AUTO ADDRESSING DEVICES ON A COMMON POWER AND COMMUNICATION BUS STRUCTURE AND METHOD THEREFOR

• US 20090228609A1
• Filed: 03/05/2009
• Published: 09/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens Industry Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens Industry Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Inventors: McFarland, Norman R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,060,658 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/4
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5038 for local use, e.g. in LAN or USB networks, or in a controller area network [CAN]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5092 by self-assignment, e.g. picking addresses at random and testing if they are already in use

Abstract

A method for auto-addressing a device in communication with a controller is disclosed. The method includes communicating a pulse from a first contact of a controller, receiving the pulse at a second contact of a device in communication with the controller, communicating a number of pulses from a first contact of the device, and receiving the number of pulses at a second contact of the controller, wherein the number of pulses indicates a number of devices in communication with the controller.

Claims

1. A method for auto-addressing a device in communication with a controller, the method comprising

communicating a pulse from a first contact of a controller;

receiving the pulse at a second contact of a device in communication with the controller;

communicating a number of pulses from a first contact of the device; and

receiving the number of pulses at a second contact of the controller, wherein the number of pulses indicates a number of devices in communication with the controller.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of pulses indicates one more than the number of devices in communication with the controller.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

communicating a second pulse, in response to the received pulse, from the second contact of the device, and

receiving the second pulse at the first contact of the controller, wherein the number of pulses indicates one more than the number of devices in communication with the controller.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating a number of pulses further comprises:

generating multiple pulses corresponding to an address of the device; and

communicating the multiple pulses and the received pulse.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the pulse includes communicating the pulse via a ribbon cable.

6. A method for auto-addressing a device in communication with a controller, the method comprising

communicating a pulse from a first contact of a controller to a second contact of a device in communication with the controller;

receiving a number of pulses at a second contact of the controller from a first contact of the device, wherein the number of pulses indicates a number of devices in communication with the controller.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the number of pulses indicates one more than the number of devices in communication with the controller.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

communicating a second pulse, in response to the received pulse, from the second contact of the device, and

receiving the second pulse at the first contact of the controller, wherein the number of pulses indicates one more than the number of devices in communication with the controller.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein communicating a number of pulses further comprises:

generating a group of multiple pulses corresponding to an address of the device; and

communicating the group of multiple pulses and the received pulse.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein communicating the pulse includes communicating the pulse via a ribbon cable or a backplane.

11. A controller configured for auto-addressing devices in communication therewith, the controller comprising:

a first communication contact;

a second communication contact;

a communication processor in communication with the first and second communication contacts, wherein the communication processor is configured to;

communicate a pulse via the first communication contact to a device in communication with the controller; and

receive a number of pulses from the device at a second communication contact, wherein the number of pulses indicates a number of devices in communication with the controller.

12. The controller of claim 11 further comprising:

a memory in communication with the communication processor, the memory configured to store the received number of pulses.

13. The controller of claim 11, wherein the number of pulses indicates one more than the number of devices in communication with the controller.

14. The controller of claim 11, wherein the communication processor is further configured to:

receive from the device a second pulse at the first communication contact of the controller, wherein the number of pulses indicates one more than the number of devices in communication with the controller.

15. The controller of claim 11, wherein the communication processor is further configured to:

receive multiple pulses corresponding to an address of the device, wherein the multiple pulses includes the pulse communicated by the communication processor.

16. The controller of claim 11, wherein the first and second communication contacts are coupled to a sensor bus.

17. The controller of claim 16, wherein the sensor bus is a ribbon cable.

18. The controller of claim 17, wherein the ribbon cable is includes a power bus and a communication bus.

19. The controller of claim 11, wherein the device is a line-powered device.

20. The controller of claim 19, wherein the line-powered device is a building automation sensor.