Appeal 2007-0558
Application 09/940,462
A. INVENTION
Based on the Simple Object Access Protocol ("SOAP"),2 the
invention on appeal enables automation equipment (10)3 to supervise,
display, control, configure, or program at least one remote device (30).4 A
WEB service (21) or a WEB client (22) interacts with a program (20) of the
automation equipment, decodes SOAP messages received (51, 54) via an
Internet Protocol ("IP") network (50), and encodes messages to be sent (52,
53) according to the SOAP protocol. A service description document (61),
accessible by the remote device, describes the capacities of one or more
WEB services in the equipment. (Abs.) By adapting the automation
equipment to protocols stemming from the data processing world, assert the
Appellants, the equipment can communicate with a remote data processing
application without having to develop proprietary gateways or protocols.
(Specification 3-4.)
Claim 1, which further illustrates the invention, follows:
1. A communication system on an IP network between an
automation equipment comprising:
at least one processing unit capable of running a program
to provide automation functions; and
2 The SOAP protocol is a protocol allowing information to be exchanged
simply in a decentralized environment. It is based on the standardized
extensible Markup Language ("XML"). (Specification 3.)
3 A programmable logic controller and a monitoring/control station are
examples of "automation equipment." (Id. 1.)
4 An individual computer, a portable telephone, a personal digital assistant,
and a computer server are examples of "remote devices." (Id.)
2
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