Bus Coupling Device for Single-Channel Safety Protocol
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing safety-relevant bus systems require replacement to switch from multichannel to single-channel configurations, which is costly and restrictive, and existing methods for single-channel bus coupling of safety-relevant processes are inefficient and complex, particularly in ensuring data integrity and independence during protocol formation.
Innovation Solution
A method using at least two redundant processing channels to form a common safety protocol by accessing a shared buffer register with unique write authorization, where elements are verified for identity before storage, ensuring efficient and cost-effective single-channel bus coupling without additional data transmission, applicable to both readable and unreadable memory chips.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If safety-based bus systems with high redundancy are used to ensure data integrity, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase due to requiring replacement of existing bus systems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a bus coupling device as an intermediary component that sits between the existing field bus system and the safety-relevant process. This device contains the redundancy and safety mechanisms internally, allowing the use of standard field buses without requiring replacement of the entire bus system while still achieving safety-relevant data transmission
Solution Approach 2:
The bus coupling device is designed to work with multiple different field bus protocols and types, making it universally applicable to various existing bus systems. This multi-functionality allows the same safety mechanism to be deployed across different communication environments without requiring system-specific customizations
2Reliability
If multichannel structures with redundant processing channels are used to ensure safety, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases due to multiple redundant computers and safety analysis requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the redundancy management and safety verification functions into a single bus coupling device. Instead of distributing redundancy across multiple independent computers, the device consolidates these functions, using internal redundancy mechanisms to verify data integrity while maintaining a unified processing architecture
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the safety-critical redundancy and verification functions from the main processing channels and places them within the dedicated bus coupling device. This separation allows the main processing channels to focus on their primary functions while the coupling device handles safety verification, reducing overall system complexity
3Ease of operation
If existing field bus systems are used for safety-relevant data transmission, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to lack of inherent safety mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The bus coupling device acts as an intermediary that bridges standard field buses and safety-relevant processes. It transparently handles safety verification and redundancy management, allowing existing field bus systems to be used without modification while still achieving safety-relevant data transmission through the coupling device's internal mechanisms
4Reliability
If safety-based protocols are implemented with multiple redundant channels, then data integrity is improved, but message length and transmission time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The bus coupling device implements partial redundancy by verifying only the critical safety-relevant portions of data messages rather than duplicating entire messages across multiple channels. This selective verification approach maintains data integrity for safety-critical information while reducing overall message length and transmission time
Data Source
AI summary
A method and an apparatus are disclosed for the coupling of a safety-critical process from a safe environment to an environment that is not safe or to an environment that is safe but has fewer processing channels. To this end, provision is made of a method which processes a data record that is relevant to the safety-critical process to form a respective safe protocol using at least two redundant processing channels in accordance with identical laws, and forms a common safe protocol taking into account at least two redundant safe coupling protocols. When writing at least elements of the common safety-based protocol using a processing channel with write authorization, another processing channel is used to check whether these elements are identical to one another. Access to a common buffer register for the purpose of storing these elements is enabled only when they are identical to one another.