AUTOMATIC ADDRESSING OF NETWORKED NODES

• US 20180083798A1
• Filed: 09/19/2016
• Published: 03/22/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Simmonds Precision Products, Inc. (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Original Assignee: Simmonds Precision Products, Inc. (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Inventors: Gang, Travis, Fitzhugh, Christopher, Carini, Peter, McBride, Benjamin D., Fontaine, David Joseph, Burleigh, Matthew B.
• Granted Patent: US 10,715,350 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40013 Details regarding a bus controller
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40169 Flexible bus arrangements arrangements for maintenance or administration involving management of faults; events, alarms H04L41/06; automatic restoration of network faults H04L41/0654
• 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 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

A network and method for addressing the network includes a host controller, a communication bus connected to the host controller, and a plurality of nodes connected to the communication bus. Each of the plurality of nodes includes a node controller, a communication input, and a communication output. The node controller is configured to receive an address from the host controller, provide an acknowledgement of receipt of the address to the host controller, and connect the communication input to the communication output upon receipt of the address.

Claims

1. A method of addressing a plurality of nodes, the method comprising:

providing, from a host controller, a first address to a first node of the plurality of nodes over the communication network;

receiving, by the first node, the first address through a first communication input;

providing, by the first node, a first address acknowledgement to the host controller; and

connecting, by the first node, the first communication input to a first communication output.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

disconnecting, by the first node, a first terminating resistor from the communication network.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing, from the host controller, a second address to a second node following receipt of the first address acknowledgement;

receiving, by the second node, the second address from the host controller;

providing, by the second node, a second address acknowledgement to the host controller; and

connecting, by the second node, a second communication input to a second communication output.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

disconnecting, by the second node, a second terminating resistor from the communication network.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein connecting, by the first node, the first communication input to the first communication output comprises controlling a switch to connect the first communication input to the second communication input.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein disconnecting, by the first node, the first terminating resistor from the communication network comprises controlling a switch to disconnect the terminating resistor from the communication network.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving, by the first node, the first address comprises:

receiving, by a controller of the first node, the first address from the communication bus through a transceiver.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein connecting, by the first node, the first communication input to the first communication output comprises controlling a repeater to transmit the first communication input to a second node of the plurality of nodes.

9. A method of addressing each of a plurality of nodes for a communication network, the method comprising:

powering, by a power bus, a first node of the plurality of nodes;

providing, from a host controller, a first address to the first node over the communication network;

providing, by the first node, a first address acknowledgement to the host controller indicative of receipt of the first address by the first node; and

connecting, by the first node, the power bus to a second node.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

disconnecting, by the first node, a first terminating resistor from the communication network.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

providing, from the host controller, a second address to the second node following receipt of the first address acknowledgement;

receiving, by the second node, the second address from the host controller;

providing, by the second node, a second address acknowledgement to the host controller; and

connecting, by the second node, the power bus to a third node.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising disconnecting, by the second node, a second terminating resistor from the communication network.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein connecting, by the first node, the power bus to the second node comprises closing a first switch to connect the power bus to the second node.

14. A network comprising:

a host controller;

a communication bus connected to the host controller;

a plurality of nodes connected to the communication bus, each of the plurality of nodes comprising;

a node controller;

a communication input; and

a communication output;

wherein the node controller is configured to receive an address from the host controller, provide an acknowledgement of receipt of the address to the host controller, and connect the communication input to the communication output upon receipt of the address.

15. The network of claim 14, wherein each of the plurality of nodes further comprises:

a terminating resistor; and

a terminating switch connected between the terminating resistor and the communication bus, wherein the node controller is further configured to open the terminating switch to disconnect the terminating resistor from the communication bus upon receipt of the address.

16. The network of claim 15 further comprising an end terminating resistor connected to the communication bus, wherein the plurality of nodes are connected to the communication bus between the host controller and the end terminating resistor.

17. The network of claim 14, wherein at least one of the plurality of nodes further comprises a heating element configured to raise the temperature of the respective one of the plurality of nodes above a threshold temperature.

18. The network of claim 15, wherein each of the plurality of nodes includes a communication switch connected between the communication input and the communication output, and wherein the communication switch and the terminating switch are configured as a relay, wherein an input of the relay is connected to the communication input, and wherein a first output of the relay is connected to the communication output, and wherein a second output of the relay is connected to the terminating resistor.

19. The network of claim 14, wherein the host controller and the plurality of nodes is implemented onboard a vehicle, and wherein the plurality of nodes are sensors or sensor controllers.

20. The network of claim 14, wherein the node controller for each of the plurality of nodes is further configured to provide an indication to the host controller and connect the communication input to the communication output if the respective one of the plurality of nodes is already addressed.