Add-On Instruction Context Tracking in Industrial Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional industrial control systems lack the ability to distinguish which call to an add-on instruction is causing a particular data value to be set, leading to ambiguity and overwriting issues when multiple calls are made, making it difficult for end-users to manage and monitor add-on instruction calls effectively.
Innovation Solution
The system employs a data context manager to track calls to add-on instructions, providing context information such as instruction calls, callers, locations, and execution results, and a routine selection component that chooses suitable control logic based on the state of the add-on instruction or controller, allowing users to select and edit context information and ensuring proper pre- and post-conditions during execution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If multiple calls to add-on instructions are made without tracking context, then the system can execute instructions efficiently, but it cannot distinguish which call is causing a particular data value to be set, leading to ambiguity and overwriting issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a data context manager as an intermediary component that sits between the add-on instruction calls and the execution engine. This manager tracks and maintains context information for each call, including call identifiers, parameter values, and execution states, allowing the system to distinguish between multiple calls without fundamentally redesigning the execution engine.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the context management functionality into discrete, manageable units associated with each add-on instruction call. Each call receives a unique context identifier and maintains its own context stack, allowing independent tracking of multiple simultaneous calls. This segmentation prevents context mixing and makes the management of complex multi-call scenarios tractable.
2Measurement precision
If context information is tracked for all add-on instruction calls, then ambiguity is eliminated and data value setting becomes accurate, but user efficiency and programming flexibility may be reduced due to additional management overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The data context manager operates autonomously to track and manage context information without requiring explicit user intervention. It automatically assigns context identifiers, maintains context stacks, and manages state information for each add-on instruction call, freeing users from the burden of manual context management while ensuring precise tracking of data value changes.
3Adaptability or versatility
If add-on instructions are made flexible and reusable across different contexts, then programming versatility is improved, but it becomes difficult to manage and monitor the various calls and their effects
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the data context manager continuously monitors and records the execution state, parameter values, and results of each add-on instruction call. This feedback information is maintained in context stacks and can be queried by users or debugging tools, enabling effective monitoring and control of reusable instructions across different contexts while preserving their versatility.
Data Source
AI summary
The subject invention relates to systems and methods that facilitate display, selection, and management of context associated with execution of add-on instructions. The systems and methods track add-on instruction calls provide a user with call and data context, wherein the user can select a particular add-on instruction context from a plurality of contexts in order to observe values and/or edit parameters associated with the add-on instruction. The add-on instruction context can include information such as instances of data for particular lines of execution, the add-on instruction called, a caller of the instruction, a location of the instruction call, references to complex data types and objects, etc. The systems and methods further provide a technique for automatic routine selection based on the add-on instruction state information such that the add-on instruction executed corresponds to a current state.