Load allocation and high availability over Ethernet advanced physical layer

Abstract

An Ethernet Advanced Physical Layer (Ethernet-APL) bridging system located between an edge field device and an industrial network. The bridge system includes at least one Ethernet-APL switch and a plurality of redundant physical Ethernet-APL 10BaseT1L ports coupled to the at least one switch to provide improved load distribution and high availability.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 414,801, filed on October 10, 2022, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to industrial assets and, more particularly, to systems and methods related to load distribution and high availability over Ethernet Advanced Physical Layer (Ethernet-APL), which is a specific Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) based on 10BASE-T1L. Background Art

[0004] As is known, an industrial operation or plant typically includes industrial equipment, which is typically in various forms and associated with various processes, for example, depending on the industrial operation. For example, an industrial operation may include one or more field devices (e.g., remote terminal units (RTUs), programmable logic controllers (PLCs), actuators, sensors, human-machine interfaces (HMIs)) for performing, analyzing, and / or controlling process variable measurements. These process variable measurements may include, for example, pressure, flow, level, and temperature. In some cases, an industrial operation or plant and its associated equipment and (one or more) processes are operated and controlled using a distributed control system (DCS).

[0005] Currently, network elements such as routers and switches are required to provide load balancing solutions to ensure that traffic is evenly distributed between network endpoints, where there are multiple paths between the network endpoints and the network elements. In addition, field wiring, connectors, and physical hardware components adjacent to network interfaces are more likely to be damaged by workers, electrostatic discharge (ESD), electromagnetic interference (EMI), lightning, etc. Once these connections are damaged, the field equipment will no longer function and must be replaced immediately.

[0006] Conventional methods and systems for load distribution and availability are generally considered to be able to meet their intended purposes. However, there is still a need for improvement in the art. The present disclosure provides a solution to meet this need. Summary of the invention

[0007] Aspects of the present disclosure provide improved load distribution and high availability on Ethernet APL.

[0008] In one aspect, an Ethernet-APL bridging system provides communication between an edge field device and an industrial network. The bridging system includes at least one Ethernet-APL switch and a plurality of redundant physical Ethernet-APL 10BaseT1L ports coupled to the at least one switch. The redundant ports connect the field device to the industrial network via the at least one switch to enable local operation of the field device. In response to a failure of one of the plurality of redundant ports, the field device is able to continue local operation using at least one other of the redundant ports due to port redundancy.

[0009] In another aspect, a field device includes a controllable element for performing local operation and a plurality of redundant physical Ethernet-APL 10BaseT1L ports coupled to at least one Ethernet-APL switch. The redundant ports connect the field device to an industrial network via the at least one switch to enable local operation of the field device. In response to a failure of one of the plurality of redundant ports, the field device is able to continue local operation using at least one other redundant port due to port redundancy.

[0010] In yet another aspect, a method provides high availability and load distribution in an intrinsically safe edge field device that communicates with an industrial network. The method includes connecting the field device to a plurality of redundant Ethernet-APL ports, coupling each redundant port to the industrial network via at least one Ethernet-APL switch, and enabling local operation of the field device. In response to a failure of one of the plurality of redundant ports, the method includes continuing local operation of the field device using at least one other redundant port due to port redundancy.

[0011] Other objects and features of the invention will be in part apparent and in part pointed out herein. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1 An example industrial operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0013] Figure 2 An example Ethernet-APL bridge is illustrated according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0014] Figure 3 An example field device having an Ethernet-APL bridge according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0015] Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] The features and other details of the concepts, systems and techniques for which protection is sought herein will now be described in greater detail. It should be understood that any specific embodiments described herein are shown by way of illustration and not as limitations of the present disclosure and the concepts described herein. The features of the subject matter described herein may be employed in various embodiments without departing from the scope of the concepts for which protection is sought.

[0017] As described above, field wiring, connectors, and physical hardware components adjacent to the network interface of a field device are susceptible to damage, rendering the field device inoperable. Advantageously, aspects of the present disclosure provide redundancy so that if one port becomes inoperative, the field device will continue to function. In an embodiment, the field device indicates that maintenance is required while continuing to operate. Maintenance can then be scheduled at a convenient time in the future without immediately interrupting plant operations. In this regard, aspects of the present disclosure allow for high availability field devices.

