Description

The invention relates to a commissioning system and method for the commissioning of network devices of at least one wireless network, in particular a wireless sensor network, in a plant automation system.

Generally wireless sensor deployment for industrial automation and its performance depends a lot on environment and external conditions of plant. The different applications in industrial plant may have specific QoS (Quality of Service) requirement and to get the optimized settings of configuration, the commissioning parameters are required to be chosen carefully based on the required QoS for the specific application in the plant. Moreover, the parameters for wireless network at the time of commis- sioning may not meet optimal performance of the WSN (wireless sensor network) as the environment is likely to change during plant operation. So, the commissioning parameters for WSN will depend on the business requirements/ QoS for specific application, which is not possible by generic Network Manager.

The basic solution to this challenge is an efficient workflow which will enable the user to set the parameters based on the application QoS requirements. The user is not required to know the internals of wireless network. Instead of that, it will have an intuitive graphical interface which will give the user to accept the required commissioning parameters.

The solution is further enhanced by adding the component for run time

measurements and analysis/evaluation of WSN performance factors with respect to system commissioning parameters. This will run in back ground to suggest the required modified parameters.

General tasks for the commissioning the WirelessHART field networks are the set-up of security credentials. Though from experiments, it is found that the network perfor- mance depends a lot on commissioning set-ups like network bandwidth, number of motes, data generation rate, etc.

The QoS required for an application in industrial environments like latency, survival rate also depends on the commissioning parameters. The network manager in WirelessHART network does the optimization in a generic way, as it will not have the business requirements on specific application.

In pre-commissioning phase, planning is required to deploy the wireless network as per business requirement.

In industrial environment, the wireless media will not have the static characteristics all along the plant operation. The changes in environment can impact the signal attenuation, for which some of the network parameters are need to be changed.

For user, it is a challenge to dig out the network details to find out the degradation in QoS. It will be useful to user to accept/reject the modified changes in visualization interface, where the module in Network Advisor will calculate the required changes in network parameters.

When in asset monitoring, the alarm is generated for low QoS, troubleshooting of Wireless Media becomes a headache where the information from the networks is required to be assessed. The network advisor can accumulate the information from the network and can ease the operators' work by popping up user-friendly windows to accept or reject the network parameters.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved commissioning system

determining and providing optimized commissioning parameters for a more efficient commissioning process with minimized join time of new devices.

This object is solved by a commissioning system according to claim 1 . Further embodiments and advantageous improvements of the system as well as a

corresponding method are disclosed in the following description and further claims.

The commissioning system according to the invention comprises at least one data processing device, a display device, an input device and a storage device as well as executable program code means, wherein network management/commissioning means are provided for guiding the operator and determining required parameters settings for optimal performance in industrial wireless sensor network having one or more field devices, operator portal, wireless network management component including one or more processing units such as network manager, security manager, access points, gateways, and wherein a. the QoS requirements for the specific application are accumulated; b. the network data, in particular network performance data and in- formation are measured and determined; c. the required parameter settings for an optimal network performance are determined and selectively set to enable and effect an optimized network performance and/or quality as well as an optimized and efficient commissioning process. In a further refinement selection means are provided to the operator to manually accept or reject the suggested parameter settings before they will be set to effect an optimized network performance.

In another embodiment of the invention a. in pre-commissioning phase available network and plant planning information are accessed and used /processed, b. wireless layout information are used and processed, and c. available and accessible data from the deployed network or a history database is used and processed to determine network setup and/or parameters.

Furthermore, a combined optimization methodology may be applied and performed to determine and to achieve the optimal commissioning parameters and/or to arrive at the optimal commissioning parameters. In another embodiment of the invention a trend unit is provided which performs a trend monitoring during run-time of network.

In another embodiment function and/or operability of optimal life time of field devices through optimizing power consumption using performance factors and QoS requirements is ensured and/or performed.

In a further refinement a user-friendly interface to the operator is provided, which encapsulates the complexity of the determination and/or calculation.

Furthermore, the executable program means may comprise a network advisor unit, which retrieves the data from the respective gateway and my be built and/or set up and work as a stand-alone component or may be integrated with or in DMS/DCS

During pre-commissioning, the industrial plant layout and the QoS requirement for specific application is available for planning. The basic security credentials are already commissioned to the devices to join in the network. After deploying the Wire- lessHART field devices in the plant, the operator comes to DMS/DCS for commissioning the devices. He enters in visualization interface the application specific QoS requirements.

The executable program means provide and/or comprise a network advisor unit according to the invention which provides two options. In one scenario (option 1 ), the network advisor unit will collect measurement data from already deployed network. In another scenario (option 2), it can have a history database with similar type of appli- cation. Now, based on measurement data and the QoS application requirement the commissioning system and in particular the network advisor unit will come out with the required commissioning parameters for optimal network performance.

For commissioning, the operator does not need to know the activities in this system module. The network advisor unit creates a pop-up in visualization interface for the operator, showing the required commissioning parameters. The user can accept or reject the settings. If a complete setting or individual parameters are rejected, the network continues to work with older or former settings and/or parameters. The determination and/or calculation of required modified network parameters are encapsulated and/or integrated and/or provided in or by the network advisor unit, wherein the complexity is hidden form the operator.

Based on the dynamic changes in wireless environment, the network might suffer from low QoS. There might be additional traffic through a particular node, the plant can be expanded with additional devices, and there may be coverage hole in the network. In all these cases, debugging the wireless media for user is not a feasible solution.

So the commissioning system can have log of the network activities inside the plant. Based on those data, it can calculate the required network parameters for optimal network performance.

Similar to the commissioning phase, the commissioning system and in particular the network advisor unit can pop-up a window to the operator by showing the modified network parameters, which operators have choice to accept or reject.

