Arrangement in a distributed control system for increasing the availability of data and/or control commands

• US 8,072,877 B2
• Filed: 09/04/2001
• Issued: 12/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Ventures Assets 20 LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC), Kvaser Consultant Aktiebolag
• Original Assignee: Xinshu Management LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Fredriksson, Lars-Berno
• Primary Examiner(s): Lai, Andrew
• Application Number:
  US10/380,069
• Publication Number:
  US 20050030969A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,745 Days
• Field of Search: 370/454, 370/230, 370/230.1, 370/235, 370/237, 370/217, 370/218, 370/221, 370/263, 370/465, 455/63.1, 455/114.2, 455/278.1, 455/296, 455/68, 455/443, 455/454, 455/569.2, 342/451, 342463-365
• US Class Current: 370/217
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13098 Mobile subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13107 Control equipment for a part of the connection, distributed control, co-processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/5455 Multi-processor, parallelism, distributed systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/54 based on quality criteria

Abstract

There is a need for increasing the availability of data and/or control commands in a distributed control system for one or more machines, vehicles and/or processes. The control system comprises or is controlled by a transmitting node or transmitter unit and has two or more receiving nodes. The transmitting nodes and receiving nodes are connected to each other via wireless radio links. The receiving nodes are located at a distance from each other and are connected to a few-wire digital link in a wired system for forwarding of the said data and/or control commands to the executing devices. The control node transmits the said data and/or the control commands in different directions towards the receiving nodes which are arranged at a distance from each other. Receiving nodes with reception that is essentially not subject to interference are arranged to be able to connect to the few-wire link in parallel and simultaneously with a receiver unit or units which have links that are connected to the few-wire link. In another case, only those receiver unit or units are connected that have reception links that are not subject to interference, while the receiver unit of units with links that are subject to interference do not participate in the transmission of the message on the few-wire link.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a plurality of receiving nodes configured to receive a wireless transmission of data via wireless links from a transmitter unit; and

a few-wire link connected to the plurality of receiving nodes, the few-wire link configured to forward the data to at least one operating device;

wherein at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured to receive the data using at least one of the wireless links and, in response to receiving a complete wireless transmission of the data from the at least one of the wireless links, to transmit the data to the few-wire link;

wherein the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured, in response to receiving less than a complete wireless transmission of data at the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes;

to not transmit received data to the few-wire link;

wherein the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured to, in response to receiving less than a complete wireless transmission of data, receive information from the few-wire link related to cancelling attempts to connect to the few-wire link after another of the plurality of receiving nodes that received a complete wireless transmission of data has transmitted the received data on the few-wire link.

2. An apparatus comprising:

a plurality of receiving nodes configured to receive a wireless transmission of data via wireless links from a transmitter unit;

a few-wire link connected to the plurality of receiving nodes, the few-wire link configured to forward the data to at least one operating device;

wherein at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured to receive the data using at least one of the wireless links and, in response to receiving a complete wireless transmission of the data from the at least one of the wireless links, to transmit the data to the few-wire link;

wherein the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured, in response to receiving less than a complete wireless transmission of data at the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes, to not transmit received data to the few-wire link;

wherein the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes, in response to receiving less than a complete wireless transmission of data, is configured to receive data being transmitted to the few-wire link by another of the plurality of the at least one receiving nodes that received a complete wireless transmission of data, the data being transmitted to the few-wire link allowing the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes to prevent continued attempts to access the few-wire link.

3. An apparatus in a distributed control system comprising:

a plurality of receiving nodes configured to receive a wireless transmission of data via wireless links from a transmitter unit;

a few-wire link connected to the plurality of receiving nodes, the few-wire link configured to forward the data to at least one operating device;

wherein at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured to receive a wireless transmission of data from at least one wireless link and, in response to receiving a complete wireless transmission of the data from the at least one of the wireless links, to transmit the data to the few-wire link;

wherein the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured, in response to receiving less than a complete wireless transmission of data at the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes, to not transmit received data to the few-wire link;

wherein the distributed control system is configured to select one of the plurality of receiving nodes that is least subject to interference whereby the one of the plurality of receiving nodes least subject to the interference obtains access to the few-wire link for transmission of the received data to the few-wire link.

4. An apparatus comprising:

a plurality of receiving nodes configured to receive a wireless transmission of data via wireless links from a transmitter unit;

a few-wire link connected to the plurality of receiving nodes, the few-wire link configured to forward the data to at least one operating device;

wherein at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured to receive the data using at least one of the wireless links and, in response to receiving a complete wireless transmission of the data from the at least one of the wireless links, to transmit the data to the few-wire link;

wherein the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured, in response to receiving less than a complete wireless transmission of data at the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes, to not transmit received data to the few-wire link;

the apparatus further comprising a plurality of g-nodes connected both wirelessly to the transmitter unit and wired to the few-wire link and configured to receive a message associated with the wireless transmission of the data, wherein the g-nodes are configured to determine if the message is correctly received through use of at least one code;

wherein a first of the plurality of g-nodes sends a message and a second of the plurality of g-nodes, in response to failing to synchronize with the message, does not re-send the message.