[0018] See also Figure 1 , according to an example industrial operation 100 of an embodiment of the present disclosure, includes a plurality of industrial devices or equipment 110a, 110b, ..., 110n (collectively indicated as industrial equipment 110). Industrial equipment (or equipment) 110 may be associated with a specific application (e.g., an industrial application), an application and / or (one or more) processes. Industrial equipment 110 may include electrical or electronic equipment, for example, such as machinery associated with industrial operation 100 (e.g., manufacturing or natural resource extraction operations). Industrial equipment 110 may also include control and / or auxiliary equipment associated with industrial operation 100, such as field devices (e.g., RTU, PLC, actuator, sensor, HMI) for performing, analyzing and / or controlling process variable measurements. In an embodiment, industrial equipment 110 may be installed or located in one or more facilities (i.e., buildings) or other physical locations (i.e., sites) associated with industrial operation 100. These facilities may correspond to, for example, industrial buildings or factories. In addition, a physical location may correspond to, for example, a geographic area or location.

[0019] In some embodiments, the industrial equipment 110 may each be configured to perform one or more tasks. For example, at least one of the industrial equipment 110 may be configured to produce or process one or more products or parts of products associated with the industrial operation 100. In addition, at least one of the industrial equipment 110 may be configured to sense or monitor one or more parameters (e.g., industrial parameters) associated with the industrial operation 100. For example, the industrial equipment 110a may include or be coupled to a temperature sensor configured to sense (one or more) temperatures associated with the industrial equipment 110a, such as the ambient temperature near the industrial equipment 110a, the temperature of the process associated with the industrial equipment 110a, the temperature of the product produced by the industrial equipment 110a, etc. The industrial equipment 110a may additionally or alternatively include, for example, one or more pressure sensors, flow sensors, level sensors, vibration sensors, and / or any number of other sensors associated with (one or more) applications or (one or more) processes associated with the industrial equipment 110a. In an example embodiment, (one or more) applications or (one or more) processes may involve water, air, gas, electricity, steam, oil, etc.

[0020] Industrial equipment 110 may take a variety of forms, and each form may each have an associated complexity (or a set of functional capabilities and / or features). For example, industrial equipment 110a may correspond to "basic" industrial equipment, industrial equipment 110b may correspond to "intermediate" industrial equipment, and industrial equipment 110n may correspond to "advanced" industrial equipment. In such an embodiment, intermediate industrial equipment 110b may have more functions (e.g., measurement features and / or capabilities) than basic industrial equipment 110a, and advanced industrial equipment 110n may have more functions and / or features than intermediate industrial equipment 110b. For example, in an embodiment, industrial equipment 110a (e.g., industrial equipment with basic capabilities and / or features) may be able to monitor one or more first characteristics of an industrial process, and industrial equipment 110n (e.g., industrial equipment with advanced capabilities) may be able to monitor one or more second characteristics of an industrial process, wherein the second characteristic includes the first characteristic and one or more additional parameters. It should be understood that this example is for illustration purposes only. Similarly, in some embodiments, the industrial equipment 110a, 110b, 110n, etc. may each have independent functions.

[0021] As described above, in some cases, a DCS may be used to operate and control industrial operation 100 and its associated equipment and process(es).

[0022] Figure 2An example Ethernet-APL bridge 206 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The APL bridge 206 provides communication between industrial equipment 110 (i.e., edge field devices 210 in the illustrated embodiment) and an industrial network (such as the DCS mentioned above). The APL bridge 206 includes two or more physical APL 10BaseT1 ports 212. Each port 212 connects the field device 210 to the industrial network via an APL switch 214. In addition, the APL bridge 206 includes a Power over Data Lines (PoDL) component indicated at 216 for receiving power from the APL switch 214. The APL switch 214 and the PoDL component 216 (as well as the network port, cable, and onboard network interface components (not shown)) are repeated for each APL port 212. In an embodiment, each APL port 212 is connected to its corresponding APL switch 214 via a 2-wire intrinsically safe Ethernet (2-WISE) 10BASE-T1L. Redundant APL ports 212 and network interface components may be used for both ordinary and hazardous locations. Figure 2 The APL switch 214 in the 210 combines communication technology with Ethernet-APL and allows power and data to be transmitted to hazardous areas of the process plant over Ethernet lines. In hazardous environments, the power to the field devices 210 is limited to intrinsically safe thresholds to reduce the risk of fire, explosion, etc.

