Patent ID: 7185083

Claim:
A method for use in a process control system having a plurality of input/output (I/O) networks, the method comprising the steps of: creating a first unique network identification tag for a first one of the I/O networks; creating a second unique network identification tag for a second one of the I/O networks; storing the first network identification tag in a first device communicatively coupled to the first I/O network; storing the second network identification tag in a second device communicatively coupled to the second I/O network; identifying the first I/O network with the first network identification tag by transmitting from the first device the first network identification tag on the first I/O network; identifying the second I/O network with the second network identification tag by transmitting from the second device the second network identification tag on the second I/O network; accepting a user provided network identifier for a selected I/O network as an input; storing the user provided network identifier; receiving the first network identification tag from the first I/O network comparing the identity of the I/O network associated with the user provided network identifier with the identity of the I/O network associated with the first network identification tag: generating a first indication if the identity of the I/O network associated with the first network identification tag matches the identity of the I/O network associated with the user provided network identifier; and generating a second indication if the identity of the I/O network associated with first network identification tag does not match the identity of the I/O network associated with the user provided network identifier.