A software defined (SD) process control system (SDCS) includes a method executed by a discovery service for inferring information regarding a physical or logical asset of a process plant. The method includes obtaining an announcement indicative of a presence of a physical or logical asset of the process plant. The method also includes obtaining, from a context dictionary, one or more parameters retrievable from the physical or logical asset or one or more services associated with the physical or logical asset that were not indicated in the announcement. Furthermore, the method includes storing a record of the discovered physical or logical asset in a discovered item data store. The record includes an indication of the identity of the physical or logical asset and the one or more parameters or one or more services associated with the physical or logical asset that were not indicated in the announcement.

The invention relates to a method for the distributed calculation of calculation tasks by means of field devices of an industrial plant, wherein a plurality of field devices are coupled to a task distribution unit by means of a data link, the field devices effect a control of the industrial plant in an operating state in each case, at least one of the field devices receives a calculation task from the task distribution unit in an idle state and changes to a calculation state in which the calculation task is processed.

A controller corresponding to production equipment, requiring upgrade can be selected automatically, thereby reduction in operating rate can be reduced. When software is upgraded, version upgrade software relating to a predetermined action description and version information are transferred to a controller management apparatus (S1). A version change determination unit selects a controller including the predetermined action description described in the version information (S2 and S3). The selected controller downloads the new version of software to change the software (S4 and S5) after stopping operation of the production equipment. On the other hand, a controller not selected does not download the software, and the operation of the production equipment is not stopped.

A control device for a machine tool, said control device being provided with a display unit that displays machining information and a display control unit that generates an image to display on said display unit. The display control unit is designed so as to divide up the display region of the display unit, generating a plurality of subregions. Via input from an operator, the sizes of said subregions can be changed. The display control unit changes the display format of the machining information in accordance with the machining information to be displayed and the sizes of the subregions.

System configuration management using encapsulation and discovery is provided. The configuration management may include requesting, by a first electronic control unit comprising a processor, feature information associated with a second electronic control unit. The feature information may include data related to a set of features implemented by the second electronic control unit. The configuration management may also include loading, by the first electronic control unit, an internal control for a first feature of the set of features based on a determination that the first feature is not loaded on the first electronic control unit.

Method and a system for managing distributing computing suitable for implementation in an automation system are provided, wherein in a first step, a set of program instructions is partitioned into a plurality of unit blocks, where each unit block comprises at least one program instruction and, in a second set, at least one complementary block corresponding to at least one unit block are identified from the remainder of the plurality of unit blocks, where the complementary blocks are identified based on a comparison between read-write access of global variables in the unit block and corresponding complementary blocks and, in another step, the plurality of unit blocks are executed on a set of multiple processors within the automation system such that at least one complementary block is executed in parallel with a corresponding unit block.

A computer-implemented method for calculation and output of control pulses by a control unit having a first computing unit and a second computing unit, wherein the control pulses are output by the control unit to an internal combustion engine. The calculation of the control pulses is optimized in that the first computing unit calculates a control pulse pattern with triggering information for multiple future control pulses at a first sampling rate using prior state data of the engine, and transmits the calculated control pulse pattern to the second computing unit, that the second computing unit at a second sampling rate that is greater than the first sampling rate of the first computing unit corrects the triggering information of the control pulses that are currently to be output using current state data of the engine, and that control pulses are output to the engine based on the corrected triggering information.

A controller corresponding to production equipment, requiring upgrade can be selected automatically, thereby reduction in operating rate can be reduced. When software is upgraded, version upgrade software relating to a predetermined action description and version information are transferred to a controller management apparatus (S1). A version change determination unit selects a controller including the predetermined action description described in the version information (S2 and S3). The selected controller downloads the new version of software to change the software (S4 and S5) after stopping operation of the production equipment. On the other hand, a controller not selected does not download the software, and the operation of the production equipment is not stopped.

A controller corresponding to production equipment, requiring upgrade can be selected automatically, thereby reduction in operating rate can be reduced. When software is upgraded, version upgrade software relating to a predetermined action description and version information are transferred to a controller management apparatus (S1). A version change determination unit selects a controller including the predetermined action description described in the version information (S2 and S3). The selected controller downloads the new version of software to change the software (S4 and S5) after stopping operation of the production equipment. On the other hand, a controller not selected does not download the software, and the operation of the production equipment is not stopped.

A control device for a machine tool, said control device being provided with a display unit that displays machining information and a display control unit that generates an image to display on said display unit. The display control unit is designed so as to divide up the display region of the display unit, generating a plurality of subregions. Via input from an operator, the sizes of said subregions can be changed. The display control unit changes the display format of the machining information in accordance with the machining information to be displayed and the sizes of the subregions.