1. A method for integrating internal alarms generated by a process control system and external alarms generated by external equipment that is not a part of the process control system comprising:
receiving, at the process control system, an external alarm, the external alarm including an external tag identifying an origin of the external alarm;
pre-determining and mapping an internal alarm associated with the external alarm;
pre-determining an internal tag associated with the external tag based on the mapping; and
generating, at the process control system, the internal alarm when the external alarm is received.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving the external alarm comprises retrieving the external alarm from a log file.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving the external alarm comprises receiving the external alarm over a communications link.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the internal alarm comprises:
comparing the external alarm to at least one entry associated with the mapping;
determining a match between the external alarm and a selected one of the entries; and
selecting the internal alarm based on the selected-one of the entries.
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the internal tag comprises:
comparing the external tag to at least one entry associated with the mapping;
determining a match between the external alarm and a selected one of the entries; and
selecting the internal tag based on the selected one of the entries.
6. The method according to claim 1 and further comprising:
determining a priority associated with the internal alarm based on the external alarm;
displaying the internal alarm at the process control system; and
handling, by an operator, the internal alarm at the process control system.
7. The method according to claim 6 and further comprising updating the external alarm at the external system based on the handling of the related internal alarm at the process control system.
8. A system for integrating internal alarms generated by a process control system and external alarms generated by external equipment that is not a part of the process control system comprising:
software encoded on a computer readable medium and operable to:
receive, at the process control system, an external alarm, the external alarm including an external tag identifying an origin of the external alarm;
pre-determine and map an internal alarm associated with the external alarm;
pre-determine an internal tag associated with the external tag based on the map; and
generate, at the process control system, the internal alarm when the external alarm is received.
9. The system according to claim 8, wherein receiving the external alarm comprises retrieving the external alarm from a log file.
10. The system according to claim 8, wherein receiving the external alarm comprises receiving the external alarm over a communications link.
11. The system according to claim 8, wherein determining the internal alarm comprises the software being further operable to:
compare the external alarm to at least one entry in the map;
determine a match between the external alarm and a selected one of the entries; and
select the internal alarm based on the selected one of the entries.
12. The system according to claim 8, wherein determining the internal tag comprises the software being further operable to:
compare the external tag to at least one entry in the map;
determine a match between the external alarm and a selected one of the entries; and
select the internal tag based on the selected one of the entries.
13. The system according to claim 8 and further comprising the software being further operable to:
determine a priority associated with the internal alarm based on the external alarm;
display the internal alarm at the process control system; and
handle, by an operator, the internal alarm at the process control system.
14. The system according to claim 13 and further comprising the software being further operable to update the external alarm at the external system based on the handling of the related internal alarm at the process control system.
15. A system for integrating internal alarms generated by a process control system and external alarms generated by external equipment that is not a part of the process control system comprising:
means for receiving, at the process control system, an external alarm, the external alarm including an external tag identifying an origin of the external alarm;
means for pre-determining and mapping an internal alarm associated with the external alarm;
means for pre-determining an internal tag associated with the external tag based on the mapping; and
means for generating, at the process control system, the internal alarm when the external alarm is received.
16. A method for generating alarm and tag relations comprising:
selecting at least one external tag associated with an external system;
determining at least one internal tag related to the external tags, the internal tag being associated with a process control system;
generating at least one entry in a map indicating a relation between at least one of the external tags and at least one of the internal tags;
selecting at least one external alarm associated with the external system;
determining at least one internal alarm related to the external alarms, the internal alarm being associated with the process control system; and
generating at least one entry in the map indicating a relation between at least one of the external alarms and at least one of the internal alarms.
17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the external tags are selected based on predetermined criteria.
18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the predetermined criteria comprises external tags to be monitored by the process control system.
19. The method according to claim 16, wherein determining the internal tags related to the external tags comprises:
determining a match between at least one of the external tags and at least one of the internal tags; and
selecting the internal tags that are matched to the external tags.
20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the match is determined based on any of a heuristic, an exact match, a partial match or a user determined match.
21. The method according to claim 16, wherein the external alarms are selected based on predetermined criteria.
22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the predetermined criteria comprises external alarms to be monitored by the process control system.
23. The method according to claim 16, wherein determining the internal alarms related to the external alarms comprises:
determining a match between at least one of the external alarms and at least one of the internal alarms; and
selecting the internal alarms that are matched to the external alarms.
24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the match is determined based on any of a heuristic, an exact match, a partial match or a user determined match.
25. A system for generating alarm and tag relations comprising:
software encoded on a computer readable medium and operable to:
select at least one external tag associated with an external system;
determine at least one internal tag related to the external tags, the internal tag being associated with a process control system;
generate at least one entry in a map indicating a relation between at least one of the external tags and at least one of the internal tags;
select at least one external alarm associated with the external system;
determine at least one internal alarm related to the external alarms, the internal alarm being associated with the process control system; and
generate at least one entry in the map indicating a relation between at least one of the external alarms and at least one of the internal alarms.
