Ethernet I/O card scanner

• Main Authors: Christopher Cho, Aaron C Jones, Camilo Fadul
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 20.04.2022
• Subjects: CALCULATING; COMPUTING; CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; CONTROLLING; COUNTING; ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS ORELEMENTS; PHYSICS; REGULATING

An electronic device and method for configuring an ethernet I/O card (EIOC) in a process control environment, configured to: (i) analyse a decoder file that maps field device variables to message positions 505; (ii) generate device signal tags (DSTs) representing process variables corresponding to a different field devices, mapped to the one or more message positions 510; (iii) upload the DSTs to a configuration database 515 so that, when the process control system is configured according to the database, the DSTs correspond to the message positions 520. The EIOC is further configured to: (a) implement a controller output function in which the EIOC is configured to receive a controller output message including a controller output value for a first DST, and respond by assigning the value to a first message position mapped to the first DST, such that the controller output value is transmitted from the EIOC to the field device at the first message position; or (b) implement a controller input function in which the EIOC is configured to: receive, from the field device, a field device output message including a controller input value at a second message position mapped to a second DST, and respond by assigning the controller input value to the second DST, such that the input value is transmitted from the EIOC to the process controller as part of a controller input message.