[0023] The APL port 212 includes, for example, an ultra-low power, single-port, 10BASE-T1L transceiver configured for long-distance, 10Mbps SPE, and includes an integrated media access control (MAC) interface that enables direct connection to various host controllers via a 4-wire serial peripheral interface (SPI). In an embodiment, the ADIN1110 transceiver available from Analog Devices implements a suitable port 212.

[0024] Figure 2The APL bridge 206 shown in allows the APL to Edge active load sharing or distribution to a single field device 210 via multiple active APL ports 212. The disclosed APL bridge 206 allows physical separation of application interfaces on a single embedded device and can be configured to distribute I / O load between physically separated networks and interfaces from the same or multiple applications. In this way, the APL bridge 206 extends the concepts of load balancing and physical separation of critical application traffic (i.e., control traffic and management or configuration traffic) to constrained field devices, such as field devices 210 connected to an industrial network via Ethernet-APL. For physical separation, each APL port 212 receives a unique MAC address and therefore a unique IPv4 or IPv6 Ethernet address. The allocator function then independently assigns critical applications to specific APL ports 212 (the assignment can be user-specified, or can be automated based on the priority of the associated traffic as specified by the traffic type).

[0025] In an example embodiment, requirements for load distribution include at least one of: automatic load balancing, equal distribution of traffic flows across redundant connections, prioritization of traffic by traffic type (e.g., management I / O versus control I / O versus measurement I / O), separation of traffic by application, and operation independent of any high availability scheme.

[0026] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the field device 210 comprises an intrinsically safe edge field device having redundant APL ports and network interface components. Figure 2 The full port redundancy shown in also significantly improves availability and allows continued operation of intrinsically safe edge field devices, such as field device 210, during a failure of one of the ports 212. In an embodiment, port 212 includes an active standby port on an APL (T1L SPE) with fast failover, which achieves high availability through fast, nearly seamless failover. In another embodiment, port 212 includes a passive standby port on an APL (T1LSPE) with failover, which achieves high availability through failover capabilities. In both cases, redundant cabling and physical layer APL port interfaces are provided to mitigate risks such as cabling, ESD, and EMC failures on the active port 212.

[0027] Aspects of the present disclosure include two possible software configurations for load balancing and high availability: 1) Active-Active; 2) Active-Passive. Each case takes advantage of hardware redundancy. For example, Active-Active provides zero failover time and allows load balancing, and Active-Passive provides the shortest failover time because the passive port can be used as a "hot standby" that is periodically verified.

[0028] Figure 3 An alternative embodiment is illustrated in which the APL bridge 206 is integrated within the field device 210 and has the same features as described above in addition to the field device components. Figure 2 With the features described, a field device assembly in at least one embodiment includes a processor and controllable elements for performing local operations.

[0029] In an embodiment, an intrinsically safe edge field device provides high availability. The IS edge field device includes two or more redundant physical advanced physical layer (APL) 10BaseT1 ports, and at least one APL switch, network port, cable, onboard network interface component and data line power supply component for each of the two or more physical APL ports. Due to the complete port redundancy, in response to a failure of one of the two or more redundant physical APL 10BaseT1 ports, the IS edge field device is able to continue to operate using at least one other port of the two or more redundant physical APL 10BaseT1 ports. The complete port redundancy significantly improves the availability of the IS edge field device. The IS edge field device is configured to provide a fault indication while it continues to operate. The indication allows maintenance to be scheduled at a convenient time in the future without immediately interrupting plant operations. In another embodiment, the IS edge field device includes at least two possible software configurations, wherein each of the at least two possible software configurations utilizes hardware redundancy. The at least two possible software configurations include (1) active-active and (2) active-passive software configurations. Active-active software configurations provide zero failover time and allow load balancing, and active-passive software configurations provide minimal failover time because the passive ports are effectively "hot spares" that are periodically validated.

[0030] For convenience, certain introductory concepts and terminology used in the specification are collected here.

[0031] As used herein, the term "edge" is used to refer to Layer 0 of the Purdue Network Model of industrial control systems.

[0032] As used herein, the term "field device" is used to refer to equipment connected to the field side of an industrial control system. Types of field devices include RTUs, PLCs, actuators, sensors, HMIs and associated communications, as well as smart field instruments that implement embedded control / computing / measurement capabilities on a low-power embedded microcontroller-based platform.

[0033] As used herein, the term "machine learning (ML)" is used to refer to the use and development of software that is able to learn and adapt without following explicit instructions by using algorithms and statistical models to analyze patterns in data and draw inferences therefrom.

