Real time monitoring of remote signals in an industrial environment
First Claim
1. An apparatus for sampling signal timing states of equipment which has a signal output of operational states, and the signal output occurs in a substantially real time relationship to the operational states, comprising:
- (a) a monitor interface for monitoring the signal output of the operational states and providing signals representative of the operational states;
(b) the monitor being electrically isolated from signals on the equipment which are being monitored and requiring no extra strobes or setup data from the equipment;
(c) a data latch for receiving the signals representative of the operational states in a parallel format and transmitting a latched output in response to a latch enable signal;
(d) a serial transmitter receiving signals from the data latch and providing corresponding signals in a serial format;
(e) timing and control circuitry for controlling a timing sequence of the latch enable signal and the receipt by the serial transmitter of the signals;
(f) a receiver circuit connected to a computer processing unit and having a data register which is addressable by the computer processing unit, wherein said receiver circuit receives the signals in the serial format and provides signals representative of said signal output of the operational states in a format which may be addressed by the computer processing unit; and
(g) means to clock the receipt by the serial transmitter of the signals and for providing signals of said signal output of the operational states in the computer addressable format, the means to clock being independent of a clock speed of the computer processing unit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A signal timing analyzer monitors a programmable logic control (PLC) of an industrial machine. Signal states of the PLC are sampled and the signal information is then transferred to a receiver card which is connected to a computer data bus. This allows the computer to monitor a piece of equipment by "eavesdropping" on the industrial controller that is actually operating and monitoring the equipment. The analyzer uses an on-board clock and timing circuit, so that the computer is not limited by the computer'"'"'s clock speed in controlling sampling rates.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. An apparatus for sampling signal timing states of equipment which has a signal output of operational states, and the signal output occurs in a substantially real time relationship to the operational states, comprising:
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(a) a monitor interface for monitoring the signal output of the operational states and providing signals representative of the operational states; (b) the monitor being electrically isolated from signals on the equipment which are being monitored and requiring no extra strobes or setup data from the equipment; (c) a data latch for receiving the signals representative of the operational states in a parallel format and transmitting a latched output in response to a latch enable signal; (d) a serial transmitter receiving signals from the data latch and providing corresponding signals in a serial format; (e) timing and control circuitry for controlling a timing sequence of the latch enable signal and the receipt by the serial transmitter of the signals; (f) a receiver circuit connected to a computer processing unit and having a data register which is addressable by the computer processing unit, wherein said receiver circuit receives the signals in the serial format and provides signals representative of said signal output of the operational states in a format which may be addressed by the computer processing unit; and (g) means to clock the receipt by the serial transmitter of the signals and for providing signals of said signal output of the operational states in the computer addressable format, the means to clock being independent of a clock speed of the computer processing unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of monitoring signal timing of an electrical system with a computer which is located in a remote location from the electrical system, comprising:
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(a) monitoring signal output of the operational states and providing signals representative of the operational states at a monitor interface, using monitoring apparatus which is electrically isolated from said electrical system and signals which are being monitored and wherein said monitoring requires no extra strobes or setup data from said electrical system; (b) receiving the signals representative of the operational states in a parallel format and transmitting a latched output in response to an enable signal; (c) receiving the latched output and providing corresponding signals in a serial format; (d) controlling a timing sequence of the enable signal and the receipt of the latched output; (e) receiving the signals in the serial format and providing the signals in a data register which is addressable by a computer processing unit; and (f) clocking the receipt by the serial transmitter of the signals and the providing signals of said signal output of the operational states in the computer addressable format, the clocking being independent of a clock speed of the computer processing unit. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification