication protocols. In some embodiments, each terminal block 150 may be configured to accept wiring or physical layer structures associated with multiple different types of physical layers. As a result, each terminal block 150 may include a screw-type wire connector, a spring-type wire connector, etc. for each of two, three, four, etc. wires that may be used for or conform to a variety of different types of physical layers (which, in turn, support any of a variety of different communication protocols). By way of example only, each terminal block 150 may include a set of wire connectors that accept and connect wires associated with one or more of a HART physical layer, a FOUNDATION Fieldbus physical layer, an Ethernet physical layer, an APL physical layer, or any other desired physical layer.

[0045] Similarly, each of the slots 149 is adapted or configured to accept a removable electronic marshalling component (EMC) 152. A different ECM 152 may be removably inserted into each different slot 149A, 149B, etc., and, when inserted into a slot 149, may be securely received and electronically connected to the terminal block 150 associated with the particular slot 149. Although not explicitly shown in FIG. 3 , each slot 149 is also connected to the I / O processor module 145 via one or more internal buses (within the base 148 and 142) to enable the I / O processor module 145 to communicate with each of the ECMs 152 inserted into either slot 149. Each EMC 152 also includes a processor and memory, where the processor may be a general-purpose processor or a specific processor (e.g., implemented as an ASIC or some other specialized hardware or firmware processor) and is programmed to perform communication functions with one or more field devices connected to the terminal block 150 of the base 148 using a particular communication protocol and physical layer. The processor of each EMC 152 may discover one or more field devices connected to the associated terminal block, poll the field device(s) for specific device information (e.g., including device identification information and configuration information) using a specific communication protocol, store this information in local memory on the EMC 152, and communicate this information and device communication path information to the processor module 145 in the head end unit. Additionally, the processor of each EMC 152 may be programmed to configure and send messages from the processor module 145 to one or more field devices connected to the associated terminal block 150 using the specific communication protocol, receive and decode (if necessary) messages from one or more field devices connected to the associated terminal block 150, and pass these messages to the processor module 145 (via one of the internal buses of the base units 148 and 142) for processing and communication to the process controller as necessary.

[0046] FIG. 4 is a partially mechanical and partially electrical schematic diagram of the I / O device 140 of FIG. 3 illustrating buses disposed within the bases 142 and 148 of the I / O device 140. In particular, a set of slots 170 on the upper base 142 receives the I / O processor modules 145. A first bus 160 is connected to each of the slots 170. A first portion of the bus 160 is disposed within the upper base 142 and terminates at an end of the upper base 142 at a termination point or connector 172. A second portion of the bus 160 is disposed outside the base 142 and connects to the termination point or connector 172 to extend to additional devices, such as one of the process controllers 11 of FIG. 1. However, the bus 160 can alternatively or additionally directly connect the device 140 to an IIoT system (or other monitoring system), asset management system, or any other external system to provide direct access (e.g., direct access via an IP addressing system or scheme) to one or more of the field devices connected to the terminal blocks of the card 140. If desired, the device 140 can include two different buses 160A, 160B as part of the bus 160, with one of these buses 160A connected to a controller (using a first communication protocol, such as a proprietary or no-IP communication protocol) and the other of these buses 160B connected to a physical layer that supports or uses the IP protocol (as shown by connection 10a in FIG. 1 ). In any case, the bus 160 (and / or the sub-buses 160A and 160B that make up the bus 160) couple the slot 170 (and in particular the I / O processor module 145 when located in the slot 170) to a process controller, such as the process controller 11 in FIG. 1 , or to an asset management system (e.g., the asset management system 77 in FIG. 1 ), an IIoT system or other monitoring system, or any other external system. Additionally, second and third buses 162 and 164 are disposed within and across bases 142 and 148 via termination points or connectors 174 .Buses 162 and 164 (which may be sub-buses of the same bus or may be separate buses) connect slot 170 on base 142 (and thus I / O processor module 145 located in slot 170) to slot 149 on lower base 148 (and thus EMC 152 located in slot 149). Connector 174 allows bases 142 and 148 to be modularized by providing electrical connection for buses 162 and 164 when bases 142 and 148 are initially attached together. Similarly, buses 162, 164 extend to the bottom or lower portion of base 148 and terminate at a set of additional termination points or connectors 176, which allows additional base units 148 to be mechanically and electrically attached to the base 148 illustrated in FIG. 4 . This modular feature increases the number of slots to which buses 162 and 164 can be connected, allowing multiple lower bases 148 to be connected in series to a single upper base 142, thereby expanding the I / O capabilities of I / O processor modules 145 inserted into slots 170 of upper base 142.

[0047] As will be appreciated, inserting various different ones of the electronic marshalling components 152 (EMCs) into the slots 149 connects the internal processor of the EMC 152 to either the bus 162 or 164 (or, in some cases, to both buses 162 and 164) on one side of the EMC 152 (e.g., the input side of the EMC 152) and to an appropriate set of wire terminals in the terminal block 150 associated with the slot 149 on another side of the EMC 152 (e.g., the output side of the EMC 152). As a result, when the EMC 152 is inserted into the slot 149, it is electrically connected to the I / O processor module 145 on the input side of the EMC 152 via at least one of the buses 162 and 164, and is communicatively coupled to a process controller (and / or another external system) via the I / O processor module 145 and one of the buses 160. Additionally, the EMC 152 is connected to one or more field devices on the output side of the module 152 via a terminal block 150 for the slot 149 into which the EMC 152 is inserted and a physical layer (e.g., wires) connecting the terminal block 150 to the field device(s). As will be appreciated, different EMCs 152 may be configured to use different physical layers and different communication protocols to communicate with one or more field devices. Furthermore, different types of EMCs 152 may have different connection structures to the buses 162 and 164. Thus, an EMC 152 using one type of physical layer or communication protocol may be connected to the bus 162, while an EMC 152 using a second type of physical layer or a second, different communication protocol may be connected to the bus 164.

[0048] Thus, different ones of the removable hardware modules or EMCs 152 may be inserted into any of the slots 149 to provide connectivity between each of the EMCs 152 and one or both of the I / O processor modules 145 via one or both of the buses 162, 164, as well as to one of the terminal blocks 150 to which wires from various different field devices may be connected. In this particular example, each of the terminal blocks 150 may accept wires associated with various different types of physical layers, including, for example, a two-wire physical layer, a four-wire physical layer, a physical layer defining a particular thickness, type, minimum and maximum length of wire, etc., a physical layer invoking various types of switches or other physical structures, a physical layer supporting wireless communication, etc., thereby connecting various types of physical layers to different EMCs 152 when the EMCs 152 are inserted into different ones of the slots 149. If desired, some of the terminal blocks 150 may support a first type of physical layer (e.g., a HART or 4-20mA physical layer), other some of the terminal blocks 150 may support a second type of physical layer (e.g., a Fieldbus or Profibus physical layer), and still other terminal blocks 150 may support a third type of physical layer (e.g., an IP, Ethernet, or APL physical layer). In other embodiments, one or more of the terminal blocks 150 may have a connection structure configured to support two, three, or more different types of physical layers.

