1. A modular and interoperable distributed control system for controlling an industrial process using a plurality of distributed control nodes, comprising: a Layer 3 switched Ethernet IP network; a plurality of Device DCNs, wherein each Device DCN including an I/O interface coupled with a field device for single channel input or output, wherein each Device DCN is operatively connected to the Layer 3 switched Ethernet IP network, wherein each Device DCN includes an embedded operating system to execute one or more device applications and host a software runtime, wherein the plurality of Device DCNs provide distributed control of the field devices connected thereto; and a plurality of Application DCNs, wherein each of the plurality of Application DCNs is operatively connected to the Layer 3 switched Ethernet IP network, wherein each of the Application DCNs includes a centralized advanced application of the distributed control system to provide centralized control and hosts a software runtime; wherein each of the plurality of Device DCNs is communicatively coupled to at least one of the plurality of Device DCNs and Application DCNs through the Layer 3 switched Ethernet IP network, wherein each of the plurality of Application DCNs is communicatively coupled to at least one of the plurality of Device DCNs and Application DCNs through the Layer 3 switched Ethernet IP network, wherein the software runtime is configured to selectively provide control application level communication and function block execution services, and wherein the software runtime is configured to use a standard set of Control and I/O function blocks, whereby a plurality of the Device DCNs and the Application DCNs implement one or more distributed control strategies by communicating via through the Layer 3 switched Ethernet IP network.