Secure Data Transfer via Distributed Evaluation Units
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current safety technology for automation systems is complex and costly due to the need for redundant hardware components and parallel wiring, which complicates fault detection and increases expenses, especially in serial networking solutions.
Innovation Solution
A method for secure data transmission between communication system participants using distributed redundancy, where evaluation units in each participant check data messages and acknowledgment messages, reducing the need for redundant hardware and allowing the use of standard components, including simple mechanical sensors or actuators, with a secure communication protocol ensuring error detection and handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If redundant hardware components and parallel wiring are used for safety technology, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical parallel wiring with electrical serial communication. Instead of using multiple physical wiring paths (mechanical redundancy), the system uses a single serial communication channel with digital protocols to achieve safety functionality, thereby reducing cabling complexity while maintaining reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters of the communication system by introducing specialized serial communication protocols with error detection, acknowledgment mechanisms, and cyclic data exchange. These parameter changes enable the serial connection to provide safety functions previously requiring parallel wiring
2Ease of manufacture
If serial networking is used to simplify signal paths, then ease of manufacture is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to lack of redundant cabling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms in the serial communication protocol, including acknowledgment messages sent from receiver to transmitter to confirm successful data reception. This feedback loop enables continuous monitoring of the communication channel's health, providing reliability equivalent to redundant cabling while maintaining simple serial wiring
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates preliminary error detection and validation mechanisms within the serial communication protocol, such as checksum verification and data format checking, that proactively identify communication issues before they compromise safety functionality, thereby ensuring reliability without requiring redundant physical paths
3Reliability
If current serial network solutions with trained components are used, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes standard, untrained communication components perform safety functions through the application of a specialized serial communication protocol. The same basic transmitter and receiver hardware used for normal automation communication can also reliably transmit safety-relevant data when equipped with the appropriate protocol, eliminating the need for separate trained safety components
Solution Approach 2:
The patent separates the safety functionality from the hardware complexity by implementing it at the protocol level rather than the component level. The serial communication protocol is divided into distinct functional segments (data formatting, error detection, acknowledgment sequences) that can be applied to standard components, thereby achieving reliable safety data transmission without requiring complex trained components
4Reliability
If redundant evaluation logic and fail-safe comparators are implemented, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service verification mechanisms where each communication participant (transmitter and receiver) independently evaluates the correctness of exchanged data using the protocol's built-in validation rules. This distributed self-verification approach provides redundant evaluation logic without requiring complex centralized comparator systems
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
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AI summary
The invention achieves secure data transmission in a communication system (1) used for controlling safety-relevant processes in a simple and cost-effective manner by providing cooperating evaluation units (212, 222) distributed among communication participants (21, 22) for evaluating safety-related data. Accordingly, the invention provides a method in which a data message is transmitted from a first participant (21) to a second participant via a communication system (1) configured for serial data transmission, and the data message is checked by a second evaluation unit (222) located in the second participant (22).Depending on the result of the data message verification, an acknowledgment message is transmitted from the second participant (22) to the first participant (21), which is in turn verified by the first evaluation unit (212) located in the first participant (21). Furthermore, the invention provides a system for carrying out the method.