Remote Terminal Unit Protocol Stacking for Wireless Interoperability
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity of designing and deploying communication networks in industrial plants due to varied wireless standards and protocols, along with the inability to easily upgrade or replace devices with new protocols, limits interoperability and flexibility, especially when new standards emerge.
Innovation Solution
An interoperable network device that can communicate with multiple wireless technology protocols by scanning for beacon messages, determining the corresponding protocol, and building a protocol stack using configuration blocks, allowing it to adapt to new and older wireless standards, and enabling communication with field devices using different protocols.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple wireless standards and protocols are supported to improve interoperability, then adaptability improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The remote terminal unit is designed with multi-functionality to support multiple wireless communication protocols (802.15.4g, 802.15.4k, ZigBee, WirelessHART, ISA100) within a single device. The controller can dynamically build different protocol stacks based on the detected field device protocol, enabling one device to perform multiple protocol-specific functions without requiring separate dedicated devices for each protocol.
Solution Approach 2:
The protocol stack in the remote terminal unit is designed to be dynamic rather than static. The controller can adaptively build, modify, and switch between different protocol stacks based on the detected beacon message protocol identifier. This dynamic capability allows the device to adjust its communication protocol in real-time according to the specific field device it is communicating with, resolving the contradiction between supporting multiple protocols and maintaining device complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If protocol stacks are built dynamically to improve adaptability, then adaptability improves, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by scanning for beacon messages from field devices and detecting their protocol identifiers before establishing communication. The controller proactively builds the appropriate protocol stack based on the detected protocol type, rather than waiting for communication failures or errors. This preliminary protocol identification and stack construction reduces subsequent processing time and enables faster establishment of reliable communication channels.
Data Source
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AI summary
In aspects, the present invention discloses a method for communicating with a plurality of field devices using a remote terminal unit. The plurality of field devices includes a first set of field devices and a second set of field devices capable of communicating using a first and second wireless communication protocols respectively. The method comprises scanning for a beacon message from a first field device, determining a corresponding wireless communication protocol associated from the first field device, identifying a first set of configuration blocks for communicating with the first field device based on a configuration schema file and the corresponding wireless communication protocol of the first field device, and building a protocol stack for use with a radio front end from the one or more radio front ends using the first set of configuration blocks, for communicating with the first field device from the plurality of field devices.