Serial server integrated with IO-Link master station

Abstract

The utility model relates to the field of communication equipment, and discloses a serial server integrated with an IO-Link master station, which comprises a master control chip and an IO-Link master station transceiving chip, the first end of the IO-Link master station transceiver chip is in corresponding communication connection with a plurality of IO-Link slave station devices so as to receive data of the IO-Link slave station devices; the second end of the IO-Link master station transceiver chip is connected with the first end of the master control chip; the second end of the main control chip is connected with one or more serial port devices so as to receive serial port data; and the main control chip is used for transmitting the serial port data and the IO-Link slave station equipment data to the industrial Ethernet. According to the invention, the IO-Link master station transceiver chip and the master control chip are integrated in the same serial port server, so that the serial port to network function and the data two-way transmission function between the IO-Link master station and the slave station are realized at the same time, and the device cost is saved for the overall application environment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication equipment, and in particular to a serial port server integrated with an IO-Link master station. Background Art

[0002] The existing IO-Link master and serial device server are two independent devices. However, if both the serial device server and the IO-Link master are used to meet the needs, the overall cost of the system will be very high. Utility Model Content

[0003] In a first aspect, the present application provides a serial port server integrated with an IO-Link master station, including a main control chip and an IO-Link master station transceiver chip;

[0004] The first end of the IO-Link master transceiver chip is used to communicate with a plurality of IO-Link slave devices through a plurality of IO-Link channels to receive data from the IO-Link slave devices;

[0005] The second end of the IO-Link master transceiver chip is connected to the first end of the main control chip via a synchronous serial bus;

[0006] The second end of the main control chip is used to connect to one or more serial port devices through a plurality of serial port lines to receive serial port data;

[0007] The third terminal of the main control chip is used to transmit the serial port data and the IO-Link slave device data to the industrial Ethernet through a plurality of Ethernet cables.

[0008] In an optional embodiment, the second end of the main control chip is provided with a plurality of serial ports; each of the serial ports is connected to a serial port device via a serial port line.

[0009] In an optional embodiment, each of the serial ports is one or more of an RS485 serial port, an RS232 serial port, and an RS422 serial port.

[0010] In an optional embodiment, the main control chip further includes a serial port control unit;

[0011] The serial port control unit is used to control each of the serial ports to receive serial port data from each of the serial port devices through each of the serial ports, and output the serial port data after processing, or send corresponding data to each of the serial port devices through each of the serial ports.

[0012] In an optional embodiment, the first end of the main control chip is provided with a first serial peripheral interface;

[0013] The second end of the IO-Link master transceiver chip is provided with a second serial peripheral interface;

[0014] The first serial peripheral interface is connected to the second serial peripheral interface via the synchronous serial bus;

[0015] The main control chip also includes a serial peripheral control unit;

[0016] The serial peripheral control unit is used to control the serial peripheral interface to receive the IO-Link slave device data output by the IO-Link master transceiver chip through the serial peripheral interface, and process the IO-Link slave device data before outputting it.

[0017] In an optional embodiment, the first end of the IO-Link master transceiver chip is provided with a plurality of IO-Link interfaces; each of the IO-Link interfaces is correspondingly communicatively connected to one of the IO-Link channels;

[0018] The IO-Link master transceiver chip also includes an IO-Link interface control unit;

[0019] The IO-Link interface control unit is used to control each of the IO-Link interfaces to receive IO-Link slave device data sent by each of the IO-Link slave devices through each of the IO-Link interfaces, and process and output the IO-Link slave device data, or send corresponding configuration data to each of the IO-Link slave devices through each of the IO-Link interfaces.

[0020] In an optional embodiment, the third end of the main control chip is provided with a plurality of Ethernet interfaces; each of the Ethernet interfaces is connected to the industrial Ethernet via an Ethernet cable;

[0021] The main control chip also includes an Ethernet control unit;

[0022] The Ethernet control unit is used to control each of the Ethernet interfaces so as to connect to the industrial Ethernet through each of the Ethernet interfaces.

[0023] In an optional embodiment, the main control chip further includes a storage module for storing the serial port data and the IO-Link slave device data;

[0024] The storage module is a storage module with a double data transmission rate.

[0025] In an optional embodiment, the serial port device includes one or more of a single chip microcomputer, a modem, an electric meter and an encoder.

