The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 06, 2005
Filed:
Feb. 12, 2002
Rusty Shepard, Austin, TX (US);
Ken Krivoshein, Elgin, TX (US);
Dan Christensen, Austin, TX (US);
Gary Law, Georgetown, TX (US);
Kent Burr, Round Rock, TX (US);
Mark Nixon, Round Rock, TX (US);
Rusty Shepard, Austin, TX (US);
Ken Krivoshein, Elgin, TX (US);
Dan Christensen, Austin, TX (US);
Gary Law, Georgetown, TX (US);
Kent Burr, Round Rock, TX (US);
Mark Nixon, Round Rock, TX (US);
Fisher-Rosemount Systems, Inc., Austin, TX (US);
Abstract
A versatile controller that can be used as either a stand-alone controller in a relatively small process plant or as one of numerous controllers in a distributed process control system depending on the needs of the process plant includes a processor adapted to be programmed to execute one or more programming routines and a memory, such as a non-volatile memory, coupled to the processor and adapted to store the one or more programming routines to be executed on the processor. The versatile controller also includes a plurality of field device input/output ports communicatively connected to the processor, a configuration communication port connected to the processor and to the memory to enable the controller to be configured with the programming routines and a second communication port which enables a user interface to be intermittently connected to the controller to view information stored within the controller memory. When used in a distributed process control system, the controller platform may be used as a remote input/output device and the ports of this remote input/output device may be logically mapped to controllers within the distributed process control system in a manner that is different than the physical connection between such controllers and the remote input/output device.