Fiber optic control network and related method
First Claim
1. A master-slave control network, comprising:
- a plurality of network nodes, said network nodes comprising a plurality of master nodes and a plurality of slave nodes; and
at least one fiber optic ring connecting said network nodes in a loop configuration;
wherein said master nodes share concurrent control over said network nodes;
wherein each of said master nodes comprises a volatile memory area for storing operational data; and
wherein said master nodes are configured to maintain identical information in their respective volatile memory areas.
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Abstract
A control network comprises multiple master nodes and multiple slave nodes, connected together in a loop configuration by at least one fiber optic cable. The master nodes share concurrent control over the network nodes by time multiplexing or other techniques. The control network may include two fiber optic rings which carry the same data simultaneously in opposite directions around the loop. A polling scheme may be used by the master nodes such that only one node transmits at a given time in both directions around the loop. The receiving node(s) propagate the transmissions and select between the transmissions based on time, error rate, or other factors. A hierarchical control network may be constructed with upper tier and lower tier fiber optic rings. Multiple master nodes may be used at any level of the ring, and some or all of the rings may include two fiber optics for bidirectional, redundant communication within the network.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A master-slave control network, comprising:
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a plurality of network nodes, said network nodes comprising a plurality of master nodes and a plurality of slave nodes; and
at least one fiber optic ring connecting said network nodes in a loop configuration;
wherein said master nodes share concurrent control over said network nodes;
wherein each of said master nodes comprises a volatile memory area for storing operational data; and
wherein said master nodes are configured to maintain identical information in their respective volatile memory areas. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for configuring and operating a control network, comprising the steps of:
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connecting a plurality of network nodes in a loop configuration using at least one fiber optic ring;
configuring a first plurality of said network nodes as master nodes, each of said master nodes comprising a volatile memory area for storing operational data;
configuring a second plurality of network nodes as slave nodes;
sharing concurrent control by said master nodes over said network nodes; and
maintaining substantially identical information in the respective volatile memory areas of each of the master nodes. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A fiber optic control network, comprising:
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a plurality of master nodes;
a plurality of slave nodes;
a plurality of optical fiber sections connecting said master nodes and said slave nodes in a loop configuration, said optical fiber sections collectively comprising a fiber optic ring; and
a memory coherency fiber connected to said master nodes, whereby said master nodes maintain substantially identical data in their respective volatile memories;
wherein each of said master nodes is responsible for controlling one or more of said slave nodes; and
wherein said master nodes share concurrent control of said slave nodes over said fiber optic ring by alternating communications with one another such that each master node communicates with its slave nodes without collisions by the other master nodes. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification