Scalable architecture for a human machine interface device
First Claim
1. A human-machine interface device of an industrial automation system comprising a plurality of programmable-logic controllers and a plurality of the human-machine interface devices, the human-machine interface device comprising:
- at least one hardware resource;
a system bus for providing a communication channel between the at least one hardware resource within a human-machine interface device of the industrial automation system including the plurality of programmable-logic controllers;
an interconnect circuit comprising at least one interconnect port configured for interconnecting the human-machine interface device to at least one other human-machine interface device to form a device cluster;
means for providing a communication channel between the at least one interconnect port and the system bus; and
a discovery module configured to retrieve information related to one of (i) processer type, (ii) processor capacity and (iii) memory capacity of the at least one hardware resource in at least one other human-machine interface device in the device cluster which facilitates an arbitration process so as to configure different modes associated with the human-machine interface device and the at least one other human-machine interface device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A human-machine interface device suitable for use in an automation system comprising a plurality of the human-machine interface devices, where each human-machine interface device includes at least one hardware resource, a system bus, and an interconnect circuit and is configured for interconnecting with at least one other human-machine interface device to form a device cluster, where the interconnect circuit provides a communication channel between individual system bus in each human-machine interface device forming the device cluster.
7 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A human-machine interface device of an industrial automation system comprising a plurality of programmable-logic controllers and a plurality of the human-machine interface devices, the human-machine interface device comprising:
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at least one hardware resource; a system bus for providing a communication channel between the at least one hardware resource within a human-machine interface device of the industrial automation system including the plurality of programmable-logic controllers; an interconnect circuit comprising at least one interconnect port configured for interconnecting the human-machine interface device to at least one other human-machine interface device to form a device cluster; means for providing a communication channel between the at least one interconnect port and the system bus; and a discovery module configured to retrieve information related to one of (i) processer type, (ii) processor capacity and (iii) memory capacity of the at least one hardware resource in at least one other human-machine interface device in the device cluster which facilitates an arbitration process so as to configure different modes associated with the human-machine interface device and the at least one other human-machine interface device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An industrial automation system comprising:
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a plurality of programmable-logic controllers; and a plurality of human-machine interface devices, each of the plurality of human-machine interface devices comprising; at least one hardware resource; a system bus configured to provide a communication channel between the at least one hardware resource within the human-machine interface device of the industrial automation system; an interconnect circuit comprising at least one interconnect port configured to interconnect the at least one human-machine interface device to at least one other human-machine interface device to form a device cluster; means for providing a communication channel between the at least one interconnect port and the system bus; and a discovery module configured to retrieve information related to one of (i) processer type, (ii) processor capacity and (iii) memory capacity of at least one hardware resource in at least one other human-machine interface device in the device cluster which facilitates an arbitration process so as to configure different modes associated with the human-machine interface device and the at least one other human-machine interface device. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for operating an industrial automation system comprising a plurality of programmable-logic controllers and a plurality of human-machine interface devices, each of the plurality of human-machine interface devices of the industrial automation system comprising at least one hardware resource and a system bus configured to provide a communication channel between the at least one hardware resource within the plurality of human-machine interface devices of the industrial automation system, the method comprising:
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interconnecting at least one human-machine interface device of the plurality of human-machine interface devices of the industrial automation system including the plurality of programmable-logic controllers to at least one other human-machine interface device of the plurality of human-machine interface device to form a device cluster; providing a communication channel between the system bus in each of the plurality of human-machine interface devices of the industrial automation system; and retrieving information related to one of (i) processer type, (ii) processor capacity and (iii) memory capacity of the at least one hardware resource in at least one other human-machine interface device in the device cluster which facilitates an arbitration process so as to configure different modes associated with each of the human-machine interface devices. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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Specification