METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR RECORDING, SYNCHRONIZING AND ANALYSING DATA BY MEANS OF ANALYSIS DEVICES WHICH ARE SPATIALLY DISTRIBUTED IN A COMMUNICATION NETWORK

• US 20140003454A1
• Filed: 09/30/2011
• Published: 01/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schneider Electric Automation GmbH (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: Michael Hortig
• Inventors: Kaemmerer, Ulrich, Hortig, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 9,031,055 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/503
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/0644 External master-clock
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/417 with deterministic access, e.g. token passing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/106 using time related information in packets, e.g. by adding timestamps
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/18 Protocol analysers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 7/0079 Receiver details

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a system for recording, synchronizing and analysing data transmitted between spatially distributed devices (56, 78, 80, 58) of a communication network (60, 62), such as a real-time Ethernet network, by means of spatially distributed analysis devices (72, 88), wherein the data are received by at least two analysis devices (72, 88) looped into the communication network (60, 62), and wherein the received data are marked by means of a synchronization signal which is simultaneously received by the analysis devices (72, 88). In order to simplify the recording, synchronization and analysis of data by means of spatially distributed analysis devices, provision is made for the analysis devices (72,88) to store data frames of the received data in data files, wherein each received data frame is marked with a time stamp of a local time of the receiving analysis device (72, 88), and wherein time synchronization events are produced by means of the received synchronization signal in each of the analysis devices (72, 88) and, while recording the data files in each of the analysis devices(72, 88), are simultaneously inserted as pseudo frames (110, 112, 114) between the received data frames for subsequent synchronization, for the local time stamp contained in the data frames to be compared with the inserted time synchronization events, for a specific item of information from the respective analysis device to be coded as additional information in each data frame, for the individual data files received by the individual analysis devices during the measurement to be combined with respect to the simultaneous time synchronization events, and for the data frames recorded by the analysis devices to be in the correct order in terms of time.

Claims

1. A method for recording, synchronizing and analyzing data transmitted between spatially dispersed devices (56, 78, 80, 58) within a communications network (60, 62), such as a real-time Ethernet network, by means of spatially dispersed analysis units (72, 88), wherein the data are received by at least two analysis units (72, 88) looped into the communications network (60, 62), and wherein the received data are marked by means of a synchronization signal received simultaneously by the analysis units (72, 88),

characterized in that

the analysis units (72, 88) store data frames of the received data in data files, wherein each received data frame is marked with a time stamp of a local time of the receiving analysis unit (72, 88), and wherein, by means of the received synchronization signal, time synchronization events are generated in each of the analysis units (72, 88) and are inserted simultaneously, during recording of the data files in each of the analysis units (72, 88), as pseudo frames (110, 112, 114) between the received data frames for later synchronization, in that the local time stamp contained in the data frames is coordinated in reference to the inserted time synchronization events, in that specific information on the respective analysis unit is encoded as additional information in each data frame, and in that the individual data files received during measurement of the individual analysis units are compiled in reference to the simultaneous time synchronization events, and in that the data frames recorded by the analysis units are in the correct temporal sequence.

2. The method according to claim 1,

characterized in that

a publicly available time signal, such as a DCF or GPS signal, is used as the synchronization signal.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,

characterized in that

the time synchronization event is inserted each second into the data file (114, 116).

4. The method according to at least one of the preceding claims,

characterized in that

the time synchronization events (110, 112, 114) are inserted synchronously and/or simultaneously into the data files.

5. A system (54) for recording, synchronizing and analyzing data transmitted between spatially dispersed devices (78, 80) of a communications network (60, 62), such as a real-time Ethernet network, by means of spatially dispersed analysis units (72, 88), wherein the analysis units (72, 88) in the communications network (60, 62) that connects the devices (56, 78, 80, 58) are looped for recording the data, and wherein each of the analysis units (72, 88) has a receiver (106, 108) for simultaneously receiving a synchronization signal, and means for marking the received data on the basis of the synchronization signal,

characterized in that

the analysis units (72, 80) further comprise:

means for marking recorded data frames with a local time stamp of the receiving analysis unit (72, 80), means for storing the data frames in a data file, means for generating time synchronization events on the basis of the synchronization signal, and means for inserting the time synchronization events as pseudo frames between the received data frames of a data file (128, 130, 132), wherein the local time stamp contained in the data frames is coordinated in reference to the inserted time synchronization events, in that specific information on the respective analysis unit is encoded as additional information in each data frame, and in that the individual data files received by the individual analysis units during measurement are compiled in reference to the simultaneous time synchronization events, and in that the data frames recorded by the analysis units are in the correct temporal sequence.

6. The system according to claim 5,

characterized in that

the analysis unit (72, 88) is embodied as an analysis PC (94, 96) with a plug-in analysis card (98, 100).

7. The system according to at least one of claim 5 or 6,

characterized in that

the receiver (106, 108) is connected to a trigger signal input (102, 104) of the analysis unit (72, 88) or to the plug-in analysis card (98, 100).

8. The system according to at least one of claims 5 to 7,

characterized in that

the receiver (106, 108) is embodied as a radio receiver, via which a locally or publicly available time signal, such as a DCF or GPS signal, is received.

9. The system according to at least one of claims 5 to 8,

characterized in that

the communications network (60, 62) is a wired or wireless communications network, preferably a real-time Ethernet network.