Connecting device for information interaction between Profinet communication equipment and Ethercat communication equipment
By designing a connection device for information interaction between Profinet and Ethercat communication devices, using multiple communication chips and external signal interface chips, the problem of difficulty in efficient communication of a single communication protocol device in the industrial environment is solved, and low-cost, low-power consumption and high-reliability information interaction is achieved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202411580091.0
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-11-07
- Publication Date
- 2025-02-28
AI Technical Summary
In an industrial environment, communication terminal devices based on a single industrial communication protocol are difficult to achieve efficient and flexible data communication, and traditional gateway equipment is costly and has high power consumption.
A connection device is provided, including a first communication chip as a Profinet communication slave station, a second communication chip as an Ethercat communication master station, and a third communication chip as an Ethercat communication slave station, and information interaction is realized through a preset communication interface such as an SPI interface, and information interaction is performed using an external signal interface chip.
The information interaction between devices in the Profinet communication protocol network and devices in the Ethercat communication protocol network is realized, with low cost, low power consumption, low latency and high reliability.
Smart Images
Figure CN119544817A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of industrial control communication, and in particular to a connection device for information interaction between a PN communication device and an Ethercat communication device. Background Art
[0002] In the field of industrial control, a variety of industrial communication protocols have been widely used, such as Profinet (PN for short) communication protocol, Ethercat communication protocol, CANopen communication protocol, etc. However, most of the real industrial sites only use one industrial communication protocol, and only equipment that matches this industrial communication protocol can be selected in the industrial site, which results in the specificity of the communication terminal equipment that can be selected in the industrial environment. In complex environments and working conditions, it is difficult to achieve efficient and flexible data communication based on the communication terminal equipment selected based on a single industrial communication protocol. It can be highlighted that the most widely used ones are Profinet communication protocol and Ethercat communication protocol.
[0003] To this end, the relevant technology proposes to use a gateway device to connect the PN communication device in the Profinet communication protocol network and the Ethercat communication device in the Ethercat communication protocol network to support information interaction between the PN communication device and the Ethercat communication device. However, the cost of traditional gateway devices is relatively high and the power consumption is high. Summary of the invention
[0004] In order to effectively improve or even solve at least one of the technical problems existing in the background technology, the present disclosure provides a connection device for information interaction between a PN communication device and an Ethercat communication device.
[0005] The present disclosure provides a connection device for information interaction between different industrial communication protocol devices, including:
[0006] A first communication chip configured to function as a Profinet communication slave;
[0007] A second communication chip is configured to be used as an Ethercat communication master station, and the second communication chip exchanges information with the first communication chip through a preset communication interface;
[0008] a third communication chip configured to function as an Ethercat communication slave;
[0009] The first external signal interface chip and the second external signal interface chip are respectively connected to the second communication chip and the third communication chip to implement information exchange between the second communication chip and the third communication chip.
[0010] In some embodiments, the connection device further comprises: a PCB board;
[0011] The first communication chip, the second communication chip, the third communication chip, the first external signal interface chip and the second external signal interface chip are all assembled and fixed on the PCB board.
[0012] In some embodiments, the connecting device further comprises:
[0013] a fourth communication chip, configured to be used as a Profinet communication master station and capable of exchanging information with the first communication chip;
[0014] The fourth communication chip is mounted and fixed on the PCB board.
[0015] In some embodiments, the first communication chip, the second communication chip and the fourth communication chip are each configured with a corresponding at least one first communication lead-out connection port;
[0016] The third communication chip is configured with at least one corresponding second communication lead-out connection port.
[0017] In some embodiments, the first communication lead-out connection port includes: an RJ45 port;
[0018] The second communication lead-out connection port includes: an MII port or an EBUS port.
[0019] In some embodiments, any group of first differential signal lines configured by the RJ45 port meets the following conditions: the difference in length between two first differential signal lines in the same group is less than 5 mil, the differential impedance is 100Ω, and the spacing between any two first differential signal lines in different groups is greater than 5 times the line width of the first differential signal line;
[0020] At least one first differential signal line configured by the RJ45 port is provided with a corresponding filter element.
