Automation system and method for operation of the automation system

• US 10,324,441 B2
• Filed: 06/29/2017
• Issued: 06/18/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens AG
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Schneider, Dirk, Weber, Tobias, Zschoppe, Claudia
• Primary Examiner(s): Snyder, Steven G
• Application Number:
  US15/636,812
• Publication Number:
  US 20180011469A1
• Time in Patent Office: 719 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0423 Input/output
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0426 Programming the control sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/052 Linking several PLC's
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/056 Programming the PLC
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/1134 Fieldbus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4063 Device-to-bus coupling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2213/0058 Bus-related hardware virtualisation

Abstract

An automation system includes a first control facility with a first fieldbus connection, a second control facility with a second fieldbus connection, a fieldbus, a peripheral board with at least one I/O peripheral module, wherein the peripheral board has an interface module with a third fieldbus connection, where the interface module has at least one I/O module which stores interconnection information featuring an assignment of input/outputs of the I/O peripheral module(s) to the control facilities, where the interface module additionally has a virtual I/O module, in which an output region is assigned to the first control facility, and furthermore an input region is assigned to the second controller, and where the virtual I/O module is configured such that the output data is copied from the output region of the first control facility into the input region as input data for the second control facility.

Claims

1. An automation system comprising:

a first control facility including a first fieldbus connection;

a second control facility including a second fieldbus connection;

a fieldbus;

a peripheral board including at least one input/output (I/O) peripheral module for connection of at least one of sensors and actuators, the peripheral board additionally including an interface module having a third fieldbus connection for communication to or from the first and second control facilities;

wherein the interface module including at least one I/O module which stores interconnection information featuring an assignment of inputs/outputs of the at least one I/O peripheral module to the control facilities;

wherein the interface module additionally includes a virtual I/O module, in which an output region, in which the first control facility can write output data, is assigned to the first control facility, and furthermore an input region, from which the second control facility can retrieve input data, is assigned to the second controller, the virtual I/O module being configured such that the output data is copied from the output region of the first control facility into the input region as input data for the second control facility.

2. A method for operating an automation system, a first control facility and a second control facility exchanging data with a peripheral board via a fieldbus, said data exchange relating to transmittal of output data to the peripheral module, the output data being delivered to an input/output (I/O) peripheral module via an I/O module in an interface module of the peripheral board, and said data exchange relating to a reception of input data by the peripheral module, and the input data being accepted by the I/O peripheral module via the I/O module in the interface module of the peripheral board, the method comprising:

operating a virtual I/O module in the interface module, in which an output region, in which the first control facility can write output data, is assigned to the first control facility, and furthermore an input region, from which the second controller can retrieve input data, is assigned to the second control facility; and

copying within the virtual I/O module the output data from the output region of the first control facility into the input region as input data for the second control facility.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein a first channel is formed for the first control facility by an assignment of the output region to the first control facility and a second channel is formed for the second control facility by an assignment of the input region to the second control facility;

and wherein the first control facility communicates with the second control facility via the peripheral module using a data transmission link which features the first channel and the second channel.