Granted Patent B2

US 8,381,173 · App. 12/399,090 · Granted Feb 19, 2013

Abstract

Claims (25)

1. A method of generating a set of platform-specific control logic implementation code suitable for execution by a corresponding programmable logic controller in a control environment:

modeling a plurality of control requirements as a unitary mathematical model (UMM) in a first processing layer using a processor and a software-based modeling application, wherein the UMM represents the control environment;

pre-populating a second processing layer, which is in communication with the first processing layer, with generic code for a predetermined set of commonly used control functions, wherein the second processing layer is configured to receive the UMM from the first processing layer and transform the UMM, using the generic code, into platform-independent control code describing a predetermined set of generic control functions using an Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema;

receiving the UMM from the first processing layer via the second processing layer;

transforming the UMM, using the generic code, into the platform-independent control code; and

automatically transforming, in a third processing layer having an XML-based code adapter having processing hardware, the predetermined set of generic control functions, via the XML code adapter, into the set of platform-specific control logic implementation code;

wherein the second processing layer includes:

a library of XML-based control code for executing a plurality of common control functions, the library providing a first portion of the set of platform-independent control code; and

a data model for transforming the UMM into a second portion of the platform-independent control code; and

wherein the XML-based code adapter is configured to receive and process, via processing hardware, the first and second portions of the set of platform-independent control code from the second processing layer to thereby generate the set of platform-specific control logic implementation code.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the software-based modeling application uses at least one of a finite state machine and a Petri net.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein automatically transforming the set of mathematical models into platform-independent control code includes accessing the library of pre-populated generic XML-based control code to thereby reuse a plurality of common control functions.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of platform-specific set of control logic implementation code includes at least one of: an instruction list, a ladder diagram, a sequential function chart, structured text, and a function block diagram.

5. A system for generating a set of platform-specific control logic implementation code suitable for execution by a corresponding programmable logic controller (PLC) platform in a control environment, the system comprising:

a first hardware processing layer configured to model a plurality of control requirements as a unitary mathematical model (UMM) that represents the control environment;

a second processing layer in communication with the first processing layer, wherein the second processing layer is pre-populated with generic code for a predetermined set of commonly used control functions, and is configured to receive the UMM from the first processing layer and to transform the UMM, using the generic code, into platform-independent control code describing a predetermined set of generic control functions using an Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema; and

a third processing layer having an XML-based code adapter for automatically transform the predetermined set of generic control functions into the set of platform-specific control logic implementation code;

wherein the second processing layer includes:

a library of XML-based control code for executing a plurality of common control functions, the library providing a first portion of the set of platform-independent control code; and

a data model for transforming the UMM into a second portion of the platform-independent control code; and

wherein the XML-based code adapter is configured to receive and process, via processing hardware, the first and second portions of the set of platform-independent control code from the second processing layer to thereby generate the set of platform-specific control logic implementation code.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the third processing layer includes a plurality of different platform-specific code adapters each having a corresponding set of platform-specific software configured for transforming the predetermined set of generic control functions into a platform-specific subset of the platform-specific logic implementation code.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the set of platform-specific control logic implementation code includes at least one of: an instruction list, a ladder diagram, a sequential function chart, structured text, and a function block diagram.

8. The system of claim 5 , wherein the third processing layer is configured for comparing the platform-specific control logic implementation code to the UMM in order to determine a variance therebetween.

9. The system of claim 5 , wherein the first processing layer utilizes one of a finite state machine and a Petri net for modeling the plurality of control requirements as the UMM.

Assignments (8)