[0021] In some embodiments, both the first external signal interface chip and the second external signal interface chip are PHY chips.
[0022] In some embodiments, the PHY chip is mounted and fixed on a PCB board;
[0023] Any group of second differential signal lines configured by the PHY chip meets the following requirements: two second differential signal lines in the same group are wired on the same layer of the PCB board and the spacing between them is less than 100 mil;
[0024] The length of any one of the second differential signal lines configured by the PHY chip is less than 5000 mil;
[0025] The difference between any two of the second differential signal lines configured by the PHY chip is less than 1000 mil.
[0026] In some embodiments, the preset communication interface is an SPI interface.
[0027] In some embodiments, the first communication chip adopts a NETX 90 chip, the second communication chip adopts an ECM-XF chip, and the third communication chip adopts an ET1100 chip.
[0028] The connection device provided by the present invention can realize information interaction between Profinet communication equipment in a Profinet communication protocol network and Ethercat communication equipment in an Ethercat communication protocol network. At the same time, the connection device is composed of no high-power devices, and is mainly composed of some special communication chips and external signal interface chips, so it has the characteristics of low cost, low power consumption, low latency and high reliability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0029] Figure 1 A structural block diagram of a connection device for information interaction between a Profinet communication device and an Ethercat communication device in an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0030] Figure 2 For devices in Profinet communication protocol networks and devices in Ethercat communication protocol networks based on Figure 1 One of the schematic diagrams of the connection device shown when performing information interaction;
[0031] Figure 3 For devices in Profinet communication protocol networks and devices in Ethercat communication protocol networks based on Figure 1 The second schematic diagram of the connection device performing information interaction;
[0032] Figure 4 for Figure 1 A schematic diagram showing that each communication chip in the connection device is configured with a corresponding lead-out connection port for communication;
[0033] Figure 5 Another structural block diagram of a connection device for information interaction between a Profinet communication device and an Ethercat communication device in an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0034] Figure 6 For devices in Profinet communication protocol networks and devices in Ethercat communication protocol networks based on Figure 5 One of the schematic diagrams of the connection device shown when performing information interaction;
[0035] Figure 7 For devices in Profinet communication protocol networks and devices in Ethercat communication protocol networks based on Figure 7 The second schematic diagram of the connection device performing information interaction;
[0036] Figures 8 to 10 Schematic diagrams of three different connection methods for two different PHY chips;
[0037] Fig.11 This is another structural block diagram of a connection device for information interaction between a Profinet communication device and an Ethercat communication device in an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0038] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solution of the present disclosure, the connection device for information interaction between a PN communication device and an Ethercat communication device provided by the present disclosure is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods.
[0039] Unless otherwise defined, the technical terms or scientific terms used in the present disclosure should be understood by people with ordinary skills in the field to which the present disclosure belongs. The "first", "second" and similar words used in the present disclosure do not indicate any order, quantity or importance, but are only used to distinguish different components. Similarly, similar words such as "one", "one" or "the" do not indicate quantity restrictions, but indicate that there is at least one. Similar words such as "include" or "comprise" mean that the elements or objects appearing before the word cover the elements or objects listed after the word and their equivalents, without excluding other elements or objects. Similar words such as "connect" or "connected" are not limited to physical or mechanical connections, but can include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect. "Up", "down", "left", "right" and the like are only used to indicate relative positional relationships. When the absolute position of the described target changes, the relative positional relationship may also change accordingly.
[0040] In each of the accompanying drawings, identical elements are represented by similar reference numerals. For the sake of clarity, the various parts in the accompanying drawings are not all drawn to scale. In addition, some well-known parts may not be shown in the drawings.
[0041] Many specific details of the present disclosure are described below, such as specific industrial communication protocols, chip models, and interface types, so as to more clearly understand the present disclosure. However, as those skilled in the art will appreciate, these specific details are only some optional solutions in the present disclosure, and the present disclosure may be implemented without following these specific details.