[0026] In an optional embodiment, the IO-Link slave device includes one or more of a sensor, a gateway device, and an actuator.

[0027] This application has the following beneficial effects:

[0028] The present application provides a serial port server, which includes a main control chip and an IO-Link master transceiver chip; the first end of the IO-Link master transceiver chip is used to communicate with a plurality of IO-Link slave devices via a plurality of IO-Link channels to receive data from the IO-Link slave devices; the second end of the IO-Link master transceiver chip is connected to the first end of the main control chip via a synchronous serial bus; the second end of the main chip is used to connect to one or more serial devices via a plurality of serial lines to receive serial data; and the third end of the main control chip is used to transmit serial data and IO-Link slave device data to an industrial Ethernet network via a plurality of Ethernet lines. The present application integrates the IO-Link master transceiver chip and the main control chip into the same serial port server, so that the serial port server can not only transmit serial data to the network to provide a serial-to-network conversion function, but also realize a bidirectional transparent data transmission function between the IO-Link master and IO-Link slaves, thereby improving the integration of the device and saving installation space, making installation and maintenance during subsequent use more convenient. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following is a brief introduction to the drawings required for use in the embodiments. It should be understood that the following drawings only show certain embodiments of the present application and therefore should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For ordinary technicians in this field, other relevant drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0030] Figure 1 A first structural diagram of a serial port server integrated with an IO-Link master station in an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0031] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of the IO-Link master transceiver chip in an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0032] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the structure of the main control chip in an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0033] Figure 4 A second structural diagram of a serial port server integrated with an IO-Link master station in an embodiment of the present application is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more clear, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Generally, the components of the embodiments of the present application described and shown in the drawings herein can be arranged and designed in various different configurations.

[0035] Furthermore, the terms “first”, “second”, etc. are merely used for distinguishing descriptions and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0036] In the description of this application, it should be noted that, unless otherwise specified or limited, the terms "setting" and "connection" should be understood in a broad sense. For those skilled in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in this application can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0037] The following describes some embodiments of the present application in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the absence of conflict, the following embodiments and features in the embodiments may be combined with each other.

[0038] The present application provides a serial port server that integrates an IO-Link master transceiver chip into the serial port server. This allows the IO-Link master function to be implemented simultaneously within the same device, thereby improving device integration and saving costs for components such as the housing. This also reduces installation space and facilitates subsequent installation and maintenance. For after-sales technical support, customers only need to contact one device vendor, reducing communication costs with different vendors.

[0039] For example, see Figure 1 The serial port server includes a main control chip 100 and an IO-Link master transceiver chip 200.

[0040] Among them, such as Figure 2 As shown, the first end of the IO-Link master transceiver chip 200 is used to communicate with a plurality of IO-Link slave devices through a plurality of IO-Link channels (IO-Link channel 1, IO-Link channel 2, ..., IO-Link channel n) to receive IO-Link slave device data.

[0041] For reference, the first end of the IO-Link master transceiver chip 200 is provided with a plurality of IO-Link interfaces, wherein each IO-Link interface is communicatively connected to a corresponding IO-Link channel. It is understood that each IO-Link interface is connected to at least one IO-Link slave device via an IO-Link channel to obtain data from the IO-Link slave device. Any one or more IO-Link interfaces are used to connect to the same or different IO-Link slave devices, and the number of IO-Link slave devices connected to each IO-Link interface can be set accordingly based on actual needs.

[0042] Among them, the IO-Link slave station device includes one or more of sensors, gateways, actuators and other devices, such as temperature and humidity sensors and other devices, which are not limited in this embodiment.

[0043] In one embodiment, the IO-Link master transceiver chip 200 further includes an IO-Link interface control unit; the IO-Link interface control unit is used to control each IO-Link interface to receive IO-Link slave device data sent by each IO-Link slave device through each IO-Link interface, process the IO-Link slave device data and output it, or send corresponding configuration data to the IO-Link slave device through each IO-Link interface.

[0044] It can be understood that the IO-Link master transceiver chip 200 can control the communication mechanism of the IO-Link interface through the IO-Link interface control unit, and then control the data interaction between the serial port server and the IO-Link slave device to achieve corresponding functions.

[0045] Furthermore, the second end of the IO-Link master transceiver chip 200 is connected to the first end of the main control chip 100 via a synchronous serial bus (i.e., SPI). In other words, the IO-Link master transceiver chip 200 and the main control chip 100 communicate and exchange data via the synchronous serial bus.

