Wireless Mesh Gateway for Process Control Integration
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing process control systems face challenges in efficiently communicating with wireless mesh networks, leading to costly and logistically difficult deployments of sensors and actuators, particularly in harsh environments and large industrial settings, where hardwired I/O communication networks are prone to signal degradation and require extensive reconfiguration.
Innovation Solution
A system that communicatively couples a process control system with a wireless mesh network through a server, utilizing a mesh interface and service to map wireless network data into the process control system, allowing tools within the system to treat mesh network data as native input/output data points, thereby improving system performance and reducing deployment costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If hardwired I/O communication networks are used in process control systems, then reliable data transmission is achieved, but deployment cost and logistical difficulty increase significantly in harsh environments and large industrial settings
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a wireless mesh network as an intermediary communication infrastructure between field devices and the process control system. This mesh network uses multiple wireless nodes that relay data packets across the facility, eliminating the need for direct hardwired connections to every device while maintaining reliable data transmission through redundant communication paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical hardwired communication system with a wireless communication system. Field devices communicate data packets wirelessly through the mesh network infrastructure, substituting physical cable connections with electromagnetic signal transmission, thereby reducing deployment complexity in harsh environments.
2Ease of manufacture
If wireless mesh networks are deployed to replace hardwired infrastructure, then deployment cost and complexity are reduced, but integration compatibility with existing process control systems deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway device as an intermediary between the wireless mesh network and the process control system. This gateway translates data packets from the wireless mesh protocol into formats compatible with traditional process control systems, enabling seamless integration without requiring changes to existing control architecture or user-level configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway device is designed with multi-functionality to handle various communication protocols and data formats. It can interface with different process control system architectures while maintaining compatibility with the wireless mesh network, thereby enhancing system adaptability without compromising deployment ease.
3Stability of the object's composition
If traditional process control architecture is maintained, then system stability is preserved, but ability to incorporate new wireless data sources and extend system usefulness is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the communication infrastructure into distinct layers: the wireless mesh network layer for data collection, the gateway layer for protocol translation, and the process control system layer for stable execution. This segmentation allows the process control system to maintain its stable core architecture while incorporating new wireless data sources through the added gateway and mesh network components.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system of communicating between a wireless network and a process control system communicatively coupled to a server, such as OPC. The server receives data from the wireless network, where the data is generated from an input/output data point within the wireless network. The server maps the data between the input/output data point and a data point placeholder within the process control system. The server writes the mapped data to the corresponding data point placeholder of the process control system via a process control interface, and the mapped data is provided to the process control system as process control data native to the process control system. Process control data may also be provided to the server, mapped between a data point placeholder of the process control system and an input/output data point of the wireless network, and written to the corresponding input/output data point.