HYBRID TOPOLOGY ETHERNET ARCHITECTURE

• US 20090323704A1
• Filed: 03/19/2009
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Paulitsch, Michael, Benson, Dwayne (Dewey), Rose, Phil, Driscoll, Kevin R., Hall, Brendan
• Granted Patent: US 8,130,773 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/401
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4013 Management of data rate on the bus systems modifying transmission characteristics according to link quality H04L1/0001
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/42 Loop networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/43 with synchronous transmission, e.g. time division multiplex [TDM], slotted rings
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4625 Single bridge functionality, e.g. connection of two networks over a single bridge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4637 Interconnected ring systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/40215 Controller Area Network CAN
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/40241 Flexray
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/4028 the transportation system being an aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/28 using route fault recovery

Abstract

A distributed control system comprises a first network section comprising one or more control nodes containing control logic operable to perform control function computations; a second network section, wherein the second network section comprises; a plurality of additional nodes responsive to the one or more control nodes in the first network section, each of the plurality of additional nodes communicatively coupled to two neighbor nodes and to two skip nodes using a plurality of links; first and second gateway interfaces each coupled to the first and second network sections and each operable to interface the first network section to the second network section; wherein the first network section is operable to communicate signals using a first communication protocol; and wherein the plurality of nodes in the second network section are operable to communicate signals over the plurality of links using a second communication protocol that is different from the first communication protocol.

Claims

1. A distributed control system comprising:

a first network section comprising one or more control nodes containing control logic operable to perform control function computations;

a second network section, wherein the second network section comprises;

a plurality of additional nodes responsive to the one or more control nodes in the first network section, each of the plurality of additional nodes communicatively coupled to two neighbor nodes and to two skip nodes using a plurality of links;

first and second gateway interfaces each coupled to the first and second network sections and each operable to interface the first network section to the second network section;

wherein the first network section is operable to communicate signals using a first communication protocol; and

wherein the plurality of nodes in the second network section are operable to communicate signals over the plurality of links using a second communication protocol that is different from the first communication protocol.

2. The distributed control system of claim 1, wherein the total bandwidth allocated for the first protocol in the first network section is greater than the total bandwidth allocated for the second protocol in the second network section.

3. The distributed control system of claim 1, wherein the first protocol and the second protocol are based on Ethernet.

4. The distributed control system of claim 1, wherein the first network section is located away from an engine under control of the one or more control nodes in the first network section, and wherein at least a majority of the additional nodes in the second network section is located on the engine.

5. The distributed control system of claim 1, further comprising:

a third gateway interface coupled to the first network section; and

a reversionary control unit coupled between the third gateway interface and the second network section, wherein the reversionary control unit is operable to control operation of the plurality of additional nodes if the one or more control nodes in the first network section fail.

6. The distributed control system of claim 5, wherein the reversionary control unit comprises two nodes configured in a self-checking pair configuration.

7. The distributed control system of claim 5, wherein the reversionary control unit of is operable to achieve standalone operation of a controlled engine without the control nodes of the first network section.

8. The distributed control system of claim 1, further comprising:

a third network section comprising one or more control nodes containing control logic operable to perform control function computations;

a fourth network section comprising;

a plurality of additional nodes responsive to the one or more control nodes in the third network section, each of the plurality of additional nodes communicatively coupled to two neighbor nodes and to two skip nodes using a plurality of links; and

third and fourth gateway interfaces each coupled to the third and fourth network sections and each operable to interface the third network section to the fourth network section;

wherein the third network section is operable to communicate signals using the first communication protocol;

wherein the plurality of additional nodes in the fourth network section are operable to communicate signals over the plurality of links using the second communication protocol;

wherein the third network section is coupled to the first network section; and

wherein the first network section is operable to control operation of a first engine via the second network section and the third network section is operable to control operation of a second engine via the fourth network section.

9. The distributed control system of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second gateway interfaces comprises first and second gateway nodes coupled together via a direct link to form a self-checking pair, wherein each of the first and second gateway nodes is further coupled to one of the additional nodes via a skip link.

10. The distributed control system of claim 9, wherein each of the first and second gateway nodes in first gateway interface is coupled to each of the first and second gateway nodes in the second gateway interface such that the first and second gateway interfaces form a self-checking pair.

11. The distributed control system of claim 9, wherein each of the first and second gateway nodes are operable to forward received messages in real-time.

12. The distributed control system of claim 1, wherein the second communication protocol comprises one of Controller Area Network (CAN), Time-triggered Protocol (TTP/C), FlexRay, Intellibus, IEEE-1394, SAE 5643, ARINC 664, Ethernet Powerlink, EtherCAT, and Time-triggered (TT) Ethernet.

13. The distributed control system of claim 1, wherein the additional nodes in the second network section are configured to provide at least two independent lanes for communication signals.

14. The distributed control system of claim 13, wherein the second network section comprises at least two segments of contiguous additional nodes, each segment of contiguous additional nodes mapped to one of the at least two independent lanes.

15. The distributed control system of claim 14, further comprising a third gateway interface coupled to the first network section and to the second network section, wherein the third gateway interface is coupled to the second network section between the at least two segments of contiguous additional nodes.

16. An internetworking device for communicatively coupling a plurality of nodes in a first network to a second network external to the first network, each of the plurality of nodes communicatively coupled to at least one other node via a direct link and at least one other node via a skip link, the internetworking device comprising:

a first gateway interface operable to couple the plurality of nodes to the external network, the first gateway interface comprising a first node and a second node of the plurality of nodes; and

a second gateway interface operable to couple the plurality of nodes to the external network, the second gateway interface comprising a third node and a fourth node of the plurality of nodes.

17. The internetworking device of claim 16, wherein first gateway interface is coupled to the second gateway interface to form a self-checking pair.

18. The internetworking device of claim 16, wherein the first and second nodes in the first gateway interface are coupled together to form a self-checking pair;

and the third and fourth nodes in the second gateway interface are coupled together to form a self-checking pair.

19. A distributed control system for controlling an engine comprising:

a resource cabinet located off the engine, the resource cabinet comprising a plurality of computational cards, wherein the plurality of computational cards are operable to communicate using a first protocol;

a plurality of on-engine components operable to communicate using a second protocol that is different from the first protocol, each of the plurality of on-engine components coupled to two neighbor on-engine components via direct links and to two skip on-engine components via skip links;

a first gateway interface operable to couple the plurality of computational cards to the plurality of on-engine components and to convert between the first and second protocols; and

a second gateway interface operable to couple the plurality of computational cards to the plurality of on-engine components and to convert between the first and second protocols.

20. The distributed control system of claim 19, wherein the plurality of on-engine components comprise at least two segments of contiguous on-engine components, wherein each segment of contiguous on-engine components is mapped to one of at least two independent lanes.