[0046] Exemplarily, a first serial peripheral interface is provided at a first end of the main control chip 100; a second serial peripheral interface is provided at a second end of the IO-Link master transceiver chip 200; and the first serial peripheral interface is connected to the second serial peripheral interface via a synchronous serial bus.

[0047] It can be understood that the IO-Link master transceiver chip 200 obtains the IO-Link slave device data through the IO-Link interface, and then communicates with the first serial peripheral interface of the main control chip 100 through the second serial peripheral interface to transmit the IO-Link slave device data to the main control chip 100 through the corresponding serial peripheral interface.

[0048] In one embodiment, the main control chip 100 also includes a serial peripheral control unit; the serial peripheral control unit is used to control the first serial peripheral interface to receive IO-Link slave device data output by the IO-Link master transceiver chip 200 through the first serial peripheral interface, and process the IO-Link slave device data and output it.

[0049] Similarly, a serial peripheral control unit can also be set in the IO-Link master transceiver chip 200 to control the second serial peripheral interface; wherein, the specific structure and function of the serial peripheral control unit set in the above-mentioned main control chip 100 and the O-Link master transceiver chip 200 can be set accordingly according to actual needs, and this embodiment does not limit this.

[0050] Further, if Figure 3 As shown, the second end of the main control chip 100 is used to connect to one or more serial port devices through a plurality of serial port lines (serial port line 1, serial port line 2, ..., serial port line m) to receive serial port data.

[0051] In one example, the second end of the main control chip 100 is provided with several serial ports; each serial port is connected to a serial device via a serial port cable. In other words, each serial port can receive serial port data from a corresponding serial port device, and the serial port devices connected to different serial ports can be of the same type or different types. The serial ports are any one or more of an RS485 serial port, an RS232 serial port, and an RS422 serial port. In other words, the serial ports can be of the same model or different models. In actual use, the type and number of serial ports, as well as the type and number of serial port devices connected to each serial port, can be set accordingly based on actual needs, and this embodiment does not limit this.

[0052] The serial port device includes one or more devices such as a single chip microcomputer, a modem, an electric meter, an encoder, etc. The corresponding serial port device can be selected for connection according to actual needs, and this embodiment does not limit this.

[0053] In some examples, the main control chip 100 also includes a serial port control unit; the serial port control unit is used to control each serial port to receive serial port data from each serial port device through each serial port, and process the serial port data and output it, or send corresponding data or signals to each serial port device through each serial port.

[0054] It is understood that the serial port control unit can set and control the communication mechanism of the serial port, thereby obtaining serial port data of the serial port device connected to it through the corresponding serial port, or sending corresponding data to the serial port device through the serial port. In other words, the main control chip 100 can control the communication mechanism of the serial port through the serial port control unit, thereby controlling the sending and acquisition of device data to achieve the corresponding function.

[0055] Furthermore, the third terminal of the main control chip 100 is used to transmit serial port data and IO-Link slave device data to the industrial Ethernet through a plurality of Ethernet cables.

[0056] For example, the third end of the main control chip 100 is provided with several Ethernet interfaces; each Ethernet interface is connected to the industrial Ethernet through an Ethernet cable. In other words, the main control chip 100 is connected to the industrial Ethernet through multiple internal Ethernet interfaces, realizing the network communication function of the serial device server.

[0057] In one embodiment, the main control chip 100 further includes an Ethernet control unit; the Ethernet control unit is used to control each Ethernet interface to connect to the industrial Ethernet through each Ethernet interface.

[0058] Among them, the Ethernet interface in the serial device server can be different types of interfaces to meet different transmission rate requirements; optionally, the Ethernet interface can be any one or more of a 1000BASE-TX Ethernet port, a 100BASE-TX Ethernet port, a 10BASE-TX Ethernet port and a 10G Ethernet port.

[0059] In addition, only one, two, or three types of Ethernet interfaces may be provided, and different transmission rate requirements may be met by combining different types of Ethernet interfaces.

[0060] Similar to the serial port control unit, the Ethernet control unit is connected to the industrial Ethernet through the Ethernet interface, and then processes the serial port data and IO-Link slave device data received by the main control chip 100, and then transmits the processed data to the industrial Ethernet through the Ethernet interface, completing the data interaction between different network protocols.