[0049] Of course, EMC 152 includes electrical connection structure that, when inserted into slot 149, electrically connects to one, and optionally both, of buses 162 and 164, depending on the configuration of module 152, and electrical connection structure that electrically connects EMC 152 to terminal block 150 associated with slot 149 into which EMC 152 is inserted. Similarly, each removable hardware EMC module 152 includes some type of processor (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a specially configured processor such as an ASIC, etc.) and software or firmware implemented on the processor to perform communications using particular communications protocols (and using particular physical layers). Thus, for example, different ones of EMC 152 may be associated with, programmed to implement, or use different communications protocols (and the physical layers used for those protocols). Thus, some of the EMCs 152 may be HART protocol modules that may conform to the HART communication protocol, some of the EMCs 152 may conform to or use an IP communication protocol that uses an APL or Ethernet physical layer, and some of the EMCs 152 may be FOUNDATION Fieldbus modules that conform to or implement the FOUNDATION Fieldbus protocol. In the example schematic of FIG. 4 , the I / O device 140 supports at least two different communication protocols because the device 140 includes two different buses 162, 164 disposed between the head end unit or I / O processor module 145 and each of the individual slots 149. Each of these two different buses 162, 164 may be associated with or compatible with a different physical layer and may support a different communication protocol, such as, for example, a HART communication protocol that uses a HART physical layer and an IP communication protocol that uses an APL physical layer.Supporting two different protocols (and two different physical layers) allows differently configured EMCs 152 (supporting different communication protocols and potentially different physical layers) to be inserted into different ones of slots 149 and connected to communicate with different field devices that use these different protocols (and physical layers). Although two buses 162 and 164 are illustrated in FIG. 4 to support two different communication protocols (and / or physical layers), device 140 may include more than two buses to support more than two different communication protocols and physical layers.

[0050] 5-11 depict different (and non-limiting) ways to provide communication between a controller and a variety of different field devices that use different communication protocols and physical layers by combining and supporting a variety of different communication protocols and physical layers in a single I / O device, such as I / O device 140 of FIGS. 3 and 4. Referring to FIG. 5, an I / O device 200 configured similarly to device 140 of FIGS. 3 and 4 (and thus using a hardware-configurable EMC module) is schematically depicted. In particular, I / O device 200 includes a head-end unit 210 electrically connected to a base 213 into which various removable EMC modules can be inserted into slots (not explicitly shown in FIG. 5). 5, head end unit 210 includes multiple I / O processing modules 213 and 214, one of which is configured to communicate with field devices using a HART or 4-20mA physical layer and communication protocol(s), and the other of which is configured to communicate with field devices using an APL physical layer and an APL-supported communication protocol (e.g., IP protocol, Ethernet protocol, etc.). However, these I / O processing modules 213 and 214 are exemplary in nature, and other communication protocols and other types of physical layers can be adapted and used to communicate with field devices.

[0051] 5, removable EMC module 220 is inserted into one of the slots (not explicitly shown) in base 212 and performs analog input (AI) signal processing over a 4-20 mA communication protocol and physical layer to support communication with a conventional 4-20 mA field device 230 connected to a terminal block in base 212 associated with the inserted module 220. Similarly, removable EMC module 222 performs analog output (AO) signal processing over a 4-20 mA communication protocol and physical layer to support communication with field device 232. Each of these EMC modules 220, 222 is connected to bus 162 in base 212, which connects these modules to I / O processing module 212 in head end unit 210, which performs processing or multiplexing of AI and AO signals to and from removable modules 220, 222. As described with respect to device 140 of FIG. 3, head end unit 210 includes a removable I / O processing module 213 (which may be one of modules 145 of FIG. 3) that communicates with a process controller, asset management system, IIoT system (not shown), etc. via external bus 160 and operates to perform signal conditioning and multiplexing between modules 220, 222 on one side and a process controller (or other external system) on the other side.

[0052] Furthermore, I / O device 200 includes discrete or digital output (DO) and discrete or digital input (DI) EMC modules 240 and 242 that perform discrete output and input signal processing, respectively, on signals sent to and from field devices 244 and 246 using, for example, the HART communication protocol and physical layer. EMC modules 240, 242 may also be connected to bus 162 for communication with I / O processing module 213 in head end unit 210, which processes and multiplexes signals sent over bus 162. Thus, in this example, AI, AO, DI, and DO EMC modules 220, 222, 240, and 242 interconnect valves, transmitters, and other field devices 230, 232, 244, and 246 with head end unit 210 of I / O device 200 using the 4-20 mA or HART 2-wire physical layer. These communications may be performed in the same manner as discussed in any of U.S. Patent Nos. 7,684,875, 8,332,567, 8,762,618, 8,977,851, 9,083,548, and 9,495,313.

[0053] 5, however, I / O device 200 also accepts other types of removable EMC modules associated with another type of physical layer (in this case, the APL physical layer) and supporting other communication protocols (such as any IP-based communication protocol) for communicating with field devices. In particular, removable EMC module 250 is inserted into one of the slots in base 212 and constitutes an APL EMC module that implements the functionality of an APL field switch (such as one of APL field switches 86 of FIGS. 1 and 2). In this case, removable EMC module 250 connects between bus 164 and a terminal block associated with the slot into which EMC module 250 is inserted. Additionally, as also shown in FIG. 5, I / O processing module 214 of head end unit 210 includes an APL power switch attached or disposed thereon, which is configured to perform the functionality of APL power switch 84 of FIGS. 1 and 2. As such, APL power switch 214, which may include a power supply, is connected to bus 164 and operates to communicate via bus 164 and field switch EMC module 250 in the same manner that APL power switch 84 of Figures 1 and 2 sends and receives signals on bus 88 of Figures 1 and 2. Thus, in this embodiment, bus 164 in this configuration operates as a trunk bus on the APL network.