[0042] The industrial communication protocol in this disclosure refers to the rules and conventions that must be followed by two entities in the industrial control field to complete data exchange and control; in this disclosure, the industrial communication protocol includes but is not limited to the Profinet communication protocol, Ethercat communication protocol, CANopen communication protocol, Modbus communication protocol, Profibus communication protocol, Ethernet / IP communication protocol, DeviceNet communication protocol, etc.
[0043] The master station in the present disclosure refers to a data station that can actively issue instructions and control data transmission, and the slave station refers to a station that can receive data or instructions sent by the master station and perform corresponding operations or responses according to the instructions.
[0044] In the present disclosure, by selecting a suitable communication chip and designing a corresponding program, the communication chip is used as a certain industrial communication master station or slave station. The specific implementation process belongs to the conventional technology in this field and is not elaborated in this disclosure.
[0045] Figure 1 1 is a structural block diagram of a connection device for information exchange between a Profinet communication device and an Ethercat communication device in an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 1 As shown, the connection device includes: a first communication chip, a second communication chip, a third communication chip, a first external signal interface chip and a second external signal interface chip.
[0046] Among them, the first communication chip is configured to be used as a Profinet communication slave station; the second communication chip is configured to be used as an Ethercat communication master station, and the second communication chip exchanges information with the first communication chip through a preset communication interface; the third communication chip is configured to be used as an Ethercat communication slave station; the first external signal interface chip and the second external signal interface chip are respectively connected to the second communication chip and the third communication chip to realize information interaction between the second communication chip and the third communication chip.
[0047] In some embodiments, the preset communication interface is a SPI interface.
[0048] Figure 2 For devices in Profinet communication protocol networks and devices in Ethercat communication protocol networks based on Figure 1 One of the schematic diagrams of the connection devices shown when performing information interaction. Figure 3 For devices in Profinet communication protocol networks and devices in Ethercat communication protocol networks based on Figure 1The second schematic diagram of the connection device performing information interaction is shown in FIG. Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, for the convenience of description, the master station device and the slave station device in the Profinet communication protocol network (a network that communicates based on the Profinet communication protocol) are respectively referred to as "Profinet communication protocol network master station device" and "Profinet communication protocol network slave station device", and the master station device and the slave station device in the Ethercat communication protocol network (a network that communicates based on the Ethercat communication protocol) are respectively referred to as "Ethercat communication protocol network master station device" and "Ethercat communication protocol network slave station device".
[0049] See also Figure 2 , as scenario one: the target Profinet communication protocol network slave device transmits information to the target Ethercat communication protocol network slave device. Specifically, in the Profinet communication protocol network, the target Profinet communication protocol network slave device is connected to the corresponding Profinet communication protocol network master device (the Profinet communication protocol network master device can also connect to other Profinet communication protocol network slave devices in the network). At this time, the Profinet communication protocol network master device corresponding to the target Profinet communication protocol network slave device needs to be connected to the communication lead-out connection port (for example, RJ45 port) of the first communication chip, and the target Ethercat communication protocol network slave device needs to be connected to the communication lead-out connection port (for example, RJ45 port) of the second communication chip.
[0050] The information transmission process is as follows: the target Profinet communication protocol network slave device transmits data information to the connected Profinet communication protocol network master device, the Profinet communication protocol network master device transmits the data information to the first communication chip (used as a Profinet communication slave) in the connecting device, the first communication chip transmits the data information to the second communication chip (used as an Ethercat communication protocol slave master) through the SPI interface, and the second communication chip transmits the data information to the target Ethercat communication protocol network slave device through the communication port.
