Field Bus Scheduling for Shorter Industrial Response Time
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing field bus systems in industrial automation face significant delays in application response times due to the time taken by sensors to capture and provide input data, processing times for output data, and signal propagation times, which can reduce system performance even with high-performance hardware.
Innovation Solution
A scheduling unit is introduced to determine impact parameters affecting application response times and to schedule the execution of applications accordingly, prioritizing processes and considering dependencies between system participants to optimize data transmission and processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If optimized hardware with low cycle time is used, then application response time is improved, but processing load and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The scheduling unit performs preliminary actions by determining impact parameters and creating optimized schedules before application execution. It calculates device preparation times, output data computation times, and output data applying times in advance, then uses these pre-computed values to optimize the execution schedule, thereby reducing application response time without requiring high-performance hardware
Solution Approach 2:
The scheduling unit acts as an intermediary between the controller and field bus devices. It mediates the execution timing by inserting itself into the control loop to determine optimal execution moments based on impact parameters, thereby coordinating data transmission and processing to minimize response time without increasing hardware complexity
2Loss of time
If high-performance bus system with high bandwidth is used, then application response time is improved, but processing load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The scheduling unit changes the temporal parameters of data transmission and processing by determining optimal execution times based on impact parameters. It dynamically adjusts when devices prepare data, when the controller computes output data, and when target equipment applies output data, thereby reducing application response time through intelligent timing rather than increased bandwidth or processing power
3Loss of time
If scheduling unit optimizes execution considering all impact parameters, then application response time is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The scheduling unit segments the application execution into distinct phases based on impact parameters: device preparation phase, data transmission phase, controller computation phase, and target equipment execution phase. By dividing the execution into manageable segments with specific timing requirements, it can optimize each phase independently while maintaining overall system coordination without excessive complexity
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a field bus system for execution of at least one application, in particular for industrial automation, the field bus system comprising: a first device, in particular a first sensing device, configured to provide and transmit first device data, at least a second device, in particular a second sensing device, configured to provide and transmit second device data, a controller for computation of output data from the device data, at least a first target equipment controllable by the output data, a field bus, in particular a Sercos bus, and a scheduling unit for scheduling the execution of the application, wherein the devices, the controller and the first target equipment are connected via the field bus for communication with the scheduling unit, and wherein the scheduling unit is configured to determine impact parameters which impact an application response time of the bus system, and to schedule the execution considering the impact parameters.