[0054] As also shown in FIG. 5 , an APL field switch EMC module 250, insertable into a slot on the base 212 of the I / O device 200, is connected to its associated terminal block, which is further connected to an APL spur line 254 (which may be similar to one of the spur lines 92 of FIGS. 1 and 2 ). The spur line 254 is part of the APL physical layer, and the APL physical layer, consisting of the power switch 214, the bus 164, the field switch module 250, and the bus 254, may implement or use any communication protocol supported by the APL physical layer, such as the Ethernet protocol, the HART-IP protocol, the OPC UA protocol, or a conventional generic IP protocol, to provide communication between the various field devices 256 (connected to the bus 254) and the head end unit 210. It will be understood that the APL power switch 214 may be an extension of the head end unit 210 (i.e., integrated into the head end unit 210) or the APL power switch module 214 may be insertable into the head end unit 210. In either case, the APL power switch module 214 incorporates the electronic circuitry of a typical APL power switch and, therefore, may include a power supply that provides power and communication signals to the APL field switch module 250 via the bus 164, which in turn provides power and communication signals to the field devices 256 via the APL network spur bus 254. In this regard, the bus 164 may be configured to meet the requirements or specifications of an APL physical layer trunk. It will be appreciated that the field devices 256 may use a communication protocol layered on the APL physical layer provided by the modules 214, 250 and the buses 164, 254. Typically, such communication protocols are IP or packet-based protocols, and it will be understood that the field devices 256 need not support traditional process control communication protocols such as HART, Profibus, FOUNDATION Fieldbus, etc.Instead, field devices 256 may communicate directly using a more traditional IP interface, or may use more robust or packet-based communication protocols developed for the process control industry, such as the HART-IP or OPC UA communication protocols, which are not currently supported by traditional process controller I / O networks. This network also supports communication protocols that support request / response, publish / subscribe, event-based communication, and streaming communication, which greatly aids in supporting a combination of control and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications interested in measurement and actuator data, their capabilities, and their diagnostics.

[0055] Thus, I / O device 200 establishes one or more communication networks that enable communication with field devices using at least two different types of physical layers and various different communication protocols layered on those physical layers. In particular, modules 220, 222, 240, and 242, in conjunction with bus 162 in base unit 212, implement a first physical layer (associated with the same physical layer, the HART or 4-20mA physical layer) and enable communication over that first physical layer using conventional process control communication protocols in the form of the 4-20mA communication protocol and / or the HART communication protocol. EMC modules 220, 222, 240, and 242 are programmed to perform these types of communications in a known manner. However, APL power switch 214 and APL field switch 250, in conjunction with bus 164 and bus 254, also implement a second and different physical layer in the form of an APL physical layer, enabling communication with various field devices 256 using any communication protocol supported by the APL physical layer. Such communication protocols may include Ethernet protocols, IP or packet-based protocols, HART-IP protocols, OPCUA protocols, etc. Furthermore, because the APL physical layer may support up to 50 devices on a single spur line, APL field switch 250 of FIG. 5 may support 50 field devices when connected to spur line 254, thereby significantly increasing the communication capabilities typically associated with I / O devices that support the HART or 4-20 mA physical layer and associated communication protocols. Furthermore, additional slots in base unit 212 of device 200 may accept additional APL field switch EMC modules (such as APL module 250), and each of these additional APL field switch EMC modules may support additional field devices that use the APL physical layer. This capability significantly enhances the ability of I / O device 200 to support communications, providing I / O support for more field devices than previously possible.

[0056] FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of an input / output device 300 (which may be the same as or similar to I / O device 140 of FIGS. 3 and 4 ) that supports multiple different physical layers and potentially different communication protocols over those physical layers. More specifically, input / output device 300 of FIG. 6 is similar to I / O device 200 of FIG. 5 in that it includes bus 162 and I / O processing module 313 supporting AI and AO EMC modules 220, 222 and DI and DO EMC module 240 that communicate with HART and 4-20mA field devices connected thereto using a first type of physical layer. However, in this example, I / O processing module 214 is a combined APL field switch and power switch in head-end unit 310 of I / O device 300. APL field switch and power switch 314 communicate over bus 164, which may be or support, for example, an APL physical layer and, as such, may be similar to spur bus 92 of FIG. 2 of the APL network. Thus, bus 164 may connect APL composite field and power switch module 314 to various other EMC modules located on base unit 312. In this case, APL module 350 is inserted into a slot on base unit 312 and connects to bus 164 to provide communication between composite field and power switch 314 and APL physical layer bus 254 attached to a terminal block associated with APL EMC module 350. Thus, APL module 350 may simply provide a marshalling function to enable communication between the combined APL field and power switch 352 and a number of different field devices 256 on APL bus 254, and to keep track of when new field devices 256 are added to bus 254, etc. Furthermore, in this example, combined APL field and power switch module 314 may include circuitry for a field switch (such as field switch 86 in FIG. 1 ) and a power switch (such as power switch 84 in FIG. 1 ), and thereby may include a power source or be connected to an external power source.Additionally, APL processing module 314 may provide both power and communications via bus 164 to APL EMC module 350, which uses the APL physical layer or bus 254 to communicate with field devices 256 using any desired or supported communication protocol. In this example, because a single field switch 314 is used within device 300 to support a potentially large number of APL insertable modules 350, the maximum number of field devices supported by device 300 is limited to the number supported by the single field switch (e.g., typically 50 when using the APL physical layer). This configuration simplifies the design of insertable APL module 350 while reducing the total number of supported field devices on I / O device 300. Of course, APL modules 314 and 350 may use any desired communication protocol supported by the APL physical layer, including Ethernet IP protocol, HART-IP protocol, OPC UA protocol, or any other packet-based communication protocol.

[0057] FIG. 7 further illustrates a manner in which the I / O device 200 of FIG. 5 may be connected to communicate with and support field devices using multiple different communication protocols over a single APL physical layer. In particular, an input / output device 400 configured similarly to the I / O device 200 of FIG. 5 includes the same elements as the device 200 of FIG. 5, including an APL power switch 214, an insertable APL field switch module 250, and a bus 164 interconnecting the power switch 214 and the field switch 250. Additionally, the field switch 250 is shown connected to a spur line of an APL physical layer bus 254, and a set of IP communication-based field devices 256 are directly connected to the APL spur line 254. The field devices 256 may communicate over the line 254 using any communication protocol supported by APL, including, for example, the generic IP protocol, the Ethernet protocol, the HART-IP protocol, the OPC UA protocol, etc. 7, a Fieldbus interface device 410, a PROFIBUS interface device 412, and a HART interface device 414 are connected to the APL spur line 254 and support the APL physical layer at their interfaces. In particular, the Fieldbus interface device 410, the PROFIBUS interface device 412, and the HART interface device 414 include Fieldbus, PROFIBUS, and HART transducer device blocks that interface with field devices 418, 420, and 422, respectively, to connect these field devices 418, 422, and 424 to the field switch 250 via the APL spur bus 254.7, Fieldbus interface device 410 is connected to various Fieldbus devices 418 via Fieldbus physical layer (bus or line) 430, PROFIBUS interface device 412 is connected to various PROFIBUS devices 422 via PROFIBUS physical layer (bus or line) 432, and HART interface device 424 is connected to different HART (or 4-20 mA) field devices 424 via HART physical layer (line) 434. In this case, bus 430 is a Fieldbus physical layer supporting the Foundation Fieldbus communication protocol, bus 432 is a PROFIBUS-compliant physical layer supporting the PROFIBUS communication protocol, and HART line 434 is a HART-compliant physical layer supporting the HART and 4-20 mA communication protocols. Additionally, interface devices 410, 412, and 414 support Fieldbus, PROFIBUS, and HART (or 4-20 mA) communication protocols and act as gateways to attached field device networks that use those protocols.