[0061] It can be understood that the Ethernet control unit can set and control the communication mechanism of the Ethernet interface, and can also obtain device data of external devices in the same local area network to which it is connected through the corresponding Ethernet interface, or send corresponding data to external devices in the same local area network through the Ethernet interface.

[0062] For reference, the main control chip 100 includes several serial ports and several Ethernet interfaces. Each serial port is used to connect to one or more serial devices to obtain serial port data, and each Ethernet interface is used to access industrial Ethernet. The Ethernet interface can also communicate with external devices using the Ethernet protocol to enable data exchange between the serial port server and the external device. Furthermore, any one or more serial ports can be used to connect to the same or different serial devices, and the specific configuration can be determined based on actual needs.

[0063] In this embodiment, the main control chip 100 and the IO-Link master transceiver chip 200 are connected via a serial peripheral interface (i.e., SPI interface); the main control chip 100 is used to transmit serial port data and IO-Link slave device data to industrial Ethernet (i.e., Ethernet) through any Ethernet interface.

[0064] It can be understood that the serial device server provided in this application connects to corresponding external devices (i.e., serial device and IO-Link slave device) through the serial port and IO-Link interface to collect corresponding device data and transmit the device data to Ethernet through the Ethernet interface, thereby realizing Ethernet transmission communication between different external devices. In addition, it can also receive corresponding network data through the Ethernet interface and send it to the corresponding external device through the serial port and IO-Link interface, thereby realizing bidirectional data transmission function between each external device and industrial Ethernet.

[0065] The number of serial ports, Ethernet interfaces, and IO-Link interfaces on the serial device server can be set according to actual needs and is not limited here. For example, the number of serial ports can be 4 or 6, the number of Ethernet interfaces can be 2 or 3, and the number of IO-Link interfaces can be 2 or 4. In addition, different serial ports and IO-Link interfaces can be connected to the same or different external devices. The specific number can be set according to actual needs and is not limited in this embodiment.

[0066] It can be understood that each serial port on the serial port server is connected to each serial port device, and then the serial port device transmits the serial port data to the main control chip 100 through the serial port, and the main control chip 100 then transmits the serial port data to the industrial Ethernet through the Ethernet interface; optionally, the Ethernet interface can also use the industrial Ethernet protocol to communicate with other external devices through the Ethernet bus, thereby realizing two-way data transmission between the serial port and the Ethernet interface.

[0067] The main control chip 100 obtains serial port data through the serial port and obtains IO-Link slave device data through the IO-Link interface, and then transmits the serial port data and IO-Link slave device data to the industrial Ethernet through the Ethernet interface, realizing the serial port to network function while also realizing data transmission between the IO-Link master station and the IO-Link slave station.

[0068] In one embodiment, the main control chip 100 further includes a storage module for storing data. That is, the storage module is used to store all data received by the main control chip 100 or generated during operation, including but not limited to the above-mentioned serial port data and IO-Link slave device data. Among them, the type and memory capacity of the storage module can be set accordingly according to actual needs, and this embodiment does not limit this. Optionally, the storage module can use a storage module with a double data transmission rate. For example, the storage module can be a double-rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR) with 128MB of memory.

[0069] Take an example to illustrate the structure of the serial port server in this embodiment. Figure 4 As shown, the serial port server includes a main control chip 100 and an IO-Link master transceiver chip 200, wherein the IO-Link master transceiver chip 200 includes two IO-Link interfaces (the two IO-Link interfaces can form two IO-Link channels: IO-Link1 and IO-Link2), and the main control chip 100 includes four serial ports (RS485-1, RS485-2, RS485-3, and RS485-4); the IO-Link master transceiver chip 200 is connected to the main control chip 100 via a serial peripheral interface (SPI0).

[0070] For reference, the serial device server uses the TCP / UDP protocol through the Ethernet interface (ETH0 interface) to transmit the data received by the serial port or IO-Link interface to the industrial Ethernet; and connects to the corresponding equipment through the IO-Link interface or serial port (IO-Link interface, RS485 interface) to realize functions such as data collection or sending configuration parameters.

