Block-oriented control system on high speed ethernet
First Claim
1. An apparatus in a distributed control system, comprising:
- a first network interface for communicating with a first network having a communication protocol stack; and
a device access agent for mapping at least one legacy format service message of said distributed control system to a network format messages compatible with said communication protocol stack.
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Abstract
A distributed control system architecture (HSE) provides an open, interoperable solution optimized for integration of distributed control systems and other control devices in a high performance backbone, provides an open, interoperable solution that provides system time synchronization suitable for distributed control applications operable over a high performance backbone, and provides an open, interoperable solution that provides a fault tolerant high performance backbone as well as fault tolerant devices that are connected to the backbone. The distributed control system architecture comprises a High speed Ethernet Field Device Access (HSE FDA) Agent, which maps services of a distributed control system, e.g., a fieldbus System, to and from a standard, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) Ethernet/Internet component. The distributed control system architecture also comprises a High speed Ethernet System Management Kernel (HSE SMK) that operates to keep a local time, and keeps the difference between the local time and a system time provided by a time server within a value specified by the time sync class. The local time is used to time stamp events so that event messages from devices may be correlated across the system. The distributed control system architecture further comprises a High speed Ethernet Local Area Network Redundancy Entity (HSE LRE) that provides redundancy transparent to the applications running on the system. The HSE LRE of each device periodically transmits a diagnostic message representing its view of the network to the other Devices on the system. Each device uses the diagnostic messages to maintain a Network Status Table (NST), which is used for fault detection and selection from a redundant pair of resources.
119 Citations
29 Claims
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1. An apparatus in a distributed control system, comprising:
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a first network interface for communicating with a first network having a communication protocol stack; and
a device access agent for mapping at least one legacy format service message of said distributed control system to a network format messages compatible with said communication protocol stack. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An open interoperable apparatus in a distributed control system, comprising:
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a local time clock for providing a local time for use within said apparatus;
a system time clock for providing a system time across said distributed control system; and
a system management kernel for synchronizing said local time clock with said system time clock. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. An open interoperable apparatus in a distributed control system, comprising:
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a redundant plurality of first network interfaces for communicating with respective ones of a redundant plurality of first networks having a communication protocol stack; and
a redundancy entity configured to send and receive diagnostic information through said redundant plurality of first network interfaces, said redundancy entity maintaining a network status table indicating diagnostic status of said redundant plurality of first networks, and said redundancy entity being configured to select an operational one of said redundant plurality of first networks based on said network status table. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. An open interoperable distributed control system, comprising:
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at least one first network having a communication protocol stack; and
at least one device in communication with said at least one first network, said at least one device having an access agent for mapping at least one legacy format service message of said open interoperable distributed control system to a network format message compatible with said communication protocol stack. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method of synchronizing a plurality of device specific local times and a system time in an open interoperable distributed control system, said plurality of device specific local times being associated with respective ones of devices in said open interoperable distributed control system, said method comprising:
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detecting an end of previous operational cycle;
providing a start time of a next operational cycle to each of said plurality of devices;
computing an offset between each of said plurality of device specific local times and said system time;
synchronizing each of said plurality of device specific local times with said system time using said computed offset; and
aligning said plurality of device specific local times with respect to each other so that said start time of said plurality of devices coincide. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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Specification