FORM 2
The Patent Act 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
The Patent Rules  2005

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(SEE SECTION 10 AND RULE 13)

TITLE OF THE INVENTION
“Monitoring and Controlling of valves in industrial process control and automation using NFC”
APPLICANTS:
Name : HCL Technologies Limited
Nationality : Indian
Address : HCL Technologies Ltd.  50-53 Greams
Road Chennai – 600006  Tamil Nadu  India

The following Specification particularly describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:

FIELD OF INVENTION
[001] The embodiments herein relate to industrial process control and automation and more particularly to monitoring and controlling valves using Near-Field Communication (NFC).

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
[002] In the past decades  technological advancements in industrial process control and automation have contributed greatly to improve the productivity of virtually all manufacturing industries throughout the world. In that  process control is extensively used in industry and enables mass production of continuous processes such as oil refining  paper manufacturing  chemicals  power plants and many other industries. Process control enables automation  with which a small staff of operating personnel can operate a complex process from a central control room.
[003] In the present scenario  almost all the instruments widely used in process control are equipped with different remote ports like RS232 / RS422 / RS485  RJ45 (Ethernet port) and some of them with CAN / LIN bus to enable remote connectivity to the devices. The scope here is restricted to the operation of valves alone. There are different types of valves based on the application to control the pressure or flow of any liquid  air  gas and the like.
[004] Most of the vendors provide a Local Control Unit (LCU) to control the valves which need to be wired to valves. Among them  few vendors do provide a Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) also so as to enable the user to control a group of valves from the control room. But this RTU is also mostly wired. Most of the deployments have been tested and proven using different types of wireless communications such as Bluetooth  ZigBee  and RFID in process control and automation.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION
[005] Accordingly the invention provides a system to monitor and control a valve in process control using Near-Field communication (NFC)  wherein the system comprises an NFC-Equipment Interface Unit (NFC-EIU)  wherein the NFC-EIU comprises a microcontroller  a NFC module  at least one valve connected with the NFC-EIU  a handheld device connected with the NFC-EIU  wherein the system is configured to obtain parameters from the at least one valve using the NFC-EIU  send the parameters to the handheld device by the NFC-EIU  analyze the parameters by the handheld device and control the at least one valve by the NFC-EIU based on the analysis  on the NFC-EIU receiving the analysis from the handheld device.
[006] Accordingly the invention provides a Near-Field Communication (NFC)-Equipment Interface Unit (NFC-EIU) for monitoring and controlling a valve in process control using NFC  wherein the NFC-EIU comprises a microcontroller  a NFC module  further the NFC-EIU is configured to acquire parameters from at least one valve in the process control  send the parameters to a handheld device for analysis and control the at least one valve based on the analysis  on the NFC-EIU receiving the analysis from the handheld device.
[007] Accordingly the invention provides a method for monitoring and controlling a valve in process control using Near Field Communication (NFC)  wherein the method comprises obtaining parameters from at least one valve using a NFC- Equipment Interface Unit (NFC-EIU)  sending the parameters to a handheld device by the NFC-EIU  analyzing the parameters by the handheld device and controlling at least one valve based on the analysis by the NFC-EIU from the handheld device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[008] The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following detailed description with reference to the drawings  in which:
[009] FIG. 1 illustrates the block diagram of monitoring and controlling of the valves using NFC in process control and automation  according to the embodiments disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
[0010] The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly  the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
[0011] The embodiments herein disclose a system and method to enable wireless operation to monitor and control the valve. The system comprises a NFC based Equipment Interface Unit module (NFC-EIU) to monitor and control plurality of valves (electronic valves) irrespective of the solvent (liquid or gas) that is passed through the valves. According to NFC Forum  the compliant devices in NFC Forum Reader/Writer mode must support the RF requirements for ISO/IEC 14443A  ISO/IEC 14443 B and FeliCa as outlined in the relevant parts in the ISO 18092. The new upcoming OEMs can also adopt this system by implementing this NFC-EIU to their internal modules of the valves so as to establish data transfer accordingly.
[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates the block diagram of monitoring and controlling of the valves using NFC in process control and automation  according to the embodiments disclosed herein. The figure depicts a NFC-Equipment Interface Unit (EIU) 100 which comprises a microcontroller 101  a NFC module 102. The NFC-EIU 100 is connected to a pressure valve 103 and a Local Control Unit (LCU) 104 using any of the known wired communication such as port. Similarly  the NFC-EIU 100 is connected to a flow valve 105 and a LCU 106 using any of the known interface or port. The NFC-EIU 100 is flexible enough to connect to different types of communication ports  so that there is no dependency for hardware device communication. The NFC-EIU 100 is further connected to a handheld device 107 using NFC. The NFC module 102 in the NFC-EIU 100 communicates with the handheld device 107 to send/receive commands.
[0013] In an embodiment  the NFC-EIU 100 is connected to the pressure valve 103 and the flow valve 105 using port such as (Digital IOs  Analog IOs  RS232 RS422  RS485  RJ45) and some of them with CAN(Controller Area Network)/ LIN (Local Interconnect Network) bus to enable remote connectivity to the handheld device 107.
[0014] The NFC-EIU 100 is unique device that shall support different modes of communication and ports for connectivity.
[0015] In an embodiment  the handheld device 107 can be a mobile telephone  a cellular phone  an electronic notepad  a laptop  notebook  a tablet  a personal digital assistant (PDA)  smart phone compatible with Android Operating System (OS)  iOS  Windows OS.
[0016] The NFC-EIU 100 acquires the parameters from either the pressure valve 103or flow valve 105. In an embodiment  handheld device 107 comprises monitoring and controlling parameters such as Set/Reset  Process Value (PV)  Set point Value (SP)  and Local/Remote mode. The NFC-EIU 100 has internal memory to store the data acquired at that point of time.
[0017] In an embodiment  a customized software application is developed in specific to the industrial process control and automation system in the handheld device 107. This software application shall be ported over the handheld device 107 and it helps the supervisor to monitor and control the parameters of the valve through the NFC-EIU 100. The data from the handheld device 107 can further be extended to the remote locations.
[0018] For example  a customized software application for a tablet shall also be developed in specific to the industrial process control and automation system over Android OS. This software application shall be ported over the tablet and it helps the supervisor to monitor and control the valve parameters through the NFC-EIU 100. The data from the tablet can further be extended to the remote locations.
[0019] Wired systems can be enhanced and extended by using wireless communication NFC-EIU 100 for ease of use.
[0020] In an embodiment  the existing methodology of operating a pressure valve 103 or flow valve 105 is retained and NFC-EIU 100 is only being an enhancement to monitor and control both the valves. Hence  the existing process control system shall continue running without any disturbances.
[0021] In this system  the supervisor monitors and controls the valves using existing handheld device 107 without requiring additional explicit handheld device. The data can be analyzed and presented through the software application in specific to the demands of the customer  product and based on the use case.
[0022] In an embodiment  the data acquired from the pressure valve 103 and flow valve 105 using NFC-EIU 100 can further be extended to the wireless sensor network node using a Zigbee controller and then collectively send the data to a cloud for better analysis of the data by various experts across different regions.
[0023] In an embodiment  during emergency scenarios or on the occurrence of catastrophic failures in which a quick action is needed from the premises using the standard RED Emergency button then  the NFC-EIU 100 can co-operate and take the command in local mode respectively.
[0024] For example  the NFC-EIU 100 is connected to the LCU 104 of the pressure valve 103 and LCU 106 of the flow valve 105 using different ports. The NFC-EIU 100 is also connected to handheld device 107. The NFC-EIU 100 acquires the parameters from both the valves and transfer the parameters to the handheld device 107 using NFC. The handheld device 107 on receiving the parameters performs the analysis and may provide information to the supervisor.
[0025] The embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented through at least one software program running on at least one hardware device and performing network management functions to control the elements. The elements shown in Fig. 1 blocks which can be at least one of a hardware device  or a combination of hardware device and software module.
[0026] The embodiment disclosed herein specifies a system and method to monitor and control valves in the industrial process control and automation.
[0027] The method is implemented in a preferred embodiment through or together with a software program written in embedded programming language. The hardware device can be any kind of device which can be programmed e.g. any kind of computer like a server or a personal computer  processor or a System On Chip (SoC)  or the like  or any combination thereof.
[0028] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can  by applying current knowledge  readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept  and  therefore  such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore  while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments  those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims as described herein.

