Data processing: software development – installation – and managem – Software program development tool – Linking
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-06
2004-02-17
Chavis, John (Department: 2124)
Data processing: software development, installation, and managem
Software program development tool
Linking
C717S167000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06694513
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention is concerned with computerized systems for control. In particular the present invention is a method for integrating many and varied types of application within a computerized system, and a system employing the method. The method and system may be used in a computerized system for controlling single devices, an object in a process, complete equipment, in any location including a home, as well as processes or industrial installations such as steel mills, paper mills, and automated factories.
BACKGROUND ART
In contemporary computer based systems for controlling manufacturing and process industries, such as chemical plants, oil refineries, pulp and paper mills, steel mills, etc., there has typically existed a large range of different applications of different origin that have had to be integrated into a single control system. Further, a control system typically includes several computers connected through a communication network, where said applications are distributed in different configurations for different installations. Traditional methods for this integration have entailed extremely lengthy development times resulting, for example, in significant changes in requirements before such control programs have been completed and made ready for use. A second problem with traditional development methods is that it has been difficult and lengthy to update such control programs to include new requirements, such as the integration of additional and new applications. Writing and modifying control system programs to combine newer applications with older, existing applications, which older applications are sometimes called legacy applications, has also been difficult, time consuming and expensive.
The adoption of object-oriented programming languages and methods has led to somewhat shorter development times, and made it somewhat easier to incorporate or integrate new applications.
IEC standard DIS ISO/IEC 1346-1 1995 Structuring principles and reference designations, contains a reference designation system for the unambiguous identification of parts of any system in the general technical context such as in a manufacturing company, plant or operating company. Within this description the terms object, aspect and reference designations in particular are used to refer such parts of any system in the general technical context in accordance with the definitions in DIS ISO/IEC 1346-1.In addition, certain additional types of objects and aspects will be additionally defined in the course of this description.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,425 describes a concept of client/server relationships between objects in an object-oriented computer program. Objects communicate with each other, for example in order for a first object to access data held by a second object. When the first object needs access to some data controlled by the second object, the first object is considered to be a client of the second object, which in turn is considered to be a server. To access the data controlled by the server object, the second object in this example, one of the operations of the first object, the client object, will call or invoke one of the operations of the server object. The operation of the server object thus invoked is then executed to access and/or manipulate the data on behalf of the client object.
When the client object and server object both exist and run in the same process (memory space) in the same computer, the server object is described as being “in process”. When the client and server objects run in different processes (memory spaces) in the same computer, the server object is described as being “local”. When the client and server objects run in separate computers, the server object is described as being “remote”.
The standard operation of an Object Request Broker (ORB) is to handle requests between client and server objects. The ORB makes the handling of requests transparent to the client object whether the server object is in process, local or remote.
A known example of an ORB is published by Microsoft and is called Component Object Model (COM). It is a standard for interoperability between software components introduced in 1993. COM is independent of programming language and supported by many widely used computer operating systems such as Windows, Mac OS, and many types of Unix. It uses a single model for software components to communicate with each other, both inside the same computing process and also across process and network boundaries. COM is also associated with ActiveX (Trademark), a system of software controls that use COM technologies. The COM standard of 1995 is described in The Component Object Model Specification available in the Microsoft MSDN Online Library on the web site maintained by Microsoft. Additional information about COM may be found in, amongst others, an article in Dr. Dobbs Journal December 1994 entitled The Component Object Model: Technical Overview.
The adoption of object oriented programming and client-server approach has provided design tools that make it easier to design computerized systems with re-useable modules that co-operate in a standardized way to perform the collective functions of the system. However, it is necessary to integrate applications of different origin, that are implemented using different object and non-object technologies, including new applications, as well as applications that were anticipated but not known in detail at the time of planning a computerized system. Conventional system design requires that an object in a computerized system has prior information about an application in order for the object to, for example, access a method implemented by the application. A new way to design systems is required to integrate applications, such that different applications can be both fully independent, based on different technologies, and without knowledge of the specifics of each other, and at the same time able to co-operate with each other to perform the collective functionality of the computerized system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide a method to integrate an application in a system for computerized control of a real world object, and a system in which the method is employed. Another object of the invention is a method to integrate an application such that prior information about the application need not be specified. Another object of the invention is to provide a method to represent real world objects in a computerized system in a systematic way, in which different types of information about the real world object may be obtained, linked to the real world object, processed, displayed and acted on, and a system employing same. Another object of the invention is the integration of a large range of applications within the system in a modular manner. Another object of the invention is to provide a method for the integration of later and additional applications into an existing system. Another object of the invention is to provide for the integration of different applications that are implemented using different object and non-object oriented technologies. Another object of the invention is to provide a system and method in which separate applications that are independent and without knowledge about the specifics of each other, are able to co-operate to jointly provide system functionality that is associated with said real world objects. A further object of the invention is to provide a method and system in which control of equipment may be achieved in any location including a home or residence.
These and other objects are achieved according to the present invention by a method as described in claim
1
and a system as described in claim
14
, and a computer program product described in claim
27
. The present invention may be described summarily as a method for designing a computerized system, and a system employing same method, in which one or more real world objects are represented by an object called a Composite Object. The Composite Object is a part of a computer program include
Andersson Johan
Rudin Mikael
ABB AB
Chavis John
Dykema Gossett PLLC
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