METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR FAIL-SAFE COMMUNICATION

• US 20110026411A1
• Filed: 07/29/2009
• Published: 02/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Hao, Lijing
• Granted Patent: US 8,228,946 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/249
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 1/168 Specific transmission details
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/70 Details of trackside communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40136 Nodes adapting their rate to the physical link properties LAN switches H04L49/351
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40189 by using a plurality of bus systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/417 with deterministic access, e.g. token passing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/433 with asynchronous transmission, e.g. token ring, register insertion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/437 Ring fault isolation or reconfiguration for SDH/SONET ring networks H04J3/085
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/40293 the transportation system being a train
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/18 Loop-free operations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/351 for local area network [LAN], e.g. Ethernet switches
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/552 by ensuring the integrity of packets received through redundant connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/555 Error detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/40 for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06

Abstract

A communication network is described. The network includes communication media and a plurality of network nodes coupled by the communication media. Each of the plurality of network nodes includes a first communication channel and a second communication channel. The first communication channel includes a first physical layer transceiver (PHY device) and the second communication channel includes a second PHY device. The plurality of network nodes are coupled in a dual ring-type topology.

Claims

1. A communication network comprising:

communication media; and

a plurality of network nodes coupled by said communication media, each of said plurality of network nodes comprising a first communication channel and a second communication channel, said first communication channel comprising a first physical layer transceiver (PHY device), said second communication channel comprising a second PHY device, said plurality of network nodes coupled in a dual ring-type topology.

2. A communication network in accordance with claim 1, wherein said plurality of network nodes are configured to distribute a network token between said network nodes, said network token grants permission to transmit data packets.

3. A communication network in accordance with claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of network nodes comprises at least one of:

multiple-levels of loop-back test hardware; and

/or

a combination of loop-back test hardware and test software.

4. A communication network in accordance with claim 3, wherein said test software is configured to at least one of:

detect an integrity of data received at said network node,

determine a health status of at least one of said first communication channel and said second communication channel, and/or

route output data to one of said first communication channel and said second communication channel.

5. A communication network in accordance with claim 3, wherein said multiple-levels of loop-back test hardware comprise at least one of:

Media Access Controller (MAC) loop-back hardware configured to route outgoing data packets to MAC inputs to facilitate detecting MAC failures; and

/or

PHY loop-back hardware configured to connect a receiver output of said PHY device and a transmitter input of said PHY device to facilitate detecting PHY device failures.

6. A communication network in accordance with claim 1, wherein said first communication channel further comprises a first Ethernet controller and a Media Access Controller (MAC), said second communication channel further comprises a second Ethernet controller and a MAC.

7. A communication network in accordance with claim 6, wherein each of said first PHY device, said second PHY device, said first Ethernet controller, and said second Ethernet controller comprises a media independent interface (MII).

8. A communication network in accordance with claim 6, wherein each of said plurality of network nodes comprises a channel selection multiplexer configured to route data packets between at least one of:

said first PHY device and said second PHY device;

said first Ethernet controller and at least one of said first PHY device and said second PHY device;

said first PHY device and at least one of said first Ethernet controller and/or said second Ethernet controller; and

/or

said second PHY device and at least one of said first Ethernet controller and/or said second Ethernet controller.

9. A method for operating a communication system, the communication system comprising a plurality of network nodes, said method comprising:

coupling the plurality of network nodes together using a dual-redundant Ethernet ring topology, wherein the dual-redundant Ethernet ring topology includes at least a first communication channel and a second communication channel; and

performing multiple-levels of loop-back testing including performing at least one of a protocol level loop-back test, a Media Access Controller (MAC) level loop-back test, a physical layer (PHY) level loop-back test, and/or an external loop-back test.

10. A method in accordance with claim 9 further comprising synchronizing a data stream of the first communication channel and the second communication channel with a system clock of the network nodes.

11. A method in accordance with claim 9 further comprising transmitting a network data packet upon receipt of a network token by a receiving network node, wherein the network token places the receiving network node in a transmitter mode.

12. A method in accordance with claim 11, wherein performing multiple-levels of loop-back testing comprises determining an interval between execution of the loop-back tests that balances between network safety and data stream throughput.

13. A method in accordance with claim 9, wherein performing multiple-levels of loop-back testing comprises at least one of:

performing multiple-levels of loop-back hardware tests, and/or

performing a combination of loop-back hardware tests and software tests.

14. An Ethernet hub comprising:

a channel selection multiplexer;

a plurality of Ethernet controllers coupled to said channel selection multiplexer; and

a plurality of physical layer transceivers (PHY devices) coupled to said channel selection multiplexer, said plurality of PHY devices each comprising a transceiver that includes a transceiver input and a transceiver output.

15. An Ethernet hub in accordance with claim 14, wherein each of said plurality of Ethernet controllers comprises at least one Media Access Controller (MAC) and MAC loop-back test hardware configured to provide a MAC loop-back mode to route outgoing packets to MAC inputs.

16. An Ethernet hub in accordance with claim 14, wherein said plurality of PHY devices are configured to provide a PHY device loop-back mode connecting said transceiver input and said transceiver output to facilitate detecting PHY device failures.

17. An Ethernet hub in accordance with claim 14, wherein said channel selection multiplexer is configured to select from a plurality of channels, wherein said plurality of channels comprise a first channel and a second channel, said first channel comprises a first Ethernet controller of said plurality of Ethernet controllers and a first PHY device of said plurality of PHY devices and said second channel comprises a second Ethernet controller of said plurality of Ethernet controllers and a second PHY device of said plurality of PHY devices.

18. An Ethernet hub in accordance with claim 14, wherein said channel selection multiplexer is configured to synchronize a data stream between said PHY devices and said Ethernet controllers.

19. An Ethernet hub in accordance with claim 14 further comprising a plurality of Ethernet ports that facilitate connecting said Ethernet hub in a dual ring-type topology, said dual ring-type topology comprising two independent data pathways.

20. An Ethernet hub in accordance with claim 14, wherein said Ethernet hub is configured to respond to a received test packet with at least one of an identical packet and/or a transformed packet.