Methods and apparatus to communicatively couple a portable device to process control devices in a process control system

1. A method to communicatively couple a portable device to a process control device in a process control system, the method comprising:

receiving via a wireless module a selection of an input/output (I/O) channel from a portable device;

determining a process control device associated with the selected I/O channel;

initiating a pass-through session from the wireless module to the determined process control device via the I/O channel; and

enabling communication between the portable device and the process control device via the pass-through session to communicatively couple the portable device to the process control device.

2. A method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising, prior to receiving the selection from the portable device:

receiving via the wireless module an identification request message transmitted from the portable device;

transmitting identification information from the wireless module to the portable device;

receiving via the wireless module a request to connect message from the portable device; and

establishing a communication link between the wireless module and the portable device.

3. A method as defined in claim 2 , further comprising, upon receiving the request to connect message, activating an indicator associated with the wireless module.

4. A method as defined in claim 3 , wherein the indicator includes at least one of a flashing light, a flashing light emitting diode, or an output of an audio signal.

5. A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein initiating the pass-through session includes creating a virtual route from the portable device through the wireless module to the selected I/O channel via an I/O card that corresponds to the selected I/O channel.

6. A method as defined in claim 5 , wherein enabling the communication between the portable device and the process control device via the pass-through session includes at least one of:

packaging a communication transmitted from the process control device in accordance with a wireless communication protocol prior to transmitting the communication to the portable device; or

unpacking a communication transmitted from the portable device from a wireless communication protocol and transmitting the unpacked communication via a digital bus to the process control device.

7. A method as defined in claim 6 , wherein the digital bus employs at least one of a Foundation Fieldbus protocol, a Profibus protocol, a Highway Addressable Remote Transducer protocol, a wireless Highway Addressable Remote Transducer protocol, or an electronic device description language protocol.

8. A method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising forwarding at least one of a read message, a write message, a subscribe message, or a command message from the portable device to the process control device via the pass-through session.

9. A method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising forwarding at least one of status information, signal information, diagnostic information, or identification information from the process control device to the portable device via the pass-through session.

10. A method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

determining two or more available process control devices associated with the selected I/O channel;

sending a list of the available two or more process control devices to the portable device;

receiving in the wireless module a selection of a second process control device from the portable device;

initiating the pass-through session from the wireless module to the second process control device via the I/O channel; and

enabling communication between the portable device and the second process control device via the pass-through session.

11. A method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a selection of at least one of two or more process control devices or two or more I/O channels;

initiating the pass-through session from the wireless module to at least one of the process control devices or at least one of the I/O channels; and

enabling communication between the portable device and the at least one of the process control devices or the I/O channels via the pass-through session.

12. A method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising, prior to receiving the selection of the I/O channel, sending a list of available I/O channels to the portable device.

13. A method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising, upon receiving the selection from the portable device, activating an indicator associated with the process control device.

14. An apparatus to communicatively couple a portable device to a process control device in a process control system, the apparatus comprising:

a wireless processor to receive a selection of an input/output (I/O) channel from a portable device;

a wireless module channel manager to initiate a pass-through session from the wireless module to a process control device via the I/O channel; and

an I/O component interface to enable communication between the portable device and the process control device via the pass-through session to communicatively couple the portable device to the process control device.

15. An apparatus as defined in claim 14 , wherein the I/O component interface is to determine the process control device associated with the selected I/O channel by receiving identifying process control device identification information from the selected I/O channel.

16. An apparatus as defined in claim 14 , wherein the selection of the I/O channel is the same as a selection of an I/O component associated with the I/O channel.

17. An apparatus as defined in claim 14 , further comprising a communication link manager to:

receive an identification request message transmitted from the portable device;

transmit identification information to the portable device via the wireless processor;

receive a request to connect message from the portable device; and

establish a communication link with the portable device.

18. An apparatus as defined in claim 17 , further comprising an indicator driver to activate an indicator associated with the wireless module channel manager.

19. An apparatus as defined in claim 18 , wherein at least one of the wireless processor, the communication link manager, the wireless module channel manager, the I/O component interface, or the indicator driver is included within a wireless module.

20. An apparatus as defined in claim 14 , wherein the wireless module channel manager is to initiate the pass-through session by creating a virtual route from the portable device through the I/O component interface to the selected I/O channel via an I/O component that corresponds to the selected I/O channel.

21. An apparatus as defined in claim 20 , wherein the I/O component interface is to enable the communication between the portable device and the process control device via the pass-through session by communicatively coupling to at least one of:

a wireless transmission converter that is to:

receive the communication from the I/O component interface; and

package the communication in accordance with a wireless communication protocol prior to transmitting the communication to the portable device; or

a pass-through manager that is to forward the communication to the process control device via the I/O component interface.

22. An apparatus as defined in claim 21 , wherein the pass-through manager is to:

unpack the communication transmitted from the portable device from a wireless protocol; and

forward the unpacked communication to the process control device via the I/O component interface.

23. An apparatus as defined in claim 14 , wherein the I/O component interface is to:

determine two or more available process control devices associated with the selected I/O channel; and

send a list of the available two or more process control devices to the portable device.

24. An apparatus as defined in claim 23 , wherein:

the wireless processor is to receive a selection of a second process control device from the portable device;

the wireless module channel manager is to initiate the pass-through session to the second process control device via the I/O channel; and

the I/O component interface is to enable communication between the portable device and the second process control device via the pass-through session.

25. A tangible machine-accessible memory device comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

receive a selection of an input/output (I/O) channel from a portable device;

determine a process control device associated with the selected I/O channel;

initiate a pass-through session to the determined process control device via the I/O channel; and

enable communication between the portable device and the process control device via the pass-through session to communicatively couple the portable device to the process control device.