Reconciliation of run-time and configuration discrepancies

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10877466-B2
Application number	US-201715672479-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 9, 2017
Priority date	Aug 9, 2017
Publication date	Dec 29, 2020
Grant date	Dec 29, 2020

Abstract

Techniques for reconciling discrepancies between the runtime operation of a process plant and the configuration for the process plant allow for the process plant to be operated in a predictable and consistent manner. Additionally, techniques for reconciling discrepancies in the process plant enable inappropriate parameter values to be detected and reconciled efficiently and before such inappropriate values are included into configuration. Such techniques reduce the risk of downtime for online operation of the process plant to troubleshoot object configuration. A configuration engineer may provide one or more reconciliation instructions to reconcile the discrepancy. A configuration application then updates the process control environment of the process plant in accordance with the one or more reconciliation instructions. In some cases, the discrepancy is resolved by updating a configuration file for the object. In other cases, the discrepancy is resolved by updating the runtime instantiation of the object.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computing device for reconciling process control discrepancies in a process plant, the computing device comprising:
one or more processors; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium coupled to the one or more processors and storing a configuration application thereon, that when executed by the one or more processors, causes the computing device to:
receive a set of runtime values for one or more objects corresponding to one or more process entities, the one or more objects corresponding to respective sets of object parameters;
access a set of configuration values for the one or more objects corresponding to the one or more process entities;
detect a request to synchronize a modification of a particular object of the one or more objects;
in response to detecting the request to synchronize the modification, for object parameters associated with the particular object and prior to synchronizing the modification, detect a discrepancy between a runtime value and a configuration value for a particular object parameter within the set of object parameters corresponding to the particular object;
in response to detecting the discrepancy, present a message that indicates that a discrepancy exists, wherein the message is configured to include a user control that causes the computing device to present a discrepancy resolution display screen;
receive, via the discrepancy resolution display screen, two or more reconciliation instructions corresponding to two or more object parameters within the set of object parameters, wherein (i) a first reconciliation instruction of the two or more reconciliation instructions indicates that the configuration value should be used to reconcile the discrepancy for a first object parameter of the two or more object parameters, and (ii) a second reconciliation instruction of the two or more reconciliation instructions indicates that the runtime value should be used to reconcile the discrepancy for a second object parameter of the two or more object parameters; and
in response to an interaction with the user interface, update a process control environment in accordance with the two or more reconciliation instructions.

2. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the configuration application further causes the computing device to:
present a list of a plurality of objects associated with the process plant; and
receive an indication of the one or more objects.

3. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein to update the process control environment in accordance with the second reconciliation instruction, the configuration application further causes the computing device to:
update a configuration file corresponding to the particular object to configure the second object parameter to be the runtime value.

4. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein to update the process control environment in accordance with the first reconciliation instruction, the configuration application further causes the computing device to:
update a runtime instantiation of the particular object to change the first object parameter to the configuration value.

5. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the configuration application further causes the computing device to:
receive an indication that a user is modifying a target object associated with the process control plant, wherein the one or more objects include objects impacted by the modification to the target object.

6. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the configuration application further causes the computing device to:
present an interface that indicates a plurality of discrepancies between the set of runtime values and the set of configuration values.

7. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the runtime value corresponds to an indication of a person that modified the configuration value.

8. A method of reconciling process control discrepancies in a process plant, the method comprising:
receiving, by one or more processors executing a configuration application, a set of runtime values for one or more objects corresponding to one or more process entities, the one or more objects corresponding to respective sets of object parameters;
accessing, by the one or more processors, a set of configuration values for the one or more objects corresponding to the one or more process entities;
detecting, by the one or more processors, a request to synchronize a modification of a particular object of the one or more objects;
in response to detecting the request to synchronize the modification, for object parameters associated with the particular object and prior to synchronizing the modification, detecting, by the one or more processors, a discrepancy between a runtime value and a configuration value for a particular object parameter within the set of object parameters corresponding to a particular object;
in response to detecting the discrepancy, presenting, by the one or more processors, a message that indicates that a discrepancy exists, wherein the message is configured to include a user control that causes the computing device to present a discrepancy resolution display screen;
receiving, by the one or more processors and via the discrepancy resolution display screen, two or more reconciliation instructions corresponding to two or more object parameters within the set of object parameters, wherein (i) a first reconciliation instruction of the two or more reconciliation instructions indicates that the configuration value should be used to reconcile the discrepancy for a first object parameter of the two or more object parameters, and (ii) a second reconciliation instruction of the two or more reconciliation instructions indicates that the runtime value should be used to reconcile the discrepancy for a second object parameter of the two or more object parameters; and
in response to an interaction with the user interface, updating, by the one or more processors, a process control environment in accordance with the two or more reconciliation instructions.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
presenting, by the one or more processors, a list of a plurality of objects associated with the process plant; and
receiving, by the one or more processors, an indication of the one or more objects.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein updating the process control environment in accordance with the second reconciliation instruction further comprises:
updating, by the one or more processors, a configuration file corresponding to the particular object to configure the second object parameter to be the runtime value.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein updating the process control environment in accordance with the first reconciliation instruction further comprises:
updating, by the one or more processors, a runtime instantiation of the particular object to change the first object parameter to the configuration value.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
receiving, by the one or more processors, an indication that a user is modifying a target object associated with the process control plant, wherein the one or more objects include objects impacted by the modification to the target object.

13. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
presenting, by the one or more processors, an interface that indicates a plurality of discrepancies between the set of runtime values and the set of configuration values.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
receiving, via the interface, a plurality of reconciliation instructions for one or more of the plurality of discrepancies; and
updating, by the one or more processors, the pro

Assignees

• Fisher Rosemount Systems Inc

Inventors

• Naidoo Julian K
• Joshi Prashant
• Strinden Daniel R
• Uy Cristopher Ian Sarmiento

Classifications

• Y02P90/02

  Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS] · CPC title

• G05B2219/37591

  Plant characteristics · CPC title

• G05B19/418 Primary

  Total factory control, i.e. centrally controlling a plurality of machines, e.g. direct or distributed numerical control [DNC], flexible manufacturing systems [FMS], integrated manufacturing systems [IMS] or computer integrated manufacturing [CIM] · CPC title

• G05B19/0426

  Programming the control sequence · CPC title

• G05B19/41865 Primary

  characterised by job scheduling, process planning, material flow · CPC title