[0058] 7 , the interface devices 410, 412, and 414 communicate with the APL field switch 250 via the APL spur line (physical layer) 254 using the same communication protocol as that used for the field device 256. By way of example, the HART-IP protocol may be used on the spur line 254 (and bus 164). However, any other desired packet-based protocol, such as an Ethernet protocol, an OPC UA protocol, or a traditional IP protocol (e.g., one that supports HTML), may be used on the APL physical layer 254. As is known, the HART-IP communication protocol is a non-time-sensitive, packet-based protocol that supports IP packets having specific packet types. In this case, the field device 256 and the interface devices 410, 412, and 414 may communicate directly with the field switch module 250 using the HART-IP protocol. However, communication packets transmitted between the interface devices 410, 412, 414 and the switch 250 may tunnel other types of protocol packets therein to enable communication using other communication protocols within the various subnetworks coupled to the interface devices 410, 412, 414. In one example, various different HART-IP packets may be transmitted by devices on the physical layer 254 by being addressed to those devices using the HART-IP packet format. However, the payload of a HART-IP packet may contain different types or formats of data depending on the device to which the packet is transmitted or the device from which the packet is transmitted. For example, a HART-IP payload transmitted to or from a field device 256 may contain data (e.g., HTML data) that is directly consumed by the field device 256 that supports a conventional or generic IP communication protocol.However, HART-IP messages transmitted from interface devices 410, 412, 414 may be addressed to a different interface device 410, 412, 414 (or directly to one of field devices 418, 420, 422), in which case interface devices 410, 412, 414 act as gateways to decode the HART-IP message and recognize that the message is destined for (or addressed to) one of the field devices connected to the subnetwork. In these cases, the payload of the HART-IP packet may further include communication packets configured according to a different communication protocol used in the associated subnetwork, such as the Fieldbus protocol, the PROFIBUS protocol, the HART protocol, the CAN protocol, etc. In this case, interface devices 410, 412, 414 decode the HART-IP message or packet and determine whether the message is intended for one of the field devices in that subnetwork. To do this, the interface devices 410, 412, 414 may need to decode the headers of the HART-IP packets to determine whether the HART-IP messages are addressed to themselves or to a field device in their sub-network, and / or may need to decode the payloads of the HART-IP packets to determine whether the messages in the payloads of the HART-IP packets are addressed to a field device in their sub-network, and if so, place the payloads of the HART-IP packets on the physical layer of their sub-network as messages in the communications protocol used in their sub-network.Similarly, the interface devices 410, 412, 414 may package a message from one of the field devices (in the protocol used in the sub-network) into the payload field of a HART-IP packet, address the packet to the intended recipient (e.g., the head end unit 210 of the device 400 or even a controller coupled to the device 400), and place the HART-IP packet on the physical layer 254 using the HART-IP protocol.

[0059] 8, in which Fieldbus protocol packets (used in the subnetwork of Fieldbus interface device 410) are tunneled within HART-IP packets transmitted over APL physical layer 254. In particular, as shown in FIG. 8, the header of HART-IP packet 500 may include a message type field 502, a message ID field 504, a status code field 506, a sequence number field 508, a byte count field 510, and a payload field 512. As mentioned above, various HART-IP packets associated with or destined for different ones of devices 256 and interface devices 410, 412, 414 may tunnel different types or formats of data within the data payload field 512 of the HART-IP packet 500. Thus, messages destined for Fieldbus interface device 410 may tunnel Fieldbus protocol packets within the data or payload field 512 of the HART-IP packet 500. 8, a Fieldbus protocol packet 520 is tunneled within the payload field 512 of the HART-IP packet 500. The Fieldbus protocol packet 520 includes a delimiter field 522, an address field 524, a command field 526, a byte count field 528, a data field 530, and a check byte field 532, as called for by the FOUNDATION Fieldbus communication protocol. Thus, the data in the data field 530 of the packet 520 may include FOUNDATION Fieldbus data for a particular field device 418 (as defined by the address field 524) within the subnetwork of the interface device 410, as prescribed by the Fieldbus communication protocol.In this manner, Fieldbus packets 520 are tunneled within HART-IP packets 500 via APL physical layer 254 and transmitted directly as packets on Fieldbus physical layer 430. Similarly, Fieldbus interface device 410 may package Fieldbus packets transmitted from field devices 418 within HART-IP packets and transmit these messages via APL physical layer 254 (switch 250 and bus 164) to, for example, head end unit 210 of I / O device 400, which can obtain and decode the Fieldbus packets that would normally occur within a Fieldbus protocol I / O device and communicate the device data to controller 11. Furthermore, it will be understood that PROFIBUS protocol packets and HART protocol packets may be tunneled in a similar manner within HART-IP packets 500 of FIG. 8, except that PROFIBUS packets contain messages defined by the PROFIBUS protocol and HART packets contain messages defined by the HART protocol. Similarly, messages sent to, from, and between devices 256 and other devices on the physical layer 254 and field switch 250 can include or use the data or payload field 512 within the HART-IP packets in any desired manner, and thus can use, for example, more traditional IP data protocols such as the HTML data protocol for their data.

[0060] Of course, other types of communication protocols can be used on the physical layer 254 instead of the HART-IP protocol, such as Ethernet, OPC UA, or any other packet-based protocol, which may be time-sensitive or non-time-sensitive. Similarly, other protocols, such as other process control protocols, may be tunneled within the IP or other packet-based protocol used on the APL physical layer 254. Still further, any number of different protocols may be tunneled within the packets of the protocol used on the APL physical layer 254, such that the APL physical layer 254 can support many different communication protocols and devices associated with many different communication protocols.