26. The system according to claim 25, wherein the external tags are selected based on predetermined criteria.
27. The system according to claim 26, wherein the predetermined criteria comprises external tags to be monitored by the process control system.
28. The system according to claim 25, wherein determining the internal tags related to the external tags comprises the software being further operable to:
determine a match between at least one of the external tags and at least one of the internal tags; and
select the internal tags that are matched to the external tags.
29. The system according to claim 28, wherein the match is determined based on any of a heuristic, an exact match, a partial match or a user determined match.
30. The system according to claim 25, wherein the external alarms are selected based on predetermined criteria.
31. The system according to claim 30, wherein the predetermined criteria comprises external alarms to be monitored by the process control system.
32. The system according to claim 25, wherein determining the internal alarms related to the external alarms comprises the software being further operable to:
determine a match between at least one of the external alarms and at least one of the internal alarms; and
select the internal alarms that are matched to the external alarms.
33. The system according to claim 32, wherein the match is determined based on any of a heuristic, an exact match, a partial match or a user determined match.
34. A system for generating alarm and tag relations comprising:
means for selecting at least one external tag associated with an external system;
means for determining at least one internal tag related to the external tags, the internal tag being associated with a process control system;
means for generating at least one entry in a map indicating a relation between at least one of the external tags and at least one of the internal tags;
means for selecting at least one external alarm associated with the external system;
means for determining at least one internal alarm related to the external alarms, the internal alarm being associated with the process control system; and
means for generating at least one entry in the map indicating a relation between at least one of the external alarms and at least one of the internal alarms.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method for evaluating transmission equipment, the method comprising:
repeatedly conducting a voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) test on a communication system comprising at least one antenna electrically coupled to an electrical signal processorgenerator to generate a plurality of VSWR test results;
storing the plurality of VSWR test results in nonvolatile memory within the signal processorgenerator; and
uploading the plurality of VSWR test results to an external memory bearing device.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing trend analysis on the plurality of VSWR test results.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal processorgenerator is enclosed within a vehicle and the at least one antenna is located outside the vehicle.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle comprises an outer wall, the antenna securing to the outer wall and a cable piercing the outer wall coupling the at least one antenna to the signal processorgenerator.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein conducting a VSWR test comprises testing VSWR at a plurality of frequencies.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the plurality of frequencies correspond to established communication channels.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the frequencies include 118, 120.1, 122.2, 124.3, 126.4, 128.5, 130.6, 132.7, 134.8, and 136.9 MHz.
8. A system for evaluating transmission equipment, the system comprising:
an antenna;
a signal processorgenerator electrically coupled to the antenna, the signal processorgenerator comprising a memory and a testing module, the testing module configured to periodically conduct voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) tests of the signal procssorgenerator and the antenna and configured to store the results of the VSWR test in the memory;
an external computing device selectively placed in data communication with the signal processorgenerator and configured to analyze the VSWR test results.
9. The system of claim 8, further comprising a vehicle substantially enclosing the signal processorgenerator, the antenna located outside the vehicle.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the vehicle comprises an outer wall, the antenna securing to the outer wall and a cable piercing the outer wall coupling the antenna to the signal processorgenerator.
11. The system of claim 8, wherein the testing module is further configured to conduct VSWR tests at a plurality of frequencies.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the plurality of frequencies correspond to established communication channels.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the frequencies include 118, 120.1, 122.2, 124.3, 126.4, 128.5, 130.6, 132.7, 134.8, and 136.9 MHz.
14. A method for evaluating transmission equipment, the method comprising:
conducting a series of voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) tests each at a unique frequency on a communication system comprising an antenna electrically coupled to an electrical signal processorgenerator to generate a series of VSWR test results;
storing the plurality of VSWR test results in nonvolatile memory within the signal processorgenerator;
uploading the plurality of VSWR test results to an external memory bearing device selectively connected to the signal processorgenerator.
15. The method of claim 14, further comprising performing frequency dependent trend analysis on the plurality of VSWR test results to evaluate antenna performance.
16. The method of claim 14, further comprising a vehicle substantially enclosing the signal processorgenerator, the antenna located outside the vehicle.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the vehicle comprises an outer wall, the antenna securing to the outer wall and a cable piercing the outer wall coupling the antenna to the signal processorgenerator.
18. The method of claim 14, further comprising conducting multiple temporally separated series of VSWR tests to generate multiple series of VSWR test results.
19. The method of claim 18, further comprising performing time dependent trend analysis on the multiple series of VSWR test results.
20. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of frequencies correspond to established communication channels.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein the frequencies include 118, 120.1, 122.2, 124.3, 126.4, 128.5, 130.6, 132.7, 134.8, and 136.9 MHz.