Industrial Automation Controller Redundancy State Bit Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
High availability industrial automation systems face performance burdens due to the need to constantly monitor and respond to changes in redundancy states, which can lead to errors and unnecessary downtime if not properly managed.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a program with tasks that include redundancy state bits to react to changes in the high availability state, allowing the system to automatically identify and reset these states, thereby reducing the need for continuous monitoring and enabling event tasks to execute only after state changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the system constantly monitors redundancy state during every phase of the user application, then the system can detect HA state changes, but the overhead burdens system performance and increases complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by automatically detecting redundancy state changes and setting indicator bits before the user application needs to respond. The redundancy manager proactively monitors HA state and prepares the system by setting specific bits in task data structures, so when tasks execute, they immediately know the current HA state without having to monitor it continuously.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism - indicator bits embedded in task data structures - that mediates between the redundancy monitoring function and the user application. Instead of the application directly monitoring HA state, the redundancy manager sets these indicator bits, and tasks simply check them during execution, eliminating the need for continuous monitoring overhead.
2Reliability
If the code monitors HA state in every phase of the application code, then the system can respond to redundancy changes, but the monitoring may be erroneously omitted during some phases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the HA state monitoring function from the user application code and places it in a dedicated redundancy manager. This separation ensures that monitoring is performed consistently by a specialized component rather than being accidentally omitted from various phases of application code. The redundancy manager independently tracks HA state and communicates changes through indicator bits.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements self-service by having tasks automatically check the indicator bits that were set by the redundancy manager. Each task includes logic to identify when a redundancy state change bit is set and to reset it appropriately, ensuring that HA state changes are captured without requiring external monitoring in every code phase.
3Reliability
If the system requires controlled shutdown or reduced functionality when HA state changes, then system safety is maintained, but downtime increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic response to HA state changes by allowing the system to adapt its behavior based on the specific redundancy configuration and failure mode. Instead of always performing controlled shutdown, the system can dynamically switch between full redundancy mode, single-controller mode, or reduced functionality based on the HA state, minimizing unnecessary downtime while maintaining safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters based on HA state - when redundancy is lost, it modifies task execution parameters, controller activation parameters, and functionality parameters. This allows the system to maintain safe operation in degraded modes rather than requiring complete shutdown, reducing downtime while preserving essential functions.
Data Source
AI summary
A high availability industrial automation controller used in a high availability industrial automation system is disclosed. The controller includes instructions executable by a processor to receive information about a lost redundancy in the industrial automation system, change a first redundancy state and a second redundancy state associated with a first task and a second task, respectively, upon receiving the information, perform the first task and the second task. The performing the first/second task can include identifying the first/second redundancy state has been changed, modifying operation of the first/second task in response to the first/second redundancy state being changed, and resetting the first/second redundancy state. Also disclosed is a method of operating the industrial automation controller.