Configuring process simulation data for semantic zooming

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11320967-B2
Application number	US-201816167072-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 22, 2018
Priority date	Oct 14, 2013
Publication date	May 3, 2022
Grant date	May 3, 2022

Abstract

A system displays simulation data on a canvas. Software instructions stored on a memory device and executable by a processor display a first set of simulation data on a canvas, the first set of simulation data corresponding to a first zoom level of the canvas. Instructions adjust the canvas from the first zoom level to a second zoom level. Instructions display a second set of simulation data on the canvas, said displayed second set of simulation data corresponding to the second zoom level of the canvas.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for configuring a display of simulation data during simulation of a process entity, comprising: a processor; a memory device coupled to the processor; software instructions stored on the memory device and executable by the processor, said instructions comprising: instructions for implementing a simulator software program configured to calculate one or more of steady state mass and energy balances, fluid flow network analysis, and dynamic simulation within a simulation model; instructions for displaying: a canvas, an icon representation of the simulation model on the canvas, a set of one or more simulation data placeholders corresponding to the simulation model, and a set of one or more simulation data variables each corresponding to one of the simulation data placeholders; instructions for defining one or more parameters in an entity type object, said entity type object generically representing a type of process entity within an industrial process; instructions for creating the entity type object from the one or more parameters defined therein; instructions for instantiating an entity type instance in the simulation model based on the entity type object in response to the entity type object being placed on the canvas, said entity type instance representing a specific process entity in the industrial process; instructions for evaluating a condition of the one or more parameters defined in the entity type object in response to the entity type object being placed on the canvas; instructions for configuring behavior of the entity type instance within the simulation model based on the evaluating; instructions for configuring a first zoom level and a second zoom level of the canvas; instructions for storing, in the memory device, the first zoom level as a first user preference specific to a user; instructions for storing, in the memory device, the second zoom level as a second user preference specific to the user; instructions for configuring a first subset of the set of simulation data variables for the first zoom level of the canvas, said configuration specifying an appearance of alphanumeric characters representing a first set of simulation data values populating the simulation data place holders when the icon representation of the simulation model is displayed upon the canvas at the first zoom level thereof, said first set of simulation data values being actual data values corresponding to the first subset of simulation data variables; instructions for configuring a second subset of the set of simulation data variables for the second zoom level of the canvas, said configuration specifying an appearance of alphanumeric characters representing a second set of simulation data values populating the simulation data placeholders when the icon representation of the simulation model is displayed upon the canvas at the second zoom level thereof, said second set of simulation data values being actual data values corresponding to the second subset of simulation data variables; and instructions for simulating the functionality of the specific process entity by the entity type instance having the configured behavior in the simulation model.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein alphanumeric characters representing the first set of simulation data values populate the simulation data place holders on the canvas when the entity type instance having the configured behavior is displayed upon the canvas at the first zoom level during the simulation, and wherein alphanumeric characters representing the second set of simulation data values populate the simulation data placeholders on the canvas when the entity type instance having the configured behavior is displayed upon the canvas at the second zoom level during the simulation.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the configuration specifying the appearance of alphanumeric characters representing the second set of simulation data values comprises displaying more detail when the second zoom level is greater than the first zoom level and displaying less detail when the second zoom level is less than the first zoom level.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising instructions responsive to user input for customizing a level of detail associated with the appearance of alphanumeric characters representing the second set of simulation data values displayed at the second zoom level of the canvas.

5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising instructions for propagating the first and second user preferences to another canvas for configuring simulation data variables thereof, by the user via a model editor interface, at the first zoom level and the second zoom level of the first and second user preferences, respectively.

6. One or more tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media having executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed, perform a method of configuring a display of simulation data during simulation of a process entity comprising: implementing a simulator software program configured to calculate one or more of steady state mass and energy balances, fluid flow network analysis, and dynamic simulation within a simulation model; displaying: a canvas, an icon representation of the simulation model on the canvas, a set of simulation data place holders corresponding to the simulation model, and a set of simulation data variables each corresponding to one of the simulation data placeholders; defining one or more parameters in an entity type object, said entity type object generically representing a type of process entity within an industrial process; creating the entity type object from the one or more parameters defined therein; instantiating an entity type instance in the simulation model based on the entity type object in response to the entity type object being placed on the canvas, said entity type instance representing a specific process entity in the industrial process; evaluating a condition of the one or more parameters defined in the entity type object in response to the entity type object being placed on the canvas; configuring behavioral the entity type instance within the simulation model based on the evaluating; configuring a first zoom level and a second zoom level of the canvas; storing the first zoom level as a first user preference specific to a user of a model editor interface; storing the second zoom level as a second user preference specific to the user of the model editor interface; configuring a first subset of the set of simulation data variables for the first zoom level of the canvas, said configuration specifying an appearance of alphanumeric characters representing a first set of simulation data values populating the simulation data placeholders when the icon representation of the simulation model is displayed upon the canvas at the first zoom level thereof, said first set of simulation data values corresponding to the first subset of simulation data variables; configuring a second subset of the set of simulation data variables for the second zoom level of the canvas, said configuration specifying an appearance of alphanumeric characters representing a second set of simulation data values populating the simulation data placeholders when the icon representation of the simulation model is displayed upon the canvas at the second zoom level thereof, said second set of simulation data values corresponding to the second subset of simulation data variables; simulating the functionality of the specific process entity by the entity type instance having the configured behavior in the simulation model; populating the simulation data placeholders on the canvas with alphanumeric characters representing the first set of simulation data values when the entity type instance having the configured behavior is displayed upon the canvas at the first zoo

Assignees

• Aveva Software Llc

Inventors

• Boys Ian H
• Kane Douglas Paul
• Jerome David H
• Depew Cal

Classifications

• 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

• G06F30/20

  Design optimisation, verification or simulation (optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30) · CPC title

• Y02P90/02

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

• G06F2203/04806

  Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation · CPC title

• G06F3/0484 Primary

  for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range · CPC title