Patent ID: 7876722

Claim:
A communication system comprising: a field linking unit electrically coupled to a field device and operable to transfer a plurality of signals between the field device and the field linking unit using a first protocol; a first system gateway electrically coupled to a first control system component via a first communication link; and a second system gateway coupled to the first system gateway via a second communication link, electrically coupled to a second control system component via a third communication link, and operable to transfer at least some of the plurality of signals between the second system gateway and the second control system component using a second protocol via the third communication link, wherein the first communication link is physically separate from the third communication link; wherein: the field linking unit and the first system gateway are operable to communicate wirelessly, the first system gateway is operable to: transfer a first signal of the plurality of signals to the first control system component via the first communication link based on a first indication that the first signal is required by the first control system component, and forward a second signal of the plurality of signals to the second system gateway via the second communication link based on a second indication in the second signal that the second signal is required by the second control system component, and the first protocol and the second protocol are related protocols.