5. An apparatus comprising:

a plurality of receiving nodes configured to receive a wireless transmission of data via wireless links from a transmitter unit;

a few-wire link connected to the plurality of receiving nodes, the few-wire link configured to forward the data to at least one operating device;

wherein at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured to receive the data using at least one of the wireless links and, in response to receiving a complete wireless transmission of the data from the at least one of the wireless links, to transmit the data to the few-wire link;

wherein the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured, in response to receiving less than a complete wireless transmission of data at the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes, to not transmit received data to the few-wire link and to receive information related to disconnection from the few-wire link.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the transmitter unit sends data to the plurality of receiving nodes on different frequencies.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the data forms messages having system identification, data length codes and control codes.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein, in response to interference reaching a predetermined level at the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes, the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes is configured to not transmit received data and, is further configured to generate a cancellation signal to disconnect the at least one of the plurality of receiving nodes from the few-wire link.

9. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the plurality of receiving nodes and at least one operating device are located in a vehicle, the at least one operating device configured to control function executors.

10. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the transmitter unit is fixed at a location.

11. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the transmitter unit is movable.

12. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the data is configured for use in a Bluetooth system.

13. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the plurality of receiving nodes are synchronized by connection and arbitration functions.

14. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the plurality of receiving nodes are synchronized by time functions associated with the control system.

15. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the transmitter unit includes a plurality of wireless transmitters, each wireless transmitter configured to transmit on a separate frequency.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein each separate frequency is an allocated frequency in a time interval.

17. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the transmitter unit includes a plurality of wireless transmitters, each wireless transmitter configured to operate on a same frequency during a same time interval as at least one of the receiving nodes.

18. The apparatus of claim 5 further comprising g-nodes connected both wirelessly to the transmitter unit and wired to the few-wire link and configured to receive a message associated with the wireless transmission of data, the g-nodes configured to determine if the message is correctly received through use of at least one code.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein at least one of the g-nodes provides a value for a signal strength relating to the wireless transmission of the data from the transmitter unit to the plurality of receiving nodes.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the g-node having the highest value for a signal strength obtains access to the few-wire link.

21. A method comprising:

receiving data from a wireless transmitter unit at a receiving node;

if the receiving node is subjected to interference, not transmitting received data from the receiving node to a few-wire link;

if the receiving node receives complete data from the wireless transmitter unit, transmitting the data from the receiving node to at least one operating device via the few-wire link; and

receiving information at the at least one receiving node subject to interference concerning disconnection of the at least one receiving node from the few-wire link.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising:

synchronizing the receiving node by transmitting received data to a few-wire link in response to receiving complete data from the wireless transmitter unit.

23. A method comprising:

receiving data from a wireless transmitter unit at a plurality of receiving nodes;

if one of the receiving nodes is subjected to interference, not transmitting received data from the one of the receiving nodes subjected to interference to the few-wire link;

if at least one of the receiving nodes receives complete data from the wireless transmitter unit, transmitting the data from the at least one of the receiving nodes that received a complete wireless transmission of data to at least one operating device via the few-wire link; and

allowing the plurality of receiving nodes access to the few-wire link in response to the at least one receiving node receiving the complete wireless transmission of data and transmitting the received data to the few-wire link wherein the at least one receiving node is configured to, if subjected to the interference, obtain information from the few-wire link concerning cancelling attempts to connect to the few-wire link after the at least one receiving node receiving the complete wireless transmission of data has transmitted the received data on the few-wire link.

24. An apparatus comprising:

a receiving node configured to receive a wireless transmission of data from a transmitting unit via at least one wireless link, the receiving node configured to connect to a few-wire link connected to at least one other receiving node;

the receiving node configured to monitor communication on the few-wire link and receive data transmitted to the few-wire link through monitoring the communication;

the receiving node configured to receive a wireless transmission of data using the at least one wireless link and, in response to receiving less than a complete wireless transmission of data, to receive data being transmitted to the few-wire link by the at least one other receiving node and to not transmit the data received using the at least one wireless link to the few-wire link based at least in part on the data being transmitted to the few-wire link, wherein the data being transmitted to the few-wire link includes all or part of the wireless transmission of data the receiving node received from the transmitting unit.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the receiving node is further configured, in response to receiving a complete wireless transmission of data, to transmit the data to the few-wire link.

26. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the data being transmitted to the few-wire link forms messages having system identification, data length codes, and control codes.

27. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the at least one other receiving node and at least one operating device are located in a vehicle, the at least one operating device configured to control function executors.

28. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the receiving node is further configured to be synchronized with the at least one other receiving node by connection and arbitration functions.

29. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the receiving node is further configured to receive a message associated with the wireless transmission of data and to communicably connect to at least one g-node configured to determine whether the message is correctly received through use of at least one code.

30. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the receiving node is further configured to provide a value for a signal strength relating to the wireless transmission of the data.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the receiving node is further configured to receive values for signal strength relating to the wireless transmission of the data received at the at least one other receiving node, and in response to having a greater signal strength value than the at least one other receiving node, to transmit the data to the few-wire link.

32. An apparatus comprising:

a receiving node configured to receive a wireless transmission of data from a transmitting unit via wireless links, and configured to connect to a few-wire link connected to at least one other receiving node; and

the receiving node configured to receive the data using at least one of the wireless links and, in response to receiving less than a complete wireless transmission of data, to receive data being transmitted to the few-wire link by the at least one other receiving node,

wherein the receiving node is further configured, in response to receiving less than a complete wireless transmission of data, to receive information from the few-wire link related to cancelling attempts to connect to the few-wire link after the at least one other receiving node has transmitted the data on the few-wire link.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the receiving node is further configured, in response to receiving less than a complete wireless transmission of data, to not transmit received data to the few-wire link.