[0061] FIG. 9 illustrates a further input / output device 600 similar to the input / output device 200 of FIG. 5 , except that instead of supporting a set of wired devices, the APL field switch 250 supports a wireless network, such as a WirelessHART network. In this case, a field switch module 250 inserted into the base 212 of the device 600 connects to a wireless transmitter device 610 that transmits signals to a variety of different wireless transmitters or field devices 620. The wireless transmitting device 610 may be a gateway to a wireless network, such as a wireless mesh network, a WirelessHART network, or any other type of wireless network. The APL field switch 250 may implement a wired connection 622 between the field switch 250 and the gateway device 610 using the APL physical layer and may direct communications over the physical layer 622 using any desired IP or packet-based communication protocol. In one example, field switch 250 may use the HART-IP communication protocol for communications on bus 622, and gateway 610 may convert HART-IP protocol messages to WirelessHART messages in any known or desired manner. Similarly, gateway 610 may place or decode packets received from wireless field devices 620 and place (or convert) these packets into the HART-IP communication protocol or any other IP- or packet-based protocol for transmission via APL physical layer 622 to field switch 250, and from there to power switch 252 and head end unit 210 via bus 164.

[0062] FIG. 10 illustrates a further embodiment of an input / output device 700 that is very similar to the device 600 of FIG. 9 , except that the APL field switch 250 supports multiple wireless transmitters 610 connected to the wireless network comprising the field devices 620. The wireless transmitters 610 may be redundant devices, and thus the field switch 250 may transmit or receive the same messages from those redundant devices to provide redundancy within the mesh network of field devices 620. The configuration of FIG. 10 may be used, for example, in Security Implementation Level 2 (SIL2) applications requiring redundancy. Of course, similar to the description of the embodiment of FIG. 9 , the field switch 250 may use any desired protocol over the APL physical layer 622 to provide communication between the wireless gateway device 610 and the head end unit 210. Furthermore, in the embodiment of FIG. 10 , a HART device, such as the wireless mesh network field device 620, may tunnel its protocol within a protocol suitable for SIL2.

[0063] 11 illustrates a wired SIL2 application in which an input / output device 800 has a wired device and a field switch module 250 connected via wired links to various different wireless transmitters or devices 720, which may be field devices in a wireless mesh network not directly supported by the input / output device 700, but which the device 700 may use as a redundant connection to the wireless network or to obtain information from devices in the wireless network without affecting the operation of the communication network within that wireless network. In this way, a user can, for example, create an addressable fire and gas system using normal hardwired devices connected in the loop and still be within a SIL2 implementation using SIL2 protocols.

[0064] Although the input / output devices described herein are generally described as using an APL physical layer that supports more traditional IP-based communication networks, these I / O devices can use any other physical layer that supports any generic IP-based communication protocol, such as an Ethernet physical layer. Furthermore, the I / O devices described herein can support any desired combination of physical layers and communication protocols, including combinations of one or more traditional process communication physical layers (e.g., HART, FOUNDATION Fieldbus, PROFIBUS, CAN, etc.) with one or more generic IP physical layers (e.g., APL physical layer, Ethernet physical layer, etc.) and protocols (IP-based protocols, Ethernet protocols, HART-IP protocols, OPC UA protocols, etc.). Furthermore, the I / O devices described herein can support combinations of two or more traditional process control physical layers and communication protocols (e.g., HART and Fieldbus physical layers and protocols), or combinations of two or more traditional or generic IP physical layers and protocols.

[0065] Thus, as can be seen, the input / output device described herein supports multiple different physical layers, enabling or providing support for field device communication using a single input / output device that supports the use of different communication protocols over the different physical layers. This input / output device allows new types of field devices (e.g., field devices that communicate using more traditional IP-based communications) to be easily and seamlessly supported within a process plant. Furthermore, this I / O device allows different types of field devices (i.e., field devices using different physical layers and different communication protocols) to be integrated and supported under the same I / O device. Furthermore, this I / O device uses hardware configurable modules to connect field devices and field device networks to the I / O device, so that the field device network can be configured on the fly to allow different physical layers supporting different communication protocols to be connected to the I / O device at any desired location or terminal block on the I / O device. An appropriate hardware module or EMC module appropriate for the communication protocol and physical layer can be inserted into the slot associated with the terminal block, and the EMC module can automatically detect the type and identity of the field device currently connected to the EMC module via the physical layer. The EMC module can then provide this configuration information to the head end unit of the I / O device, which can register the correct path and communication protocol to use to communicate with the detected field device, and provide this configuration information to a controller, which can communicate with the field device using this path and protocol information. The controller can then provide this configuration information to a configuration database, which can populate the field device information in its database when the field device is connected to the I / O device and the configuration information is detected.Additionally, while many of the example I / O devices described herein are illustrated as including two or more I / O processing modules, and one processing module is generally used to support one type of physical layer and communication protocol, the I / O devices described herein may have one processing module associated with it that connects to different field devices via two or more internal buses, and this one I / O processing module may support multiple (two, three, etc.) different physical layers and communication protocols.

[0066] If implemented in software, any of the applications, modules, etc. described herein may be stored in any tangible, non-transitory computer-readable memory, such as a magnetic disk, laser disk, solid-state storage device, molecular memory storage device, or other storage medium, RAM, or ROM of a computer or processor. It should be noted that while the exemplary systems disclosed herein are disclosed as including software and / or firmware running on hardware, among other components, 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, while the exemplary systems described herein are described as implemented in software running on processors of one or more computing devices, those skilled in the art will readily understand that the provided examples are not the only way to implement such systems.

[0067] Thus, while the present invention 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.

[0068] The particular features, structures, and / or characteristics of any particular embodiment may be combined with one and / or more other embodiments in any suitable manner and / or in any suitable combination, including using selected features with or without the corresponding use of other features. Additionally, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular application, situation, and / or material to the essential scope or spirit of the invention. It will be understood that other variations and / or modifications of the embodiments of the invention described and / or illustrated herein are possible in light of the teachings herein and should be considered part of the spirit or scope of the invention. Certain aspects of the invention are described herein as exemplary aspects.

