Wiring method and apparatus for distributed control network
First Claim
1. A control network comprising:
- a plurality of nodes; and
a plurality of cable connectors, said cable connectors connecting said nodes in a loop with each node connected to the next node in the loop by a single cable connector;
said cable connectors each carrying at least two signal pairs and being either of a first type or a second type, the first type of cable connector having a feedthru path for both of its two signal pairs, and the second type of cable connector crossing its two signal pairs;
wherein at least one pair of said nodes is connected by a cable connector of the first type and at least one other pair of said nodes is connected by a cable connector of the second type.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A multi-tier, master-slave control network having multiple buses comprises a master node and a plurality of slave nodes operating over each of the multiple buses. Each master node comprises a downlink transceiver, and each slave node comprises an uplink transceiver. All of the nodes in the control network are connected in a continuous loop configuration with each segment of the loop comprising a cable connector of either a first type (feed thru) or a second type (crossover). Each cable connector comprises a pair of signal wires for each bus. The type of cable connector between any two adjacent nodes in the loop is related according to which of the uplink or downlink transceiver should be connected to which bus.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A control network comprising:
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a plurality of nodes; and a plurality of cable connectors, said cable connectors connecting said nodes in a loop with each node connected to the next node in the loop by a single cable connector; said cable connectors each carrying at least two signal pairs and being either of a first type or a second type, the first type of cable connector having a feedthru path for both of its two signal pairs, and the second type of cable connector crossing its two signal pairs; wherein at least one pair of said nodes is connected by a cable connector of the first type and at least one other pair of said nodes is connected by a cable connector of the second type. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 14, 15)
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7. A method for wiring in a distributed, hierarchical control network having at least a first control tier and a second tier, said method comprising the steps of:
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connecting a plurality of nodes in a loop, each of said nodes having two data bus input connections and two data bus output connections, said step of connecting a plurality of nodes comprising the steps of for each node connection between nodes of the same tier level, connecting the data bus connections from one node to corresponding data bus connections in the next node; and for each node connection between nodes of different tier levels, crossing over the data bus connections from one node to next node; and communicating among said nodes over either a first data bus established by the node connections or a second data bus established by the node connections. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A control network comprising:
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a plurality of control nodes, each of said control nodes having a node terminal adapted to receive a cable connector; and a plurality of cable connectors, each of said cable connectors comprising a first terminal, a second terminal, and at least two pairs of wires connected between said first terminal and said second terminal, said two pairs of wires being connected in a feedthru configuration if a cable connector is of a first type and being connected in a crossover configuration if a cable connector is of a second type; wherein each node is connected to no more than two other nodes, each node connection using one of said cable connectors such that at least one cable connector of the first type and at least one cable connector of the second type is used in connecting said nodes. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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16. A control network comprising:
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a plurality of nodes; and a plurality of cable connectors, said cable connectors connecting said nodes in a loop with each node connected to the next node in the loop by a single cable connector; said cable connectors each carrying at least two signal pairs and being either of a first type or a second type, the first type of cable connector having a feedthru path for both of its two signal pairs, and the second type of cable connector crossing its two signal pairs; wherein said signal pairs for all of said cable connectors collectively comprise two data buses; and wherein one of said nodes operates as a master node with respect to a first data bus and a another one of said nodes operates as a master node with respect to a second data bus.
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17. A control network comprising:
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a plurality of nodes; and a plurality of cable connectors, said cable connectors connecting said nodes in a loop with each node connected to the next node in the loop by a single cable connector; said cable connectors each carrying at least two signal pairs and being either of a first type or a second type, the first type of cable connector having a feedthru path for both of its two signal pairs, and the second type of cable connector crossing its two signal pairs; wherein said cable connectors each carry a pair of power wires.
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18. A control network comprising:
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a plurality of control nodes, each of said control nodes having a node terminal adapted to receive a cable connector; and a plurality of cable connectors, each of said cable connectors comprising a first terminal, a second terminal, and at least two pairs of wires connected between said first terminal and said second terminal, said two pairs of wires being connected in a feedthru configuration if a cable connector is of a first type and being connected in a crossover configuration if a cable connector is of a second type; wherein each node is connected to exactly two other nodes such that the connections between the nodes form a loop pattern, each node connection using one of said cable connectors.
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19. A control network comprising:
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a plurality of control nodes, each of said control nodes having a node terminal adapted to receive a cable connector; and a plurality of cable connectors, each of said cable connectors comprising a first terminal, a second terminal, and at least two pairs of wires connected between said first terminal and said second terminal, said two pairs of wires being connected in a feedthru configuration if a cable connector is of a first type and being connected in a crossover configuration if a cable connector is of a second type; wherein each node is connected to no more than two other nodes, each node connection using one of said cable connectors; and wherein one of said nodes is designated a first-tier master node and a second one of said slave nodes is designated as a second-tier master node.
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20. A control network comprising:
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a plurality of nodes; and a plurality of cable connectors, said cable connectors connecting said nodes in a loop, with each node connected to the next node in the loop by a cable connector; said cable connectors each comprising at least two signal paths and being either of a first type or a second type, the first type of cable connector feeding thru its signal paths, and the second type of cable connector crossing over its signal paths; wherein at least one pair of said nodes is connected by a cable connector of the first type and at least one other pair of said nodes is connected by a cable connector of the second type.
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21. A control network comprising:
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a plurality of nodes, each node having a connection to two data buses; a single continuous cable path formed of a plurality of cable sections, each cable section connecting the data buses between two nodes, wherein the data buses are fed through if the cable section is of a first type or crossed-over if the cable section is of a second type, said single continuous cable path comprising at least one cable section of the first type and at least one cable section of the second type. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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Specification