Patent ID: 7289994

Claim:
A method of transferring data in a process control system having a first process control network having a first inter-zone server and a second process control network having a second inter-zone server, wherein the first process control network operates under a first version of software and the second process control network operates under a second version of the software, the method comprising the steps of: formatting a process control message in the first process control network, wherein the process control message contains a device name for a receiving device to which the process control message is being transmitted, and wherein the device name is defined for the receiving device within the process control system; communicating the process control messages within the first process control network to the first inter-zone server; determining at the first inter-zone server the process control network in which the receiving device is located based on the device name in the process control message; converting process control messages from a format compatible with the first version of the software to a format compatible with the second version of the software and communicating the process control messages from the first inter-zone server to the second inter-zone server ia a first communication link in response to determining that the receiving device is located in the second process control network; and communicating the process control messages from the second inter-zone server to the second process control network.