[0051] See also Figure 3, as scenario 2: the target Ethercat communication protocol network slave device transmits information to the target Profinet communication protocol network slave device. Specifically, in the Profinet communication protocol network, the target Profinet communication protocol network slave device is connected to the corresponding Profinet communication protocol network master device. At this time, it is necessary to connect the target Ethercat communication protocol network slave device to the communication lead-out connection port (such as MII port, EBUS port) of the third communication chip, and connect the Profinet communication protocol network master device corresponding to the target Profinet communication protocol network slave device to the communication port (such as RJ45 port) of the first communication chip.
[0052] The information transmission process is as follows: the target Ethercat communication protocol network slave device transmits data information to the third communication chip (used as the Ethercat communication protocol network slave) in the connecting device, and the third communication chip then transmits the data information to the second communication chip (used as the Ethercat communication protocol network master) through the second external signal interface chip and the first external signal interface chip, and the second communication chip transmits the data information to the first communication chip (used as the Profinet communication protocol network slave) through the SPI interface, and the first communication chip then transmits the data information to the connected Profinet communication protocol network master device, and the Profinet communication protocol network master device then transmits the data information to the target Profinet communication protocol network slave device.
[0053] Based on the above content, it can be seen that the connection device provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure can realize information exchange between the Profinet communication protocol device in the Profinet communication protocol network and the Ethercat communication protocol device in the Ethercat communication protocol network. The connection device provided by the present invention has no high-power devices and is mainly composed of some dedicated communication chips and external signal interface chips, so it has the characteristics of low cost, low power consumption, low latency and high reliability.
[0054] In some embodiments, the connection device further includes: a PCB board; a first communication chip, a second communication chip, a third communication chip, a first external signal interface chip, and a second external signal interface chip are all assembled and fixed on the PCB board. That is, the connection device disclosed in the present invention can be implemented based on a single PCB board, and the overall structure of the connection device is simple.
[0055] Figure 4 for Figure 1 A schematic diagram showing the configuration of corresponding communication output connection ports for each communication chip in the connection device. Figure 4As shown, in some embodiments, the first communication chip and the second communication chip are each configured with at least one corresponding first communication lead-out connection port. The third communication chip is configured with at least one corresponding second communication lead-out connection port.
[0056] Further optionally, the first communication lead-out connection port includes: an RJ45 port. That is, the communication lead-out connection ports of the first communication chip and the second communication chip are unified RJ45 ports. The communication device (generally the master device) in the Profinet communication protocol network can establish a communication channel with the first communication chip through the first communication lead-out connection port configured by the first communication chip, and the communication device (generally the slave device) in the Ethercat communication protocol network can establish a communication channel with the second communication chip through the first communication lead-out connection port configured by the second communication chip.
[0057] Further optionally, the second communication output connection port includes: an MII port or an EBUS port. That is, the communication device (generally a slave device) in the Ethercat communication protocol network can establish a communication channel with the second communication chip through the second communication output connection port configured by the third communication chip.
[0058] In the present disclosure, the specific port type of the communication output connection port configured by each communication chip is determined by the port type supported by the specific chip.
[0059] It should be noted that in the present disclosure, since the communication chip generally cannot be directly connected to the RJ45 port, it is necessary to add a PYH chip between the communication chip and the configured RJ45 port. The PYH chip mainly plays the role of level signal conversion.
[0060] In some embodiments, any group of first differential signal lines configured by the RJ45 port meets the following requirements: the difference in length between two first differential signal lines in the same group is less than 5 mil, the differential impedance is 100Ω, and the spacing between any two first differential signal lines in different groups is greater than 5 times the line width of the first differential signal line. A corresponding filter element (such as a filter capacitor) is provided on at least one first differential signal line configured by the RJ45 port. Through the above wiring design, the data transmission effect between the communication chip and the corresponding RJ45 port can be effectively improved.
[0061] Figure 5 Another structural block diagram of a connection device for information interaction between a Profinet communication device and an Ethercat communication device in an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 6 For devices in Profinet communication protocol networks and devices in Ethercat communication protocol networks based on Figure 5One of the schematic diagrams of the connection devices shown when performing information interaction. Figure 7 For devices in Profinet communication protocol networks and devices in Ethercat communication protocol networks based on Figure 7 The second schematic diagram of the connection device performing information interaction is shown in FIG. Figures 5 to 7 As shown, Figure 1 The difference between the connecting device shown is that the connecting device in this embodiment further includes a fourth communication chip, which is configured to be used as a Profinet communication master station and can exchange information with the first communication chip.