[0034] As used herein, the term "embedded device" is used to refer to a combination of a microcontroller, memory, and input / output peripherals that has a dedicated function within a larger system.

[0035] As used herein, the term "networking" is used to refer to connecting via Ethernet.

[0036] As used herein, the term "high availability" is used to refer to a device or application that can continue to operate at a high level without intervention for a given period of time. A high availability infrastructure is configured to provide high quality performance and handle different loads and failures with minimal or no downtime.

[0037] As used herein, the term "intrinsically safe (IS)" is used to refer to a design approach for equipment entering hazardous areas that reduces available energy to a level insufficient to cause an ignition, such as certified by IEC TS 60079-39 or ATEX.

[0038] It should be appreciated that aspects of the present disclosure may find applicability in numerous applications including, but not limited to, oil and gas, energy, food and beverage, water and wastewater, chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, metals, and mining and minerals applications.

[0039] Embodiments of the present disclosure may include a special purpose computer including various computer hardware, as described in more detail herein.

[0040] For illustrative purposes, programs and other executable program components may be shown as discrete blocks. However, it should be appreciated that these programs and components reside at different times in different storage components of the computing device and are executed by (one or more) data processors of the device.

[0041] Although described in conjunction with the example computing system environment, the embodiments of aspects of the present invention can operate with other special computing system environments or configurations. The computing system environment is not intended to imply any limitation on the scope of use or function of any aspect of the present invention. Moreover, the computing system environment should not be interpreted as having any dependency or requirement related to any one component or combination of components shown in the example operating environment. Examples of computing systems, environments and / or configurations that can be suitable for use with aspects of the present invention include but are not limited to personal computers, server computers, handheld or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set-top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, mobile phones, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments including any of the above systems or devices, etc.

[0042] Embodiments of aspects of the present disclosure may be described in the general context of data and / or processor executable instructions (such as program modules), which are stored in one or more tangible, non-transitory storage media and executed by one or more processors or other devices. In general, program modules include, but are not limited to, routines, programs, objects, components, and data structures that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. Aspects of the present disclosure may also be practiced in a distributed computing environment, where tasks are performed by remote processing devices linked through a communication network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in local and remote storage media including memory storage devices.

[0043] In operation, a processor, computer, and / or server may execute processor-executable instructions (eg, software, firmware, and / or hardware), such as those shown herein, to implement aspects of the present invention.

[0044] Embodiments may be implemented with processor executable instructions. Processor executable instructions may be organized into one or more processor executable components or modules on a tangible processor readable storage medium. In addition, embodiments may be implemented with any number and organization of such components or modules. For example, aspects of the present disclosure are not limited to the specific processor executable instructions or specific components or modules shown in the figures and described herein. Other embodiments may include different processor executable instructions or components with more or less functionality than shown and described herein.

[0045] Unless otherwise noted, the order in which operations are performed or carried out is not essential according to aspects of the present disclosure shown and described herein. That is, unless otherwise noted, operations may be performed in any order, and embodiments may include more or fewer operations than those disclosed herein. For example, it is contemplated that performing a particular operation before, simultaneously with, or after another operation is within the scope of the present invention.

[0046] When introducing elements of the present invention or embodiments thereof, the articles "a," "an," "the," and "said" are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms "comprising," "including," and "having" are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements.

[0047] Not all components shown or described are required. In addition, some embodiments and examples may include additional components. The arrangement and type of components may be changed without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims set forth herein. Additional, different or fewer components may be provided, and components may be combined. Alternatively or additionally, components may be implemented by several components.

[0048] The foregoing description illustrates embodiments by way of example and not limitation. This description enables one skilled in the art to make and use aspects of the invention, and describes several embodiments, adaptations, variations, substitutions, and uses of aspects of the invention, including what are currently considered to be the best modes for implementing aspects of the invention. Furthermore, it should be understood that aspects of the invention are not limited in their application to the construction details and arrangements of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Aspects of the invention are capable of other embodiments and can be practiced or implemented in a variety of ways. Furthermore, it should be understood that the words and terminology used herein are for descriptive purposes and should not be considered limiting.

[0049] Obviously, modifications and variations may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. As various changes may be made to the above-described constructions and methods without departing from the scope of the invention, all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not restrictive.

