Patent ID: 7392165

Claim:
A method of creating a simulation system for simulating the operation of one or more nodes of a process control system having a plurality communicatively interconnected modules at each of the one or more nodes and a configuration for each of the one or more nodes stored in a configuration database, the configuration for each of the one or more nodes defining a set of modules to be executed on one or more computer devices within a node and communication connections between the modules, wherein each of the modules when executed at the node performs a process control related function, the method comprising; specifying at least one node of the process control system for which to create a simulation instance; accessing the configuration database to obtain copies of the modules within the configuration of the at least one specified node of the process control system; storing the copies of the modules within a simulation computer; and automatically converting the copied modules into simulation modules to create the simulation instance having a plurality of communicatively interconnected simulation modules.