[0062] Since the fourth communication chip that can be used as a Profinet communication master station has been pre-integrated in the connecting device, the target Profinet communication protocol network slave station device in the Profinet communication protocol network no longer needs to be connected to the connecting device through the Profinet communication protocol network master station device in the Profinet communication protocol network, but can be directly connected to the fourth communication chip.
[0063] It should be noted that, when the fourth communication chip used as the Profinet communication master is integrated in the connection device, the fourth communication chip and the first communication chip can be connected via the RJ45 port to establish a communication channel.
[0064] In some embodiments, when the aforementioned PCB board exists in the connecting device, the fourth communication chip is also assembled and fixed on the PCB board.
[0065] Optionally, each of the fourth communication chips is configured with at least one corresponding first communication lead-out connection port. In this case, the target Profinet communication protocol network slave device in the Profinet communication protocol network can be connected via the first communication lead-out connection port configured by the fourth communication chip, so that the target Profinet communication protocol network slave device establishes a communication channel with the fourth communication chip.
[0066] In some embodiments, the first communication lead-out connection port configured by the fourth communication chip may be an RJ45 port.
[0067] Continue to see Figures 1 to 7 As shown, optionally, the first external signal interface chip and the second external signal interface chip are both PHY chips (supporting MII interface).
[0068] Further optionally, the PHY chip is assembled and fixed on the PCB board; any group of second differential signal lines configured by the PHY chip satisfies: two second differential signal lines in the same group are wired on the same layer on the PCB board and the spacing between them is less than 100 mil; the length of any second differential signal line configured by the PHY chip is less than 5000 mil; the difference between any two second differential signal lines configured by the PHY chip is less than 1000 mil.
[0069] In the present disclosure, the PHY chips used by the first external signal interface chip and the second external signal interface chip may be the same two PHY chips, or may be different two PHY chips. When the first external signal interface chip and the second external signal interface chip are the same two PHY chips, the MDI signal terminals of the two PHY chips may be directly connected.
[0070] Figures 8 to 10 The following are schematic diagrams of three different connection methods for two different PHY chips. Figures 8 to 10 As shown, when the first external signal interface chip and the second external signal interface chip are two different PHY chips, there may be the following three situations: 1) the two different PHY chips are both current-type PHY chips; 2) the two different PHY chips are both voltage-type PHY chips; 3) one of the two different PHY chips is a current-type PHY chip and the other is a voltage-type PHY chip.
[0071] Among them, the connection circuits corresponding to the two different PHY chips are current-type PHY chips. Figure 8 As shown in the figure, the connection circuits corresponding to the two different PHY chips are both voltage-type PHY chips. Fig. 9 As shown in FIG. 1 , one of the two different PHY chips is a current-type PHY chip and the other is a voltage-type PHY chip ( Fig.10 The first external signal interface chip is only exemplarily shown as a current-type PHY chip, and the first external signal interface chip is a voltage-type PHY chip. Fig.10 The same parts of the three connection circuits all include eight resistors R1-R8 and four capacitors C1-C4, but the difference is that the connection circuit corresponding to the two different PHY chips, which are both voltage-type PHY chips, also includes four additional capacitors C5-C8, and the connection circuit corresponding to the two different PHY chips, one of which is a current-type PHY chip and the other of which is a voltage-type PHY chip, also includes two additional capacitors C5-C6.