[0050] In view of the foregoing, it can be seen that the several advantages of aspects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

[0051] The Abstract and Summary are provided to help the reader quickly determine the nature of the technical disclosure. When submitting the Abstract and Summary, the reader should understand that they will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. The Summary is provided to introduce a series of concepts in a simplified form, which will be further described in the Detailed Description. The Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the claimed subject matter.

Claims

1. An Ethernet Advanced Physical Layer (Ethernet-APL) bridging system providing communication between an edge field device and an industrial network, the bridging system comprising: At least one Ethernet-APL switch; as well as a plurality of redundant physical Ethernet-APL 10BaseT1L ports coupled to the at least one switch, the redundant ports connecting the field device to the industrial network via the at least one switch to enable local operation of the field device, In response to a failure of one of the plurality of redundant ports, the field device is able to continue the local operation using at least one other port of the redundant ports due to port redundancy.

2. The Ethernet-APL bridging system of claim 1, wherein the at least one switch provides power over data lines (PoDL) to each of the redundant ports.

3. The Ethernet-APL bridging system of claim 1 or claim 2, further comprising one or more of a network port, a cable, and an onboard network interface component coupled to each of the redundant ports.

4. The Ethernet-APL bridging system of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein each redundant port is connected to the at least one switch via a two-wire intrinsically safe Ethernet (2-WISE) 10BaseT1L.

5. The Ethernet-APL bridging system of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein each redundant port has a unique Ethernet address, enabling active load distribution between the field device and the industrial network.

6. The Ethernet-APL bridging system of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein each of the redundant ports comprises an active standby port on an Ethernet-APL 10BaseT1L Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) with fast failover, or a passive standby port on an Ethernet-APL 10BaseT1L SPE with failover.

7. The Ethernet-APL bridging system of any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a processor that performs at least one of an active-active software configuration and an active-passive software configuration.

8. The Ethernet-APL bridging system of claim 7, wherein the active-active software configuration when executed provides zero failover time and load balancing between redundant ports.

9. The Ethernet-APL bridging system of claim 7, wherein the active-passive software configuration when executed defines one of the redundant ports as a passive port that acts as a hot spare and provides a minimum failover time.

10. A field device comprising: Controllable elements for performing local operations; as well as a plurality of redundant physical Ethernet-APL 10BaseT1L ports coupled to at least one Ethernet-APL switch, said redundant ports connecting said field device to an industrial network via said at least one switch to enable said local operation of said field device, In response to a failure of one of the plurality of redundant ports, the field device is able to continue the local operation using at least one other port of the redundant ports due to port redundancy.

11. The field device of claim 10, wherein the at least one switch provides power over data lines (PoDL) to each of the redundant ports.

12. The field device of claim 10 or claim 11, further comprising one or more of a network port, a cable, and an onboard network interface component coupled to each of the redundant ports.

13. The field device of any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein each redundant port is connected to the at least one switch via a two-wire intrinsically safe Ethernet (2-WISE) 10BaseT1L.

14. A field device as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein each redundant port has a unique Ethernet address, enabling active load distribution between the field device and an industrial network.

15. The field device of any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein each of the redundant ports comprises an active standby port on an Ethernet-APL 10BaseT1L Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) with fast failover, or a passive standby port on an Ethernet-APL 10BaseT1L SPE with failover.

16. The field device of any of claims 10 to 15, further comprising a processor that performs at least one of active-active software configuration and active-passive software configuration.

17. The field device of claim 16, wherein the active-active software configuration when executed provides zero failover time and load balancing between redundant ports.

18. The field device of claim 16, wherein the active-passive software configuration, when executed, defines one of the redundant ports as a passive port that acts as a hot spare and provides a minimum failover time.

19. A method for providing high availability and load distribution in an intrinsically safe edge field device communicating with an industrial network, the method comprising: connecting the field device to a plurality of redundant Ethernet Advanced Physical Layer (Ethernet-APL) ports; coupling each of the redundant ports to an industrial network via at least one Ethernet-APL switch; Enables local operation of field devices; as well as In response to a failure of one of the plurality of redundant ports, the local operation of the field device is continued using at least one other of the redundant ports due to port redundancy.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising executing at least one of an active-active software configuration and an active-passive software configuration, wherein the active-active software configuration when executed provides zero failover time and load balancing between redundant ports, and the active-passive software configuration when executed defines one of the redundant ports as a passive port that acts as a hot standby and provides a minimum failover time.

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