Patent ID: 8761196

Claim:
A process control system to control a plurality of field devices, the process control system comprising: a control device; and an input/output card, the input/output card having a communication protocol component, the communication protocol component comprising: a first communications channel that is selectively configurable to use one of a plurality of communication protocols and to communicate with at least one of the field devices, and a second communications channel that is selectively configurable to use one of a plurality communication protocols and to communicate with at least one of the field devices, wherein the first channel, when configured to use a first communication protocol, communicates with a first one of the field devices while the second channel, when configured to use a second communication protocol, is enabled to simultaneously communicate with a second one of the field devices, wherein the second communication protocol is different than the first communication protocol, wherein each of the plurality of communications channels is coupled to a respective reconfigurable component of the communication protocol component and the reconfigurable components are configurable using a configuration application associated with the process control system, and wherein the configuration application is enabled to selectively and independently configure the reconfigurable components.