Patent ID: 7859403

Claim:
A field device for transmitting a notification signal from a remote facility, the field device comprising: a sensor to measure a value of a particular operating parameter at the remote facility; a memory to store threshold data comprising a target parameter value range, a minimum parameter value, and a maximum parameter value for the particular operating parameter; a processor comprising modules executable by the processor, the modules comprising: a storage module to store the value of the particular operating parameter in the memory as measurement data; an event detection module to compare threshold data to the value of the particular operating parameter to detect an event, the event selected from a group consisting of an alarm event, a transfer event, and a non-event; and a report module to generate a first notification signal comprising measurement data when the transfer event is detected and to generate a second notification signal comprising an alarm message when the alarm event is detected; and a communication system to transmit the first notification signal via a first communication network using a first communication protocol or to transmit the second notification signal via a second communication network using a second communication protocol; wherein the sensor measures a second value of the particular operating parameter after a predetermined time period has elapsed from a time the alarm event was detected, and wherein: the event detection module is further configured to compare threshold data to the second value to detect the event; the report module is further configured to generate a third notification signal comprising a second alarm message when the event detection module continues to detect the alarm event; and the communication system is further configured to transmit the third notification signal via the second communication network using the second communication protocol.