The calculation of required modified network parameters are encapsulated in the commissioning system and the complexity is hidden form the operator. The network advisor unit is formed or built as a software module which can be working as stand-alone solution or may be integrated with or in the DMS/DCS

(distributed management system/ distributed control system). The network advisor unit communicates and cooperates and/or is interfaced with the WirelessHART Gateway from where, it can have and/or access all the necessary measurement data of network.

The further disclosure and explanation of the invention as well as advantageous embodiments and further developments are presented according to several illustrative embodiments.

The figures present Fig. 1 main workflow and methodology to be executed and/or performed by an exemplary commissioning system according to the invention,

Fig. 2 network advisor unit optimization functionality

Fig. 3 methodology for the determination of optimized commissioning

parameters for a required QoS

Fig. 4 methodology for combining power saving and optimal commissioning parameter,

Fig. 5 methodology for determining the optimal operating zone

In Fig. 1 the main workflow and methodology to be executed and/or performed by an exemplary commissioning system according to the invention is disclosed.

The commissioning system according to the invention comprises at least one data processing device, a display device, an input device and a storage device as well as executable program code means, wherein network management/commissioning means are provided for guiding the operator and determining required parameters settings for optimal performance in industrial wireless sensor network having one or more field devices, operator portal, wireless network management component including one or more modules such as network manager, security manager, access points, gateways, and wherein in a pre-commissioning step 10 the QoS requirements for the specific application and business/process requirements are determined and/or accumulated.

During pre-commissioning, the industrial plant layout and the QoS requirement for specific application is available for planning. The basic security credentials are al- ready commissioned to the devices to join in the network. After deploying the Wire- lessHART field devices in the plant, the operator comes to DMS/DCS for commissioning the devices. He enters in visualization interface the application specific QoS requirements 20 and the suitable commissioning parameters are determined are and presented to the operator so that he can accept or reject the suggested commission- ing parameters in a further step 30, which are then deployed in combination with the respective network 40.

The executable program means comprise a network advisor unit 50 which collects measurement data and/or commissioning parameters, in particular wireless sensor and network performance parameters, from the already deployed network. Based on measurement data and the QoS application requirement the commissioning system and in particular the network advisor unit 50 will determine and/or come out with the required commissioning parameters for optimal network performance 55 to update the commissioning parameters in the commissioning 40.

For commissioning, the operator does not need to know the activities in this system module. The network advisor unit 50 creates a pop-up in visualization interface 60 for the operator, showing the required commissioning parameters. The user can accept or reject the settings 60. If a complete setting or individual parameters are rejected, the network continues to work with older or former settings and/or parameters.

The determination and/or calculation of required modified network parameters are encapsulated and/or integrated and/or provided in or by the network advisor unit 50, wherein the complexity is hidden form the operator.

Based on the dynamic changes in wireless environment, the network might suffer from low QoS. There might be additional traffic through a particular node, the plant can be expanded with additional devices, and there may be coverage hole in the network. In all these cases, debugging the wireless media for user is not a feasible solution.

So the commissioning system can have log of the network activities inside the plant. Based on those data, it can calculate and/or determine 54 the required network parameters 56 for optimal network performance.

Similar to the commissioning phase, the commissioning system and in particular the network advisor unit 50 can pop-up a window to the operator by showing the modified network parameters , which operators have choice to accept or reject. The determination and/or calculation of required modified network parameters comprises that stepwise the network data, in particular wireless network performance data and information are measured and determined 52, in particular for a number of time, and that the required parameter settings for an optimal network performance are determined 54 and selectively set 56,60 to enable and effect an optimized network performance and/or quality as well as an optimized and efficient commissioning process.

In a further refinement selection means are provided to the operator to manually accept or reject the suggested parameter settings before they will be set to effect an optimized network performance.

The optimization process performed by the advisor unit 50 as such is disclosed in Fig. 2, wherein the wireless sensor network data 100, in particular network performance data and information, are measured and determined 1 10 and accessibly stored in a respective data storage 120. The stored information are accessed and processed by applying a combined optimization methodology may be applied and performed to determine and to achieve the optimal commissioning parameters and/or to arrive at the optimal commissioning parameters.

Accordingly a trend unit 130 is provided which performs a trend monitoring during run-time of network and/or the function and/or operability of optimal life time of field devices through optimizing power consumption using performance factors and QoS requirements 140 is ensured and/or performed.

Finally, the required parameter settings for an optimal network performance are determined to enable and effect an optimized network performance and/or quality as well as an optimized and efficient commissioning process.

In fig. 3 a graph or chart is presented in a cartesian coordinate system, wherein the commissioning parameters are represented by x-axis and the performance

parameters are represented by the y- axis. Accordingly the performance parameters in the network are evaluated for its minimal value against the commissioning parameters using the well known peak seeking of curve technique, in particular with regard to determine optimized commissioning parameters. In fig. 4 a graph or chart is presented in a cartesian coordinate system, wherein the generation time is represented by the x-axis and the survival rate is represented by the y- axis. The survival rate is evaluated for a particular generation time, where the number of packets reaching the destination is known. If the generation time is kept as the survival time, then the survival rate will increase and in turn it will optimize the power consumption of the field devices.

In fig. 5 a graph or chart is presented in a cartesian coordinate system, wherein the network bandwith is represented by the x-axis and the range of values (from low to high) is represented by the y- axis.

The method of power saving and finding the optimal commissioning parameters are combined to achieve perfect operating zone, where the optimal commissioning parameters can be set for particular QoS requirements.

The present invention also comprises any combination of preferred embodiments as well as individual features and developments provided they do not exclude each other.