Coactive Networks, Inc.

David Morris Byron

Edward Lee Koch

The present invention provides a method and system for data transmission in a computer network. The method includes sending data with a first structure to a connector, the connector coupled between the front-end and the back-end, the data being either from the front-end or the back-end; and mapping the data to a second structure by the connector, such that a change in a configuration of at least one control point at the back-end is transparent to the front-end. In the preferred, the method includes an additional device, a connector, that serves as a gateway between the enterprise and the control network. The enterprise defines structures, data points, that it prefers to use and configures the gateway to use them. From then on, communication between the enterprise and the connector uses those structures. The enterprise also configures the gateway to communicate with the desired elements of the control network by defining input/output points. The enterprise never communicates directly with the control network and so it does not need to be aware of the details of that communication. Messages containing information about control points transmitted between the back-end and the connector are isolated from data points transmitted between the connector and the front-end. This transparency provides the network with more flexibility and reduces the cost of operating the network. It allows for the front-end to use an open standard which further increases the flexibility of the network, and the enterprise to use whatever structures it desires, independent of the details of the control network implementation.

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San Francisco, CA, United States of America

David Morris Byron