[0071] In an embodiment of the present application, the IO-Link master transceiver chip 200 and the main control chip 100 are integrated into the same serial port server. Furthermore, the serial port server can convert serial ports of different models (such as RS485, RS232, etc.) into Ethernet interfaces of the TCP / IP protocol, realizing bidirectional transparent transmission of data between serial ports of different models and Ethernet interfaces of the TCP / IP protocol, so that the serial port server can satisfy the requirement of transmitting serial port data to the network to provide a serial port to network function; furthermore, the serial port server can realize network data communication by connecting to the industrial Ethernet, and at the same time, it can extend the communication distance of each external device connected to the serial port. On the other hand, the serial port server also integrates the data transceiver function of the IO-Link master, and can realize data transmission between the IO-Link master device and the IO-Link slave device through the serial port server. Moreover, since the IO-Link master transceiver chip 200 and the main control chip 100 are integrated into the same serial port server, the cost of components such as the housing can be reduced accordingly, saving the device installation space, and facilitating subsequent installation and maintenance.

[0072] In all examples shown and described herein, any specific values should be interpreted as merely exemplary and not limiting, and thus other examples of the exemplary embodiments may have different values.

[0073] The above is only a specific implementation method of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with this technical field can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in this application, which should be covered by the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A serial device server integrated with an IO-Link master station, characterized in that: Including main control chip and IO-Link master transceiver chip; The first end of the IO-Link master transceiver chip is used to communicate with a plurality of IO-Link slave devices through a plurality of IO-Link channels to receive data from the IO-Link slave devices; The second end of the IO-Link master transceiver chip is connected to the first end of the main control chip via a synchronous serial bus; The second end of the main control chip is used to connect to one or more serial port devices through a plurality of serial port lines to receive serial port data; The third terminal of the main control chip is used to transmit the serial port data and the IO-Link slave device data to the industrial Ethernet through a plurality of Ethernet cables.

2. The serial device server with integrated IO-Link master according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second end of the main control chip is provided with a plurality of serial ports; each of the serial ports is connected to a serial port device via a serial port line.

3. The serial device server with integrated IO-Link master according to claim 2, characterized in that: Each of the serial ports is one or more of an RS485 serial port, an RS232 serial port and an RS422 serial port.

4. The serial device server with integrated IO-Link master according to claim 2, characterized in that: The main control chip also includes a serial port control unit; The serial port control unit is used to control each of the serial ports to receive serial port data from each of the serial port devices through each of the serial ports, and output the serial port data after processing, or send corresponding data to each of the serial port devices through each of the serial ports.

5. The serial device server with integrated IO-Link master according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first end of the main control chip is provided with a first serial peripheral interface; The second end of the IO-Link master transceiver chip is provided with a second serial peripheral interface; The first serial peripheral interface is connected to the second serial peripheral interface via the synchronous serial bus; The main control chip also includes a serial peripheral control unit; The serial peripheral control unit is used to control the serial peripheral interface to receive the IO-Link slave device data output by the IO-Link master transceiver chip through the serial peripheral interface, and process the IO-Link slave device data before outputting it.

6. The serial device server integrated with an IO-Link master according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first end of the IO-Link master transceiver chip is provided with a plurality of IO-Link interfaces; each of the IO-Link interfaces is correspondingly connected to one of the IO-Link channels; The IO-Link master transceiver chip also includes an IO-Link interface control unit; The IO-Link interface control unit is used to control each of the IO-Link interfaces to receive IO-Link slave device data sent by each of the IO-Link slave devices through each of the IO-Link interfaces, and process and output the IO-Link slave device data, or send corresponding configuration data to each of the IO-Link slave devices through each of the IO-Link interfaces.

7. The serial device server integrated with an IO-Link master according to claim 1, characterized in that: The third end of the main control chip is provided with a plurality of Ethernet interfaces; each of the Ethernet interfaces is connected to the industrial Ethernet via an Ethernet cable; The main control chip also includes an Ethernet control unit; The Ethernet control unit is used to control each of the Ethernet interfaces so as to connect to the industrial Ethernet through each of the Ethernet interfaces.

8. The serial device server integrated with an IO-Link master according to claim 1, characterized in that: The main control chip also includes a storage module for storing the serial port data and the IO-Link slave device data; The storage module is a storage module with a double data transmission rate.

9. The serial device server integrated with an IO-Link master according to claim 1, characterized in that: The serial port device includes one or more of a single chip microcomputer, a modem, an electric meter and an encoder.

10. The serial device server integrated with an IO-Link master according to claim 1, characterized in that: The IO-Link slave device includes one or more of a sensor, a gateway device, and an actuator.

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