The first item above is disappearing as events in the
computer industry are driving the hardware and
systems software system costs down. They are
becoming a minimal economic item when justifying a
system and at the same time,system power is doubling
every two years.The second item is losing sigruficance
as remote system management,remote diagnostics,and
connectivity technology allow local problems to be
solved via communications and distributed systems.
Finally, dependence upon the thud item is dropping as
the movement to dstributed computerized smart field
equipment allows the downloadmg, modifying,and
maintenance of complex software. Vision 2010 calls
for completely computerized control, at the field
instrument level,which is fully supported by networked
remote system management(NRSM).The NRSM
provides network operating system,information,
control,maintenance,downloading,and
communication facilities among the many field
instruments. Thus all field control system algorithms
will be software and provide complete diagnosing,
downloadmg and on-the-fly control modification from
networked locations (even secure dud-in operation).