Claims

1. 1. An input / output device for use in a process control system to communicatively couple a plurality of field devices to a process controller, the input / output device comprising: a head end unit including a first base unit and one or more processor modules disposed on the first base unit; a first bus disposed in the first base unit and communicatively coupled to the one or more processor modules, the first bus connected to an external connector adapted to be communicatively coupled to the process controller; a second base unit communicatively coupled to the first base unit, a plurality of marshalling units disposed in a plurality of slots thereon, each marshalling unit including a memory and a processor for carrying out communications; a second base unit including a different terminal block associated with each of the marshalling units, each terminal block receiving wiring used to communicatively couple the terminal block to one or more of the field devices; a second base unit including second and third buses disposed on the first and second base units, each of the second and third buses communicatively coupling the one or more processor modules to each of the slots in which the plurality of marshalling units are disposed; an input / output device, wherein a first of the marshalling units is associated with and communicates with a set of one or more field devices using a first type of physical layer, and a second of the marshalling units is associated with and communicates with a different set of one or more field devices using a second type of physical layer that is different from the first type of physical layer, the terminal block associated with the first of the marshalling units accepts the first type of physical layer and the terminal block associated with the second of the marshalling units accepts the second type of physical layer, the first of the marshalling units communicates with the one or more processor modules using the second bus, whereby the second bus supports communication of signals received from the set of one or more field devices using the first type of physical layer, and the second of the marshalling units communicates with the one or more processor modules using the third bus, whereby the third bus supports communication of signals received from the different set of one or more field devices using the second type of physical layer.

2. 2. The input / output device of claim 1, wherein the first of the marshalling units supports communication using a first communication protocol over the first type of physical layer, and the second of the marshalling units supports communication using a second communication protocol over the second type of physical layer, the second communication protocol being different from the first communication protocol.

3. 3. The input / output device of claim 2, wherein the first communication protocol is a general purpose IP communication protocol and the second communication protocol is a process control communication protocol.

4. 3. The input / output device of claim 2, wherein the first communication protocol is an Ethernet communication protocol and the second communication protocol is a HART communication protocol.

5. The input / output device of claim 2 , wherein the first communication protocol is a HART-IP communication protocol or an OPC UA communication protocol.

6. 6. An input / output device as described in claim 1, wherein the second bus supports communication between the first one of the marshalling units and the processor module using the first type of physical layer, and the third bus supports communication between the second one of the marshalling units and the processor module using the second type of physical layer.

7. 7. The input / output device of claim 1, wherein the head end unit includes a power supply for supplying power to a field device that uses a first communication protocol over the first type of physical layer.

8. An input / output device as described in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the head end unit includes a first power supply for supplying power to a field device using a first communication protocol via the first type of physical layer, and a second power supply for supplying power to a field device using a second communication protocol via the second type of physical layer.

9. 9. The input / output device of claim 1, wherein the head end unit includes a first switch that conforms to the first type of physical layer, and the marshalling unit includes a second switch that conforms to the first type of physical layer.

10. 10. An input / output device according to claim 1, wherein the head end unit includes a power supply and a switch compatible with the first type of physical layer.

11. 11. An input / output device as described in any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the marshalling units are insertable and removable from the second base unit, and each of the marshalling units, when inserted into the second base unit, communicatively couples to only one of the second or third buses and an associated terminal block.

12. The input / output device of claim 11 , wherein the removable marshalling unit is insertable into and removable from the slot.

13. 13. The input / output device of claim 12, wherein said each of said second and third buses is communicatively coupled to each of said slots.

14. 14. An input / output device according to any preceding claim, wherein the processor module supports communication on both the second and third buses using different communication protocols.

15. An input / output device as described in any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the processor module includes a first processor unit for communicating with field devices via the second bus and one or more marshalling units coupled to the second bus, and a second processor unit for communicating with field devices via the third bus and one or more marshalling units coupled to the third bus.

16. 16. An input / output device as described in any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the processor module includes a first processor unit for communicating with field devices via the second bus and one or more marshalling units coupled to the second bus using a first communication protocol, and a second processor unit for communicating with field devices via the third bus and one or more marshalling units coupled to the third bus using a second communication protocol different from the first communication protocol.

17. 1. An input / output device for use in a process control system to communicatively couple a plurality of field devices to a process controller, the input / output device comprising: With the base, a head end unit disposed on the base, the head end unit including one or more processor modules; a first bus disposed on the base and communicatively coupled to the one or more processor modules, the first bus connected to an external connector on the base adapted to communicatively couple the first bus to the process controller; a plurality of slots disposed on the base; a plurality of terminal blocks, each terminal block communicatively coupled to a different one of the plurality of slots, each terminal block receiving wiring used to communicatively couple the terminal block to one or more of the field devices; a second bus disposed on the base communicatively coupling the one or more processor modules to each of the plurality of slots, the second bus including a first sub-bus connected between the one or more processor modules and each of the slots, and a second sub-bus connected between the one or more processor modules and each of the slots; a plurality of marshalling units, each of the plurality of marshalling units including a memory and a processor for performing communications, each of the plurality of marshalling units insertable into one of the slots, and when inserted into one of the slots, the marshalling unit communicatively couples to one of the terminal blocks and to the second bus; A first one of the marshalling units is associated with and communicates with one or more sets of the field devices using a first type of physical layer, and a second one of the marshalling units is associated with and communicates with one or more different sets of the field devices using a second type of physical layer different from the first type of physical layer, and when one of the marshalling units is inserted into the first one of the slots, the terminal block associated with the first one of the slots accepts the first type of physical layer, and when the second one of the marshalling units is inserted into the second one of the slots, the terminal block associated with the second .... an input / output device, wherein the terminal blocks associated with one of the marshalling units accept the second type of physical layer, the first one of the marshalling units communicates with the one or more processor modules using the first sub-bus, whereby the first sub-bus supports communication of signals received from one or more sets of the field devices using the first type of physical layer, and the second one of the marshalling units communicates with the one or more processor modules using the second sub-bus, whereby the second sub-bus supports communication of signals received from one or more different sets of the field devices using the second type of physical layer.

18. 18. The input / output device of claim 17, wherein the first sub-bus supports communications using a physical layer of the first type and the second sub-bus supports communications using a physical layer of the second type.

19. An input / output device as described in claim 17 or claim 18, wherein the one or more processor modules include a first processor unit that communicates with the field devices coupled to the input / output device via the first type of physical layer, and a second processor unit that communicates with the field devices coupled to the input / output device via the second type of physical layer.

20. 20. The input / output device of claim 19, wherein the first processor unit communicates with the field devices coupled to the input / output device via the first type of physical layer using a first communication protocol, and the second processor unit communicates with the field devices coupled to the input / output device via the second type of physical layer using a second communication protocol different from the first communication protocol.

21. 21. The input / output device of claim 20, wherein the first communication protocol is a general IP communication protocol and the second communication protocol is a process control communication protocol.

22. 22. An input / output device as claimed in any one of claims 17 to 21, wherein the first one of the marshalling units, when inserted into any one of the plurality of slots, communicatively connects to the first sub-bus for supporting the first type of physical layer, and the second one of the marshalling units, when inserted into any one of the plurality of slots, communicatively connects to the second sub-bus for supporting the second type of physical layer.

