Patent ID: 7574531

Claim:
A process control system having a first communication network and a second communication network that are communicatively coupled via a slow communication link, the process control system comprising: a first user interface connected to the first communication network; a first controller communicatively coupled to the user interface via the first communication network; a first data server communicatively coupled to the user interface and the controller via the first communication network; a second user interface connected to the second communication network; a second controller communicatively coupled to the second user interface via the second communication network; and a second data server communicatively coupled to the second user interface and the second controller via the second communication network and communicatively coupled to the first data server via the slow communication link, wherein the first user interface includes a configuration routine that provides a first control strategy to the first controller and custom communication objects to the first data server via the first communication networks, wherein the configuration routine automatically generates the custom communication objects in response to a user specifying communications between the first and second communication networks.