[0072] It should be noted that Figures 8 to 10TX1+, TX1-, RX1+, and RX1- are respectively the positive phase transmission terminal, negative phase transmission terminal, positive phase receiving terminal, and negative phase receiving terminal of the first external signal interface chip. TX2+, TX2-, RX2+, and RX2- are respectively the positive phase transmission terminal, negative phase transmission terminal, positive phase receiving terminal, and negative phase receiving terminal of the second external signal interface chip. The specific connection method between the electrical components in each connection circuit and the transmission / reception terminal of the PHY chip can be seen in Figures 8 to 10 Detailed description is not given here.
[0073] Fig.11 FIG. 1 is another structural block diagram of a connection device for realizing information interaction between different industrial communication protocol devices in an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig.11 As shown, as a specific optional implementation scheme, in some embodiments, the first communication chip adopts the NETX 90 chip, the second communication chip adopts the ECM-XF chip, and the third communication chip adopts the ET1100 chip.
[0074] Based on the same principle, the connection device in the present disclosure can also be used to realize information interaction between different industrial communication protocol devices. Specifically, the first communication chip is configured to be used as a first industrial communication protocol slave station, the second communication chip is configured to be used as a second industrial communication protocol master station, and the third communication chip is configured to be used as a second industrial communication protocol slave station. In addition, when there is a third communication chip, the fourth communication chip is configured to be used as a first industrial communication protocol master station. At this time, the connection device can be used to realize information interaction between devices in the first industrial communication protocol network and devices in the second industrial communication protocol network. Among them, the first industrial communication protocol and the second industrial communication protocol are different industrial communication protocols.
[0075] It is to be understood that the above embodiments are merely exemplary embodiments used to illustrate the principles of the present disclosure, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For those of ordinary skill in the art, various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the spirit and substance of the present disclosure, and these modifications and improvements are also considered to be within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
Claims
1. A connection device for information exchange between a Profinet communication device and an Ethercat communication device, characterized in that: include: A first communication chip configured to function as a Profinet communication slave; A second communication chip is configured to be used as an Ethercat communication master station, and the second communication chip exchanges information with the first communication chip through a preset communication interface; a third communication chip configured to function as an Ethercat communication slave; The first external signal interface chip and the second external signal interface chip are respectively connected to the second communication chip and the third communication chip to implement information exchange between the second communication chip and the third communication chip.
2. The connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: PCB board; The first communication chip, the second communication chip, the third communication chip, the first external signal interface chip and the second external signal interface chip are all assembled and fixed on the PCB board.
3. The connection device according to claim 2, characterized in that: Also includes: a fourth communication chip, configured to be used as a Profinet communication master station and capable of exchanging information with the first communication chip; The fourth communication chip is mounted and fixed on the PCB board.
4. The connection device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The first communication chip, the second communication chip and the fourth communication chip are each configured with at least one corresponding first communication lead-out connection port; The third communication chip is configured with at least one corresponding second communication lead-out connection port.
5. The connection device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The first communication lead-out connection port includes: an RJ45 port; The second communication lead-out connection port includes: an MII port or an EBUS port.
6. The connection device according to claim 5, characterized in that: Any group of first differential signal lines configured in the RJ45 port meets the following requirements: the difference in length between two first differential signal lines in the same group is less than 5 mil, the differential impedance is 100Ω, and the spacing between any two first differential signal lines in different groups is greater than 5 times the line width of the first differential signal line; At least one first differential signal line configured by the RJ45 port is provided with a corresponding filter element.
7. The connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first external signal interface chip and the second external signal interface chip are both PHY chips.
8. The connection device according to claim 7, characterized in that The PHY chip is assembled and fixed on the PCB board; Any group of second differential signal lines configured by the PHY chip meets the following requirements: two second differential signal lines in the same group are wired on the same layer of the PCB board and the spacing between them is less than 100 mil; The length of any one of the second differential signal lines configured by the PHY chip is less than 5000 mil; The difference between any two of the second differential signal lines configured by the PHY chip is less than 1000 mil.
9. The connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The preset communication interface is an SPI interface.
10. The connection device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The first communication chip adopts a NETX 90 chip, the second communication chip adopts an ECM-XF chip, and the third communication chip adopts an ET1100 chip.