Wiring method and apparatus for distributed control network
First Claim
1. A multi-tier control network, comprising:
- a first common bus;
a first-tier master node having a first-tier master node uplink transceiver and a first-tier master node downlink transceiver, said first tier master node downlink transceiver connected to said first common bus;
a plurality of first-tier slave nodes electrically connected to said first common bus in a loop configuration;
a second common bus, said second common bus connected to at least one of said first-tier slave nodes which functions as the second-tier master node with respect to the second common bus; and
a plurality of second-tier slave nodes electrically connected to said second common bus in a loop configuration;
wherein the first-tier master node uplink transceiver is connected to said second common bus.
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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.
32 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A multi-tier control network, comprising:
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a first common bus;
a first-tier master node having a first-tier master node uplink transceiver and a first-tier master node downlink transceiver, said first tier master node downlink transceiver connected to said first common bus;
a plurality of first-tier slave nodes electrically connected to said first common bus in a loop configuration;
a second common bus, said second common bus connected to at least one of said first-tier slave nodes which functions as the second-tier master node with respect to the second common bus; and
a plurality of second-tier slave nodes electrically connected to said second common bus in a loop configuration;
wherein the first-tier master node uplink transceiver is connected to said second common bus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of connecting nodes in a control network, comprising the steps of:
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electrically connecting a plurality of first-tier slave nodes to a first common bus in a loop configuration;
connecting at least one of said first-tier slave nodes to a second common bus, said one first-tier slave node functioning as the second-tier master node with respect to the second common bus;
electrically connecting a plurality of second-tier slave nodes to said second common bus in a loop configuration; and
connecting a first-tier master node to said first common bus, a first-tier master node uplink transceiver being connected to said second common bus and a first-tier master node downlink transceiver being connected to said first common bus. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A multi-tier control network, comprising:
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a plurality of nodes connected in a loop configuration using a continuous cable; and
a first bus and a second bus carried over said continuous cable;
wherein said plurality of nodes comprises a first-tier master node, a plurality of first-tier slave nodes, one of which functions as a second-tier master node, and a plurality of second-tier slave nodes;
wherein said first-tier slave nodes are electrically connected to said first bus and said second-tier slave nodes are electrically connected to said second bus; and
wherein said first-tier master node comprises a downlink transceiver connected to said first bus, and an uplink transceiver connected to said second bus.
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Specification