CLAIMS
We claim:
1. A system to monitor and control a valve in process control using Near-Field communication (NFC)  wherein said system comprises:
an NFC-Equipment Interface Unit (NFC-EIU)  wherein said NFC-EIU comprises a microcontroller  a NFC module;
at least one valve connected with said NFC-EIU;
a handheld device connected with said NFC-EIU;
wherein said system is configured to:
obtain parameters from said at least one valve using said NFC-EIU;
send said parameters to said handheld device by said NFC-EIU;
analyze said parameters by said handheld device; and
control said at least one valve by said NFC-EIU based on said analysis  on said NFC-EIU receiving said analysis from said handheld device.
2. The system as in claim 1  wherein said at least one valve comprises: a pressure valve  a flow valve.
3. The system as in claim 1  wherein said system is configured to integrate with existing valve by implementing said NFC-EIU to internal modules of said at least one valve.
4. A Near-Field Communication (NFC)-Equipment Interface Unit (NFC-EIU) for monitoring and controlling a valve in process control using NFC  wherein said NFC-EIU comprises a microcontroller  a NFC module  further said NFC-EIU is configured to:
acquire parameters from at least one valve in said process control;
send said parameters to a handheld device for analysis; and
control said at least one valve based on said analysis  on said NFC-EIU receiving said analysis from said handheld device.
5. The NFC-EIU as in claim 4  wherein said NFC-EIU is configured to acquire said parameters and control said at least one valve using wired communication.
6. The NFC-EIU as in claim 4  wherein said NFC-EIU is configured to send said parameters to said handheld device and receive said results from said handheld device by NFC using said NFC module in said NFC-EIU.
7. A method for monitoring and controlling a valve in process control using Near Field Communication (NFC)  wherein said method comprises:
obtaining parameters from at least one valve using a NFC- Equipment Interface Unit (NFC-EIU);
sending said parameters to a handheld device by said NFC-EIU;
analyzing said parameters by said handheld device; and
controlling said at least one valve based on said analysis by said NFC-EIU from said handheld device.
Dated: 7th Day of November 2012 Signature:

Dr Kalyan Chakravarthy
(Patent Agent)

ABSTRACT
A system and method to monitor and control the valves in industrial process control and automation using Near-Field Communication (NFC) is disclosed. The system comprises a NFC-Equipment Interface Unit (NFC-EIU) to acquire parameters from the valves through a port and send the parameters to any handheld device by NFC for analysis. The NFC-EIU on receiving the analysis results from the handheld device can control the valves too.
FIG. 1