Patent ID: 8065358

Claim:
An industrial control system for controlling an industrial process comprising: a plurality of control devices providing control signals to direct the industrial process by outputting signals to the controlled industrial process within a predictable maximum response time, wherein each of the control devices includes web page data concerning a respective web page associated with the respective control device; a web access module including a web server, an Internet interface and a control-network interface the control network interface providing communications on the communication link within a predictable maximum response time; wherein the Internet interface is capable of being coupled to a remote device via the Internet, and wherein the control-network interface is coupled to a plurality of control devices through the communication link being at least a portion of a network separating the control devices with webpage data from the web access module holding the server; wherein the web access module is capable of receiving requests from the remote device to access any of the web pages associated with a plurality of control devices identified by an Internet address unique to a control device; and wherein, in response to receiving the requests, the web access module obtains the web page data concerning the web pages for which access has been requested, processes the web page data at the web server, and sends data signals related to the web page data onto the Internet to be received by the remote device.