23. 23. An input / output device as claimed in any of claims 17 to 22, wherein the first of the marshalling units supports communication using a first communication protocol over a physical layer of the first type, and the second of the marshalling units supports communication using a second communication protocol over a physical layer of the second type, the second communication protocol being different from the first communication protocol.

24. 24. An input / output device as claimed in any one of claims 17 to 23, wherein the head end unit includes a power supply for supplying power to field devices using a first communication protocol over the first type of physical layer.

25. An input / output device as described in any of claims 17 to 24, wherein the head end unit includes a first power supply for supplying power to field devices using a first communication protocol via the first type of physical layer, and a second power supply for supplying power to field devices using a second communication protocol via the second type of physical layer.

26. 26. An input / output device as claimed in any one of claims 17 to 25, wherein the head end unit includes a first switch for use on the first type of physical layer, and one of the marshalling units is communicatively connected to the first switch via the second bus and includes a second switch for use on the first type of physical layer.

27. An input / output device as described in any of claims 17 to 26, wherein the head end unit includes a power supply and a switch compatible with the first type physical layer, and one of the marshalling units is communicatively connected to the power supply and switch of the head end unit via the second bus and performs communication between one or more field devices and the power supply and switch using the first type physical layer.

28. 1. A process control system for use in controlling a process plant, comprising: A process controller; a plurality of field devices for performing control functions in the process plant, wherein a first one of the plurality of field devices uses a first communication protocol using a first type of physical layer, and a second one of the plurality of field devices uses a second communication protocol using a second type of physical layer, the first type of physical layer and the second type of physical layer being different types of physical layer, and the first communication protocol is different from the second communication protocol; an input / output device coupled between the process controller and each of the plurality of field devices, the input / output device comprising: With the base, a head end unit disposed on the base, the head end unit including one or more input / output processor modules; a first bus disposed on the base and communicatively coupled between the one or more input / output processor modules and the process controller; a plurality of slots disposed on the base; a plurality of terminal blocks disposed on the base, each terminal block communicatively coupled to a different one of the plurality of slots, each terminal block receiving wiring used to communicatively couple the terminal block to one or more of the plurality of field devices; a second bus disposed on the base communicatively coupling the one or more input / output processor modules to each of the plurality of slots, the second bus including a first sub-bus and a second sub-bus; a plurality of marshalling units, each of the plurality of marshalling units including a memory and a processor for performing communications, each of the plurality of marshalling units insertable into one of the slots, and when inserted into one of the slots, the marshalling unit communicatively couples to one of the terminal blocks and to the second bus; A first one of the marshalling units is associated with and communicates with the first one of the field devices using a physical layer of the first type, and a second one of the marshalling units is associated with and communicates with the second one of the field devices using a physical layer of the second type, and when the first one of the marshalling units is inserted into a first one of the slots, the terminal block associated with the first one of the slots accepts the physical layer of the first type, and when the second one of the marshalling units is inserted into a second one of the slots, the terminal block associated with the second one of the slots accepts the physical layer of the first type. the terminal block connected to the marshalling unit receives the second type of physical layer, the first one of the marshalling units communicates with the one or more processor modules using the first sub-bus, whereby the first sub-bus supports communication of signals received from the first one of the field devices using the first type of physical layer, and the second one of the marshalling units communicates with the one or more processor modules using the second sub-bus, whereby the second sub-bus supports communication of signals received from the second one of the field devices using the second type of physical layer.

29. 29. The process control system of claim 28, wherein the first type of physical layer is a physical layer that supports a generic IP communication protocol, and the second type of physical layer is a physical layer that supports a process control communication protocol.

30. 30. The process control system of claim 29, wherein the first communication protocol is an Ethernet communication protocol and the second communication protocol is a HART communication protocol.

31. 31. The process control system of claim 28, wherein each of the terminal blocks is configured to receive wiring for both the first type physical layer and the second type physical layer.

32. A process control system as described in any of claims 28 to 31, wherein the first sub-bus supports communication between the first one of the marshalling units and the one or more input / output processor modules using the first type of physical layer, and the second sub-bus supports communication between the second one of the marshalling units and the one or more input / output processor modules using the second type of physical layer.

33. 33. The process control system of claim 32, wherein the marshalling units are insertable and removable from the base, and each of the marshalling units, when inserted into a slot on the base, communicatively couples to only one of the first sub-bus or the second sub-bus and to an associated terminal block.

34. 34. The process control system of claim 32 or claim 33, wherein the one or more input / output processor modules support communication on both the first and second sub-buses using different communication protocols.

35. 35. The process control system of claim 32, wherein the one or more input / output processor modules include a first processor unit for communicating with field devices via the first sub-bus, the input / output device includes one or more marshalling units coupled to the first sub-bus, and the one or more input / output processor modules include a second processor unit for communicating with field devices via the second sub-bus, the input / output device includes one or more marshalling units coupled to the second sub-bus.

36. 36. The process control system of claim 32, wherein the one or more input / output processor modules include a first processor unit for communicating with field devices via a first sub-bus and one or more marshalling units coupled to the first sub-bus using a first communication protocol, and the one or more input / output processor modules include a second processor unit for communicating with field devices via the second sub-bus and one or more marshalling units coupled to the second sub-bus using a second communication protocol different from the first communication protocol.

37. 37. The process control system of any of claims 28 to 36, wherein the head end unit includes a power supply for providing power to a first communication protocol over the first type of physical layer.

38. 38. The process control system of claim 28, wherein the head end unit includes a first power supply for supplying power to field devices using a first communication protocol, and the marshalling unit includes a memory and a processor for performing communication with the first type of physical layer and a second power supply for supplying power to field devices using a second communication protocol via the second type of physical layer.

39. 39. The process control system of claim 28, wherein the head end unit includes a first switch for use on the first type of physical layer and one of the marshalling units includes a second switch for use on the first type of physical layer.

40. 40. The process control system of any of claims 28 to 39, wherein the head end unit includes a power supply and a switch compatible with the first type of physical layer.

