Method for transmitting data via a CANopen bus

• US 9,667,699 B2
• Filed: 03/29/2011
• Issued: 05/30/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schneider Electric Automation GmbH (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: Schneider Electric Automation GmbH (Schneider Electric SE)
• Inventors: Schaffner, Heinz, Hampikian, Pascal
• Primary Examiner(s): Roumi, Mahran Abu
• Application Number:
  US13/638,604
• Publication Number:
  US 20130080585A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,254 Days
• Field of Search: 709230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for transmitting data between a first automation appliance, and at least one second automation appliance, via a CANopen bus using a service data object as an SDO service, wherein an SDO client implemented in the first automation appliance is used to send a download or upload request to an SDO server implemented in the at least one second automation appliance, wherein the data are encapsulated in a CANopen frame by an application implemented in the first automation appliance or the at least one second automation appliance wherein the CANopen frame with the encapsulated data is transmitted or sent by means of an SDO service into or out of a data tunnel object defined in an object dictionary of the SDO server, and wherein the encapsulated data are decapsulated by the application implemented in the first or the at least one second automation appliance.

Claims

1. A method for configuring at least one field device having a MODBUS server by transmitting configuration data between a configuration personal computer (PC) and the at least one field device via a CANopen bus,

wherein the configuration PC comprises a configuration application having a field device tool, and at least one device type manager with which the configuration data are generated in a form of MODBUS frames, the method comprising the steps of:

sending a download request or an upload request, based on a standardized service data object (SDO) service in a form of an SDO download or an SDO upload, to an SDO server, which is implemented in the at least one field device, by using an SDO client, which is implemented in the configuration PC;

encapsulating the MODBUS frames in a CANopen frame by the configuration application implemented in the configuration PC;

loading the CANopen frame with the encapsulated configuration data by means of the SDO service download into an object defined as a data tunnel object, which is implemented in an object dictionary of a CANopen stack of the SDO server of the at least one field device, wherein the data tunnel object prepared by the object dictionary are stored in a memory and are available for a field device application, which allows transparent access to all data of the field device;

wherein a direct communication connection between the configuration PC and the at least one field device is established in order to store all configuration data of the field device in the field device;

decapsulating the encapsulated MODBUS frames out of the CANopen frames by an application implemented in the field device; and

wherein a data transmission is carried out from the at least one field device to the configuration PC by way of the SDO upload from a data tunnel object, initiated by the configuration application implemented in the configuration PC, wherein the configuration application cyclically addresses the field device application implemented in the at least one field device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a data transmission is carried out from the configuration PC to the at least one field device by way of the SDO download to the data tunnel object of the object dictionary, initiated by the configuration application implemented in the configuration PC.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein a preset SDO server channel is used for data transmission, and wherein a second SDO server channel is used in an event of a high data volume.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein a single data tunnel object is sufficient for simplex or half-duplex data transmission.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein, for a full-duplex data transmission, at least two data tunnel objects in the object dictionary of the SDO server are used.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein, during a transmission of the configuration data from the at least one field device to the configuration PC, a protocol-specific part of the device type manager implemented in the configuration PC must regularly query the at least one field device with the field device application, whereby a CANopen communication the device type manager implemented in the field device executes the SDO upload request.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data tunnel object is of a domain type.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the CANopen frame with the encapsulated MODBUS frame is sent via a routing functionality implemented in the configuration PC to the at least one field device with an appropriate address.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein encapsulated data are transmitted in a form of control programs.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data transmission is carried out sequentially for each of the field devices, or is carried out when one of the field devices is attached to the CANopen bus, or both sequentially for each of the field devices and when one of the field devices is attached to the CANopen bus.