41. 1. A process control system for use in controlling a process plant, comprising: A process controller; a plurality of field devices for performing control functions within the process plant, wherein a first set of the plurality of field devices uses a first communication protocol that uses a first type of physical layer, and a second set of the plurality of field devices uses a second communication protocol that uses a second type of physical layer, the first type of physical layer and the second type of physical layer being different types of physical layer, and the first communication protocol is different from the second communication protocol; an input / output device coupled between the process controller and each of the plurality of field devices, the input / output device comprising: With the base, a head end unit disposed on the base, the head end unit including one or more input / output processor modules; a first bus disposed on the base and communicatively coupled to the one or more input / output processor modules, the first bus being communicatively coupled to the process controller; a second bus and a third bus disposed on the base, the second bus and the third bus communicatively coupled to the one or more input / output processor modules; a plurality of marshalling units disposed on the base, each of the plurality of marshalling units including a memory and a processor for performing communications, each of the plurality of marshalling units being communicatively coupled to the one or more input / output processor modules via either the second bus or the third bus; a plurality of terminal blocks disposed on the base, each terminal block communicatively coupled to a different one of the plurality of marshalling units, each terminal block receiving wiring used to communicatively couple the terminal block to one or more of the plurality of field devices; a first one of the marshalling units associated with and communicating with at least one of the first set of field devices using the first type of physical layer; a second one of the marshalling units associated with and communicating with at least one of the second set of field devices using the second type of physical layer; the first one of the marshalling units communicating with the one or more input / output processor modules using the second bus, whereby the second bus supports communication of signals received from the first set of field devices using the first type of physical layer; and the second one of the marshalling units communicating with the one or more input / output processor modules using the third bus, whereby the third bus supports communication of signals received from the second set of field devices using the second type of physical layer.

42. 42. The process control system of claim 41, wherein the first one of the marshalling units communicates with the one of the first set of field devices using the first communication protocol and the second one of the marshalling units communicates with the one of the second set of field devices using the second communication protocol.

43. 43. The process control system of claim 41 or claim 42, wherein the base includes a plurality of slots, and each of the marshalling units is adapted to be insertably mounted in one of the slots to connect the marshalling unit to one of the second or third buses and one of the terminal blocks.

44. 44. The process control system of claim 43, wherein each slot is communicatively coupled to each of the second and third buses.

45. 45. The process control system of claim 44, wherein the second bus supports communication between the first one of the marshalling units and one of the one or more input / output processor modules using the first type of physical layer, and the third bus supports communication between the second one of the marshalling units and the one or more input / output processor modules using the second type of physical layer.

46. 46. ​​The process control system of claim 44 or claim 45, wherein the one or more input / output processor modules support communication on the second and third buses using different communication protocols.

47. 47. The process control system of claim 44, wherein the one or more input / output processor modules include a first processor unit for communicating with field devices via the second bus, the input / output device including one or more marshalling units coupled to the second bus, and the one or more input / output processor modules include a second processor unit for communicating with field devices via the third bus, the input / output device including one or more marshalling units coupled to the third bus.

48. 48. The process control system of claim 44, wherein the one or more input / output processor modules include a first processor unit for communicating with field devices via the second bus using a first communication protocol, the input / output device includes one or more marshalling units coupled to the second bus for communicating with one or more of the field devices using the first communication protocol, the one or more input / output processor modules include a second processor unit for communicating with one or more of the field devices via the third bus using a second communication protocol, the input / output device includes one or more marshalling units coupled to the third bus for communicating with the one or more of the field devices using the second communication protocol, and the first communication protocol is different from the second communication protocol.

49. 49. The process control system of any of claims 41 to 48, wherein the head end unit includes a power supply for providing power to a first communication protocol over the first type of physical layer.

50. 50. A process control system as described in any one of claims 43 to 49, wherein the head end unit includes a first power supply for supplying power to field devices using the first communication protocol via the first type of physical layer, and a second power supply for supplying power to field devices using the second communication protocol via the second type of physical layer.

51. 1. A field device access system for use in communicating with one or more field devices in a process plant, the field devices being coupled to a process controller; a plurality of field devices for performing control functions within the process plant, wherein a first one of the plurality of field devices uses a first communication protocol using a first type of physical layer, and a second one of the plurality of field devices uses a second communication protocol using a second type of physical layer, the first type of physical layer and the second type of physical layer being different types of physical layer, and the first communication protocol is different from the second communication protocol; an input / output device coupled between the process controller and each of the plurality of field devices, the input / output device comprising: With the base, a head end unit disposed on the base, the head end unit including one or more input / output processor modules; a first bus disposed on the base and communicatively coupled between the one or more input / output processor modules and an external device; a plurality of slots disposed on the base; a plurality of terminal blocks disposed on the base, each terminal block communicatively coupled to a different one of the plurality of slots, each terminal block receiving wiring used to communicatively couple the terminal block to one or more of the plurality of field devices; a second bus communicatively coupling the one or more input / output processor modules to each of the plurality of slots, the second bus being disposed on the base and having a first sub-bus and a second sub-bus; a plurality of marshalling units, each of the plurality of marshalling units including a memory and a processor for performing communications, each of the plurality of marshalling units insertable into one of the slots, and when inserted into one of the slots, the marshalling unit communicatively couples to one of the terminal blocks and to the second bus; A first one of the marshalling units is associated with and communicates with the first one of the field devices using a physical layer of the first type, and a second one of the marshalling units is associated with and communicates with the second one of the field devices using a physical layer of the second type, and when the first one of the marshalling units is inserted into a first one of the slots, the terminal block associated with the first one of the slots accepts the physical layer of the first type, and when the second one of the marshalling units is inserted into a second one of the slots, the terminal block associated with the second one of the slots accepts the physical layer of the first type. A field device access system, wherein a terminal block accepts the second type of physical layer, the first of the marshalling units communicates with the one or more input / output processor modules using the first sub-bus, whereby the first sub-bus supports communication of signals received from the first of the field devices using the first type of physical layer, and the second of the marshalling units communicates with the one or more processor modules using the second sub-bus, whereby the second sub-bus supports communication of signals received from the second of the field devices using the second type of physical layer.

52. 52. The field device access system of claim 51, wherein the external device is a device within a monitoring system.

53. 52. The field device access system of claim 51, wherein the external device is a device of an asset management system.

54. 52. The field device access system of claim 51, wherein the external device is the process controller.

55. 55. A field device access system as described in any of claims 51 to 54, further comprising a bus disposed on the base and communicatively coupled between the one or more input / output processor modules and the process controller.

56. 56. A field device access system as described in any one of claims 51 to 55, wherein the first of the marshalling units communicates with the first of the field devices using the first type of physical layer and using an Internet Protocol communication protocol.

57. 57. A field device access system as described in any one of claims 51 to 56, wherein the first of the marshalling units performs communication with the first of the field devices using the first type of physical layer and using a communication protocol that uses publish / subscribe messaging.

58. A field device access system as described in any of claims 51 to 57, wherein the first of the marshalling units communicates with the first of the field devices using the first type of physical layer and using a communication protocol that uses response / request commands.

59. A field device access system as described in any of claims 51 to 58, wherein the first of the marshalling units communicates with the first of the field devices using a physical layer of the first type and using a communication protocol that uses device addressing in device messages.

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